Heritage Hill Garden Tour highlights diverse neighborhood gardens

The seventh annual Heritage Hill Garden Tour, a walking tour of private gardens in the neighborhood, was open to the public on July 12. Since it began, the garden tour has alternated every year between the north and south districts of the neighborhood. This year highlighted gardens south of Fulton Street, confining the tour to an easily walkable five block radius. 

There was a diverse group of gardens on display this year, with gardens both young and old, sprawling and intimate and lively and serene. One gardener, Kay Courtney, aimed to transform her garden into a veritable “jungle” of assorted plants, while another gardener, Julie Walker, designed hers to be a “quiet, meditative oasis.”

Kate Diedrich, Vice President of the Heritage Hill Association, was among the first group of gardeners to put their yards on display in 2008. She says that since then, she has seen an increase in passionate gardeners throughout the neighborhood.

“One person on the block begins gardening and then it starts to spread,” Diedrich says. “Just walking through the Hill now, you see all these amazing, beautiful, sometimes quirky gardens. Most of us just have little spaces, so you see all these very creative approaches to what you can do in a small space.”

Diedrich also says that the garden tour has been effective at fostering a sense of community, especially among the neighborhood's many green-thumbed residents. On the night before the tour, the participants get together for a party and a “garden crawl” through the neighborhood to view each other's gardens. Every year, she keeps an eye out for new additions to their gardening community.

“I walk through the Hill, and when I see a cool garden in the front I kind of sneak in the backyard and hope I don't get arrested,” Diedrich says, laughing. “I always carry a notepad or something so I look official. And most people are really glad to share their gardens.”