Second Summer Garden Tour Scheduled for Saturday in Lansdale

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

Saturday will bring part two of a new event meant to show off the finest Lansdale has to offer.

And if you enjoyed, or missed, the first one in June, don’t miss the second Lansdale Open Gardens Day of 2023.

"We will be hosting a new batch of gardens for this tour — focusing on native plantings, veggie and fruit gardens and non-traditional gardens,” said organizer Jenniah Caldwell.

In 2022, the first-ever garden tour was held as part of a series of events for the town’s 150th anniversary, and volunteers set up a table in a borough park to hand out maps of the dozens of homes taking part in the tour. Those who attended were asked to donate food for a local food bank, and Caldwell said afterward the first tour raised several carloads and several hundred dollars for those in need.

A second annual tour day was held in June and produced hundreds of pounds in additional donations, prompting a second 2023 tour slated for Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"Like in June, a list of the participating gardens will be posted the day before on the Facebook page, or people can pick up paper maps at Whites Road Park starting at 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the day of the tour from one of our volunteers,” Caldwell said.

Participating is free, and there’s no set order or route, and the Hatfield-based Garden of Health will have information on growing vegetable gardens available during the tour. The August tour will likely feature around ten gardens, with donation boxes for Manna on Main Street food pantry at the park and various gardens on the tour route. Another new addition will be Boardroom Spirits, the distillery located on Third Street, which Caldwell said will be on the map for the tour — and after.

"They have been working on their native garden around the property, and not only will they be hosting visitors and talking about their native garden, they will be offering a 10 percent discount for garden tour attendees that day,” she said.

Why highlight native plants and vegetables? Bceause gardens featuring native plants can help reintroduce those species into local ecysystems, which provides plenty of benefits.

"This not only helps eliminate non-native, often invasive, plants that have been introduced into our gardens, but helps support and rebuild some of our local biodiversity that has been in decline. It is amazing how a few native species of plants can really make a direct difference,” she said.

And why vegetable gardens? Because growing your own food has been growing in popularity, with pandemic years followed by increasingly high food prices.

"While backyard vegetable gardens have been a staple in American gardens, there was a massive increase in interest for homesteading and food sustainability that started with the pandemic. An estimated 18 million people started gardening at that time, and there was an explosion of people interested in growing their own food,” she said.

"There is such a strong demand for these types of gardens and we have some excellent examples of how you can get large, and delicious, harvests from less space than you would expect,” Caldwell said.

For more information follow "Lansdale Open Gardens Day” on Facebook.

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