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Tour beckons public to colorful gardens
(by Joan Demirjian - June 06, 2012)
Tour beckons public to colorful gardens
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
When Bruce and Reva Waldo moved to their home in Bainbridge 15 years ago, there were a half dozen hostas in the yard.
Over the years, Mr. Waldo has created gardens that now surround the house that overlooks a stream running to a 23-foot waterfall.
The are colors everywhere. The gardens attract friends, neighbors and other visitors, the Waldos said. Their yard now has thousands of annuals and an estimated 2,500 perennials.
Their gardens will be on display in the Geauga County Master Gardeners annual garden tour and plant sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 20. The event features gardens in Auburn and Bainbridge. Proceeds benefit the organization's scholarship fund.
Mr. Waldo built a wood archway featuring a moon-shaped entrance to the gardens at the request of Mrs. Waldo, after she saw one at Hathaway Brown School. Wisteria hugs the top of the archway.
The gardens are set off with stonework in pathways and walls. Seven bronze sculptures featuring children are located throughout the gardens. One has three children overlooking a ledge that borders the stream. The sculptures are all surrounded by flowers.
When they bought the property, Mr. Waldo said, he had no plans and just started planting. In many cases, they were plants he transplanted from other areas of the yard, he said. "As they matured, I would separate and move them. For the first three years, I just planted."
He created all the beds with perennials, including hostas, day lilies and hydrangeas. Among their favorite plants is the allium, including the starburst and the schuberti. A replica of a wood farm wagon is filled with annual flowers.
While he does the planting, Mrs. Waldo does the deadheading, removing faded flowers. "Bruce is up at 6:30 in the morning, and he's out there planting all the time," she said.
He spends six to eight hours a day in the gardens six to seven days a week, Mr. Waldo said. "It's fun, and it's my exercise," he said. "I do what comes naturally and what looks good. I've made mistakes, and some things didn't grow, and I learned."
He installed a sprinkler system to keep the gardens watered.
A deck showing off annuals in containers leads to a gazebo sitting high above the stream below. "We eat out here almost every night in the summer," Mr. Waldo said.
An 8-foot falls can be seen from the gazebo. There are seven little waterfalls on the property, as well as the 23-foot falls.
The three challenges they work with are the shade, bedrock and the squirrels and chipmunks that dig up and eat the flower bulbs, they said. However, birds find safe haven in the many bird houses and the cover offered by the trees and shrubs.
"We absolutely love this place," Mr. Waldo said.
Among the other destinations on the Master Gardeners tour is one in Auburn that features shade gardens, hostas of many varieties and a garden with Knockout roses.
Another Auburn garden features approximately 4,000 square feet of flowers, vegetables and water gardens meant to give the feeling of an English garden. Specimen trees are labeled, and there is a secret garden.
A garden in Bainbridge has sun and shade gardens, as well as woodland walkways. It has unusual art, some created by the owners, and unusual plantings, including coralback Japanese maple, full moon Japanese maple and weeping purple beach.
Tickets for the tour are $15 each. They can be purchased in advance by calling 440-834-4656 or on the day of the sale at Adam Hall, 11455 E. Washington St. in Auburn.
On the day of the tour, Master Gardeners also will hold a plant sale at Adam Hall with perennials, annuals, houseplants, trees, shrubs, tropical plants, vegetables and herbs. Many are donated by the Master Gardeners from their home gardens. Tool sharpening will be available for knives, scissors and garden tools, most of them for $5 to $10. Refreshments and garden art also will be available.
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