Satiated and saturated

When I read about a Chicagoland garden tour on the gardeninacity blog, I decided it sounded like a good excuse to get out of town. The tour is a triennial event sponsored by the North Park Village chapter of the Wild Ones and features member gardens as well as community gardens. I went in hopes of garnering some fresh ideas for my yard and came away with a brain overflowing with possibilities.

I took these photos with my phone, so they are not the best. I've tried to group them here by themes rather by location, as my photography talents don't do justice to the beauty at each site. Apologies aside, welcome to a little tour of the garden tour.

After braving the Friday afternoon traffic, on Saturday I was happy we could leave the driving to a professional for the tour. At first, I thought the side of the bus said "Positive Corrections" and I wondered if we were going to be picking up trash along the highway. I also felt a bit like I was being dropped off at camp, as my SO planned to spend his day on a cemetery crawl. However, the group was a friendly one, and soon I felt at home among like-minded folks.

One theme at some of the gardens, both private and public, was how effective rain gardens are at eliminating drainage problems. My front yard occasionally floods due to a slow storm sewer, so a rain garden (or two) may be in my future.

Public efforts that we visited included the Niles Rain Garden (pictured above) and the Niles Bioinfiltration Facility Project...

... the Loyola Beach Dunes...

... and the Albany Park Community Center (this garden needs a champion to provide upkeep).

Not only were the gardens unique, the houses each had their own style.

My garden is full of fences, so I was glad to see I'm not the only one who finds they are sometimes a necessity. Many of the yards were enclosed with privacy fences, something I have considered, although instead of creating a cozy retreat, a privacy fence around my yard might look like a stockade.

I've decided I need more bird baths and garden art. These yards sported other ideas big and small, including a trellis made from branches...

... a house that wraps a tree...

... brick paths...

... a tidy and hidden compost area...

... and archways.

And of course we cannot forget the true stars of the tour, the plants themselves. They were at their summer height in beauty; I could not help but wonder what they look like in spring and fall.

The yards on the tour were smaller than mine, and generally more shady. I am also guessing the soil is not heavy clay, like mine, so I will have to take care when picking plants and applying some of these ideas. However, I am more than ready to abandon my arbitrary landscaping methods. These gardens showed me that you don't have to be a purist or a perfectionist or an expert to create a lovely wild area.

Returning to the land of green meatballs and dyed mulch was a bit jarring. Spending a day with my "tribe" fed my inner gardener in a way I had not anticipated. Fort Wayne does not have a local chapter of the Wild Ones, but I know there are some garden hardy souls around here. I just have to crawl out of my weed patch long enough to find them.