19th Annual Gardens in the Watershed Tour
Gardens Map
Gardens Featured:
For details, click the Garden in which you are interested; click again to hide the details.
Garden 1
Kathie & Marc Johnson
Collins Cove Lane, Cushing
"Music Man Effect": transforming lousy instrumentalists into a decent band by sheer numbers. And so too with the Johnsons who went from 2 decades of a lonely hanging fuschia before moving to Cushing 18 years ago, to planting their barren property without rhyme, reason, or a clue. In response to Marc's desire to build rock walls ANYWHERE, Kathie suggested a raised bed. New beds were needed constantly because the dummies kept falling in love with new plants for which there was no room. The scrub under the oaks along the gazebo on the river was annoying enough so that it was turned into a shade bed; and the rock boulders that came from blasting for a new basement cried out to be landscaped; and then, of course they needed a LITTLE bit of gardening in the sunshine, etc. A couple of other features on the property are the painted garage doors which were inspired by the original single-bay-garage-turned music studio, and the whimsical tile-embedded concrete sidewalk which took two dozen people aged 7 to 70 to complete.
Garden 2 
Gregory Moore & Kathleen Starrs
McCarter Point Road, Cushing
It's been twelve years since the original Heartfelt Farm down the road in Cushing burned to the ground. Now at a new location, this twenty acre section of fields and woodlands on McCarter Point, has for the last ten years become home to Kathleen and Gregory's "new" Heartfelt Farm. Slowly over this time they have created an abundant and colourful landscape of formal cottage gardens, filled with a variety of flowering perennial favorites, shrubs and annuals, all surrounding the original restored 1773 Farmhouse. More than 30 varieties of winter hardy roses surrounded by nepeta, flank the central arbored pathway leading into the production gardens of the farm. Branching in two directions, this reveals cut flower beds for market, a small kitchen garden, dahlia beds and a larger growing area for rose, perennial and market produce production. Nestled inside of a privet and rugosa hedge, this aspect of the farm also includes small fruit trees and soft fruits, composting and amendment staging areas and a hoophouse for seedling starts and extended season crops. Growing mostly for the cut flower and nursery perennial market, the farm also operates a small floral workshop, as well as design and garden maintenance services.
11 am TALK: Gregory Moore on Sustainable Gardening.
Garden 3
Karen Veit
Ridgeview Drive, Thomaston
From the road, most visitors to Ridgeview Drive in Thomaston have no idea what lies behind Karen Veit's modest cape. Following Maine's homesteading tradition, Veit has spent seven tireless years engaged in the task of clearing land by hand without the modern convenience of large equipment, fighting back thickets of sumac to allow for what has emerged to be a very non-traditional garden. Both a challenge and a unique facet to the landscape, the sloping topography of the main bed can be best appreciated from below. Vibrant color groupings and fluid lines create a harmonious blending with the land's natural rise and fall as the hillside gives way to the St. George River. An unexpected retreat in a suburban neighborhood, visitors are surprised to be greeted by the occasional whistle of Maine Eastern Railroad's train punctuating the solitude of the garden.
1 pm TALK: Gwen Patro on Flower Arranging.
Garden 4
Daria Peck
Gleason Street, Thomaston
The garden has been evolving by sections for 7 years. Originally eyed as a place to grow pumpkins with my grandson, the area was thick with bamboo, wild roses and underbrush galore. The first section took 5 months of cutting and clearing, with construction of bridges to carry out the brush and wood. The first perennials were planted in August, with the three-fold goal of keeping the area natural, preserving the natural contour of the land and minimizing upkeep. The following year, a brush cutter and chain saw enabled further expansion. Each year, the focus has been on ridding another section of bamboo and preparing it for planting.
A fierce love of being outside, determination and family were the driving forces that eventually shaped the garden as you see it today. There have been many successes, some failures, learning and tired muscles. Good neighbors and a supportive community contribute to an enormous amount of personal satisfaction.
Garden 5
Loretta Krupinski
Ledge Road, South Thomaston
A children's book author/illustrator and fine artist, the owner uses her artist's eye for color and composition in the landscape while maintaining the balance between native flora (including the dreaded blackberry bushes) and cultivated areas. Because the property is on water frontage, state ordinance guidelines must be followed, so she tries to keep plants low to open the view. Cruel northeast winds affect the choice of plants, but the hardiest of ever-blooming rugosas compliment the mix. The main garden is a blend of perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses, tall bush blueberries, plum trees and beach plums, with a touch of sculpture whimsy here and there. Birds in the garden are plentiful, and there are eagles, osprey, blue herons and shorebirds just beyond in the changing tidal landscape. Small raised vegetable beds add a challenge and the occasional epicurean delights.
3 pm TALK: Lorette Krupinski on attracting wildlife to the garden.
Garden 6
Cindy & Mike Lucas
Snow Hill Lane, South Thomaston
Created from a meadow facing due south over Ballyhac Cove, the garden is only five years old and still a work in progress. It features a curved stone-paved terrace planted with many varieties of pinks, thymes and other creepers, supported by a stone wall necessitated by our discovery that the new house had been built on a truly huge sand hill! Sweet peas and honeysuckle now climb the wall and make it presentable. An S-shaped grass path divides the large perennial beds, planted in a Maine adaptation of English cottage style with peonies, roses, bearded iris, and delphiniums. The stone-lined swale and rills running to it remove excess water from one side and provide ideal spots for self-sown primula and Siberian iris. The other large bed is planted with roses and raised beds of mixed perennials. Later in the season, the steep slope to the west blazes with a "sunset garden" of daylilies, sedum, and poppies. A hedge of mixed rugosas provides the finishing touch at the bottom of the garden, dividing it from the meadow and the sea beyond.
Map showing the Garden Tour locations.
Click to disclose or hide a map showing the location of each of the six gardens. It is recommended that this map be used in conjunction with a standard road map to locate each garden. You can download and print a copy of the map.
Download a map to print. The map is a PDF and you may need the free Adobe Reader, which you can download HERE.
