The warmer weather is just around the corner and one of the most enchanting to-dos on my spring checklist is to save the date for the Gardens of Uxbridge garden tour. For more than 25 years it has remained one of my favourite events of the gardening season.
This garden tour has grown into one of the largest countryside garden tours near the greater Toronto area. Each June, eight private residential gardens are featured. The self-driving tour makes for a great day of touring the small heritage town of Uxbridge and the rolling countryside that is Uxbridge Township. Situated north of Pickering and east of York Region, it is an easy area to find and explore.
This year marks the 29th year of the garden tour and it seems fitting that this year’s tour will have feature gardens with a wealth of history and stories to tell. The tour date is on Saturday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A good garden tour can offer inspiration to home gardeners, and this one is full of interesting plants and unique properties. There are always good garden design lessons to be had. You might take note of how to make a beautiful environment on a tiny urban lot, how to create a native plant habitat, what plants to use in a shade garden or which ones to choose for all-season bloom.
There are a variety of gardens on the Uxbridge tour ranging from a foundation garden incorporating nesting, glass art, and a trough garden, to an orchestrated arboretum surrounding an idyllic country home. There are woodland shade gardens, peony gardens, rose gardens, native plant gardens, bulb gardens, vegetable gardens and more. Garden decor ideas run the gamut from metal and fabric sculptures to exquisite stone ornamentation and woodworks.
Fabulous volunteers will be stationed in each garden to answer questions about the tour, the plants and design features. You can stroll around the 8 gardens at your own pace and set your own route for a customized day in the country.
Visit the Gardens of Uxbridge website Tickets page to purchase online tickets which go on sale May 1st ~ just in time for Mother’s Day!
The website has more information and is updated as the tour approaches.
Tickets are $25 per person (plus processing fee)
Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are free.
Happy Spring!