Gardening with attitude
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Master Gardeners Association Garden Tour
When: Saturday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sunday 11a.m.- 5 p.m.
Cost: $15 for all six gardens, $5 for single garden
Ticket outlets: Earthworks Nursery, 102 E. Airline Road; Four Seasons Garden Center, 1209 Salem ...
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Master Gardeners Association Garden Tour
When: Saturday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sunday 11a.m.- 5 p.m.
Cost: $15 for all six gardens, $5 for single garden
Ticket outlets: Earthworks Nursery, 102 E. Airline Road; Four Seasons Garden Center, 1209 Salem Road, Devereaux Gardens, 1313 N. Navarro St.
Maps of gardens available at http://www.vcmga.org/
Extension Office: 361-575-4581.
A beautiful house is not complete without a beautiful yard, said gardener Suzann Herricks.
Herricks, 67, plants and maintains the entire garden herself.
"I can't imagine having a property and not having a pretty yard to go with it," the Victoria resident said. "Just the desire to have a yard that looks pretty when it's part of your house."
Herricks' garden was chosen by Victoria County Master Gardener as one of this year's six for a public tour.
"We were impressed that she does it all," said Sara Meyer, a co-chair for the garden tour. "I think her attitude about gardening is wonderful."
When the Herricks first purchased their home, the yard was plain and only had grass.
"There was nothing," she said. "You could look out and just see the fence."
Four years later, Herricks slowly turned it into a peaceful garden she can enjoy sitting outside to admire.
Along the sides of her yard lay long beds of coreopsis, artichokes, black pearls, crape myrtles, and more. The garden also features curved edges, a water fountain, a porch swing, and an arch.
Her husband, Kenneth, also helps out with building structures for her.
"He's good with heavy labor, if I can get him off the golf course," she said. "He helped build the swing. He built all the structures. He's quite a perfectionist, so when he builds something, it's done right."
Maintaining any garden isn't easy work, she said. She keeps the end result in mind as she works.
"With the hard labor outside in the summer when it's hot and sweaty and disagreeable, you have to love the result," she said. "And it doesn't always cooperate everyday. It's constantly changing, just like life."
There's a special reward in maintaining the garden yourself, she said.
"My Scottish grandmother would turn over in her grave if she found out I'd paid to have it done," Herricks joked. "I'm too cheap to let someone else do it for me. There's a lot of personal satisfaction in doing it yourself."
