Day 2 of GWA Dallas Garden Tours, School Garden and Japanese/Memory Garden

Forgive me for not having the proper names of the gardens of Day 2. I've lost my handout with the garden descriptions that we were given on the bus. Someone please let me know the names!

The first stop for my bus on Day 2 was a school garden. It was very charming and a great outdoor lab for classes. One of the parents was showing off her kid's nature notebook, complete with drawings and all sorts of insights. I could imagine this as an excellent precursor to the detailed notebook of a future gardener.

The next garden had a split personality disorder. Near the house was a beautifully detailed Japanese garden complete with tea house and koi pond. Beyond that was the "outsider art" or "visionary environment" garden with collections and sculptures made from very modest materials. Kind of nice to be able to go out into one's garden and choose between such different spaces.

Day 1 of GWA Dallas Garden Tours, Garden on Turtle Creek and the Pump House Garden

At our last destination for the day, the adjoining Pump House Garden and Garden on Turtle Creek were both spare and minimal. I headed over to Turtle Creek first since it seemed less crowded. The front hillside bunker plantings had me a bit confused as I approached. Not sure exactly where to go, or what I was approaching, I still enjoyed the stone terraces for their massiveness and weight. I also really appreciated the well placed paths throughout the garden, as well as the contrast between the rigid industrial hardscape materials and the loose, wild native creek plantings. I love a garden that can create a dynamic tension between man and nature. The Garden on Turtle Creek did just that.

Then over at the Pump House garden I was totally falling for the reclaimed building turned garden space (where can I pick up an abandoned building for my backyard??) when my camera battery died. Grrr... So I didn't get as many shots as I would have liked. I'm a big fan of decay in the garden so I was loving the broken concrete, rust and peeling paint, especially when paired with the soft sensuous youthful hillocks of grass nearby. Age and youth. Decay and regrowth. Another excellent example of dynamic tension in the garden.

Day 1 of GWA Dallas Garden Tours, Wolford Garden and Hegi Garden

The next gardens our tour bus headed for were the Wolford Garden and the Hegi Garden. The Wolford Garden struck me as a touch pretentious at times, but had some really great hardscape details and interesting atypical plantings for the Dallas area. Very reminiscent of a high-end Balinese hotel with tropical plants, an exotic looking pool and plush outdoor living spaces. No doubt about it, I bet this is a great party house!

The Hegi garden was a bit more introspective with woodland walks and a solemn cavernous outdoor room. Possibly a bit more mosquito prone, since the garden was edged with a boggy creek, but with a feeling of just having discovered some long lost remnant of native woodland.