Green gardens are on tour

An island garden tour Sunday will highlight the work of the island’s ‘greenest’ green thumbs.

Sponsored by the Natural Landscapes Project and the Bainbridge Island Watershed Council, the Sustainable Garden Tour puts the spotlight on home gardens that provide wildlife habitat, foster clean water and include many other earth-friendly practices.

The four-garden tour, includes Carrie West’s prize-winning plot on New Sweden Road. Winner of the Seattle Post-Intellegencer’s “Best Natural Garden” contest, West’s yard is certified as a wildlife habitat through the state’s Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program. West left two-thirds of her one-acre property wild while also planting huckleberries, bleeding hearts, Oregon grape, red-flowering currents and nine-bark, and trillium in her garden.

Jim Gleckler’s garden, up the street from West’s, features a demonstration ‘rain garden’ built in partnership with Natural Landscapes Project.

Working with the natural slope of the land, Gleckler planted shrubs and grasses that are submerged periodically by rains, yet survive without additional water during the summer. Water pools in the garden after storms and slowly percolates into the soil and replenishes ground water, according to the NLP.

In Winslow, Rex and Elizabeth Olsen’s garden illustrates how urban-dwellers can forgo a grass a lawn and replace it with raised planting beds filled with drought-tolerant and low-maintenance plants.

Another Winslow garden, owned by Darren Murphy, shows just how much food can come from a small city lot. Within walking distance of the ferry, Murphy grow dozens of apple, pear and plums varieties, plus a wide assortment of vegetables. Some of the produce is sold at the island’s farmers market while the garden’s berries are used by local ice cream shop Cream of the Crop.

Part of the Murphy family’s success as growers comes from the practice of grafting, which allows many kinds of fruit to be grown on a single tree.

Tour participants can learn from Murphy’s garden various ways he and his family protect apples and other crops from pests.

The Sustainable Garden Tour runs from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, rain or shine. Because space is limited, pre-registration is required. The tour costs $5 but is free for students.

Call 780-3797 to register or for more information.