More Keep Brevard Beautiful: 2017 Cleanup series James Fletcher’s property occasionally gets visited by alligators and wild boar, but don’t worry, for the master gardener promises these unwanted guests will not be anywhere in sight when he shows off the pond and hundreds of trees and palms at his Merritt Island garden.Įven Keep Brevard Beautiful chief Tony Sasso is opening his own Cape Canaveral home to the tour this year. The site includes tropic, patio, shade, butterfly, pollinator and hummingbird gardens. All the plants are grown by volunteers who are master gardens. “Many of the homeowners really get into the spirit of the event.”Īt the Brevard Botanical Gardens in Cocoa, guests can see best management practices implemented throughout the garden and its nursery. “Jerry loves to share his gardening experiences with all his guests,” said Pat Brown, deputy executive director at Keep Brevard Beautiful. Like many of the homeowners on the tour, the Hunts will welcome visitors with treats, in their case, lemongrass tea. Among the Hunt acreage is a cornucopia of fruit trees, from citrus and mango to fig and lychee nut. Their rural landscape includes a third-of-an-acre pond with a sand beach and wooden deck. There is nothing small about Jerry and Darleen Hunt’s garden in Merritt Island. “It does portray how one really can make a small place into a beautiful refuge,” said Rota. “My little oasis in small places is based on the Japanese concept of ‘wabi-sabi,’ which means the beautiful of imperfection,” said Rota, who had to battle everything from overabundant shade and roaming plant-hungry chickens to fashion her Zen garden. The Orient also served as inspiration for Patricia Rota’s little garden, also in Rockledge. More zen: Gigantic Buddhist statues in Mims The Roberts garden features a faux stream leading to a black pagoda embraced by plantings of tiger and black bamboos. Daniel Roberts, who with his wife Carol re-created the serenity of a Japanese garden on their one-and-a-half acres on the Indian River. There is even a touch of the Orient in Rockledge in the garden of retired dermatologist Dr. Gardeners should glean plenty of inspiration from the diverse properties showcased, which include a demonstration garden and Lagoon Friendly Lawns-certified gardens. “It is an opportunity to see what can be done.” “We’ll explore everything from art and edibles to natives and nutrient pollution reduction practices that benefit our Indian River Lagoon,” said Bryan Bobbitt, deputy director for Keep Brevard Beautiful. This year’s Secret Garden Tour on May 20 will focus on the backyards of eight properties located between State Road 528 and Pineda Causeway. Results may vary when you visit Keep Brevard Beautiful’s secret gardens this year, but you will undoubtedly head home feeling better than you did before you left, for such is the power of a day in a garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s story, The Secret Garden, focuses on the regenerative and almost life-saving quality of a particular green space.
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