2008 Resource Guide

Melissa Wood

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Cultivate Your Own Pocket Garden Five Things to Consider Before Planting 1. Sunlight: Find out the amount of sunlight that will shine on the spot you’re considering planting. Check the site during the day and keep in mind where tall trees are since summer light will be less once the trees are fully leafed. 2. Soil: You can send a soil sample to the Cooperative Extension at University of New Hampshire, whose researchers will perform an analysis and give recommendations for a reasonable fee. For instructions and forms go to soiltest.htm. 3. Plants: Once you find your site’s sunlight and soil type, it’s time to get plants. Talk to gardeners at your local nursery for recommendations or check out The Best Plants for New Hampshire Gardens and Landscapes. 4. Design: As a general rule, shorter plants should be located in the front and taller ones behind. Also keep in mind the texture and color of the plants you choose. Plan for the year by including plants that will bloom in spring, summer, and fall. 5. Maintenance: You may want to use mulch to cut down on weeding and watering. If the site receives a lot of sun, it will need to be watered more than a site in the shade. Recommendations from Joan Bonnette, Master Gardener volunteer at the University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension.

A tour of private gardens in Portsmouth’s South End demonstrates that almost any patch of dirt, no matter what the size, can hold a garden—and it might inspire you to look at each nook and corner of your own yard a bit differently.

“I think gardeners naturally like to sneak a peak at other people’s efforts,” says Roddy Cole, chair of the 19th annual Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour, which takes place on June 20 and 21. “It allows them access to places that are generally private. So I think they appreciate that.”

Houses in this historic neighborhood are both close to the street and close together, but there are gardens here: tucked away on side streets, filling narrow gaps between houses, climbing over fences, or weaving around brick patios and stone walkways in lush backyards that can’t be seen from the sidewalk.

“Gardens range from truly small, unique gardens to heavily landscaped gardens and some we call works in progress—the whole range,” says Cole. Some of the gardens will feature artists and musicians, as well as master gardeners from the University of New Hampshire, who will make the tour even more of a learning experience.

“Gardeners really like to get ideas. So that’s a big part of it for them,” explains Cole. “We get garden clubs that come up from Boston and down from Maine.”

Organizers plan the tour as a two-mile walking route around the South End, which will include at least nine private homes and the gardens of the historic Thomas Bailey Aldrich House at Strawbery Banke, “because it is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and the garden is very sweet,” explains Cole. “With a beautiful circular glade of trees, it’s just tucked right in on the side there.”

The Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour will take place no matter what the weather. “Gardeners are a hardy bunch; rain or shine, they’re going to be out there taking notes, comparing their gardens and the skills they see on the tour,” says Cole.

Alexis Gray, whose garden is featured on this year’s tour, describes her garden design as free flowing. “I’m pretty much a blue and pink and white flower person depending on the mood I’m in and then take it from there,” she explains.

Alexis says she inherited her passion for gardening from her mother. “If there was a little patch of dirt she’d always stick some flowers in it,” says Alexis. She also learned a few things about gardening from her Greek grandfather, whose whole backyard was a vegetable garden.

“So I always say I have the best tomatoes in the neighborhood because I’m blessed with my grandfather’s talent,” says Alexis.

She hopes that her 10-year-old daughter will also inherit her love of gardening. She already has a hillside garden of peonies, containing many plants brought by guests to her fifth birthday party. At the garden party, Alexis explains, children brought plants as gifts, and also painted their own plant containers in which they brought home lavender and peonies.

The Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour also includes a plant sale at the Unitarian Universalist Church (also known as the South Church), whose community programs will benefit from tour proceeds. The plant sale takes place on both days of the tour and will be expanded this year to include a larger selection of perennials from nurseries in the area and unusual annuals from Jacquelyn Nooney Landscape, Inc.

Cole says the tour is a great introduction for visitors to Portsmouth. “I think the community of Portsmouth is very welcoming and people often come back to the church at the end of the tour,” she says, adding, “It’s a very happy event to see people wandering around seeking beauty.”

What, Where and When

The 19th Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour takes place on Friday, June 20, from 5–8 p.m., and Saturday, June 21, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Tickets go on sale mid-May and are $17 in advance, and $20 on the days of the tour. Group price of five tickets for $75. They can be purchased at the South Church, and various locations, including Rolling Green Nursery, Riverrun Bookstore, South Street & Vine, and Nicole’s Hallmark. For more information call the South Church at 603 436-4762 or contact chair Roddy Cole at 603 433-8525.