The Medicine Hat & District Horticultural Association is selling tickets now for its annual Garden Tour, which runs Sunday afternoon. A food forest in NE Crescent Heights is seen in this file photo from the 2023 Garden Tour.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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This weekend local homeowners will be showcasing a variety of different gardening styles, such as themed gardens, water features and rock gardens, as the Medicine Hat & District Horticultural Association gets ready to host its annual Garden Tour this Sunday.
The self-guided tour, which has run annually since the early 1990s, allows participants to visit several private gardens and backyards highlighted on a map, and speak with volunteer guides and garden owners about their gardens.
“We have hundreds of people come through to check out what they’ve set up, what they’re growing,” explains Genevieve Mathieu, spokesperson for the association. “It provides opportunities to ask questions or figure out where people got different plants or how they set up certain aspects of their gardens.”
The self-guided tour runs throughout the afternoon and allows participants to enjoy each stop at their own pace.
Each host house will have a table set up at the entrance, and tour participants will be greeted by volunteers and homeowners who will be able guide them through the gardens and answer any questions they may have.
“There’s so many different ways to garden,” says Mathieu. “So some people are really into gardening with a specific colour, others want to have sort of water features in their yard or rock garden, and other people still are trying to incorporate more native plants.”
Mathieu explains the annual garden tour that promotes pride in property maintenance and beautifying the community allows participants to “poke their heads over their neighbours’ fences” to see what their garden looks like in a more suitable manner.
The horticulture association hopes the tour will spark new ideas for gardeners for next spring.
“Whether it’s broader design ideas, or if you’re looking for a specific type of plant, something that’s going to be good for parts of your yard, or something that just has the right combination of colours that you’ve been looking for, it’s a great way to source some of those things and things that are going to do well in our climate.”
The annual self-guided Garden Tour runs Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 and can be purchased at local garden centres including the Windmill, Suntaira, Blondie’s Gift and Garden, as well as the Redcliff Public Library and the Medicine Hat Tourist Information Centre.
The purchase of a ticket will provide you a map to all participating residences.
