BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Annual tour shines spotlight on private home gardens
TROY, N.Y. >> For an 18th year, the Friends of Prospect Park hosted its Hidden Garden Tour fundraiser Thursday.
For 3 1/2hours, hundreds of people braved the rain and participated in selfguided walking tours that featured the private backyard gardens of about 30 residents of the historic Sage College and Washington Park neighborhoods, as well as adjoining portions of downtown Troy.
While most of the gardens were of about the same size, in the range of 20 feet by 30 feet, they varied greatly in style. Some featured charming pathways, fountains and fish pools, while others were filled with flowers and still others had more plants and vegetables, all tended by gardeners of all skill levels.
“It’s really fun to be invited into these spaces to enjoy them,” said Troy gardener Emily Menn. “I go to see all of my neighbors’ gardens because I’m nosy and I want to see who I should hit up for plants.”
Organizers of the annual fundraiser say the unique event allows people to explore some of the hidden treasures they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to see from the street.
“Most people only ever see the facades of our brownstones from the streets,” said Rensselaer County Legislator Peter Grimm, who is also presi-
dent of the Friends of Prospect Park and shows his own home garden on the tour each year. “This is a special kind of event that invites visitors into the hidden, green spaces of our city. It really showcases the humanity and livability of Troy.”
Grimm said the tour has the potential to become the warm-weather equivalent of Troy’s Victorian Stroll, an annual winter event that draws more than 20,000 visitors to explore the businesses and historic buildings of downtown Troy. In the past, he said, people who have gone on the tour have later purchased homes in the city after seeing what’s truly possible in backyards and courtyards
“This has actually turned out to be this kind of livability promotion for downtown Troy,” said Grimm, “and over the years, people who come to this tour have even bought homes down here.”.
Two of Menn’s gardens on separate properties were featured on the tour and are examples of urban adaptiveness. When she started work on her first garden in 2008, she said it was simply a patch of dirt and clay shaded by a large pine tree, with a horseshoe pit and a lot of beer cans buried by the previous owners. After cutting down the tree and adding good soil, sand and compost, she now has a vibrant flower garden that include elements of both English and French garden designs.
“We chose raised beds for veggies because when you’re an urban gardener you don’t know what’s in the soil,” Menn said, noting that she discovered bricks and stones from a long-gone carriage house when she started digging. “Gardens are these labors of love, especially in these urban environs. A lot of the gardens here are dry and in the shade because of overhead trees or surrounding buildings. That’s hard to work with because there are only a limited number of plants that will grow there, so you get to see people’s creativity in action in city gardens. That’s also why you see potted plants that can be moved around.”
People who took the tour found it to be a unique, fun experience to see the many different gardens.
“I just came to see how people are doing things so that I might get some ideas for my garden,” said Jill Augustine. “I think this is great, and I really like that the people open up their homes and let us all be nosey.”
All proceeds from the tour help to fund ongoing improvement projects in Prospect Park, located on Congress Street. The Friends of Prospect Park have worked since 1996 to enhance the park through annual cleanups, playground improvements, updated signs, increased musical programming, bulb and tree plantings and new benches, with further upgrades planned.