1. Peter and Valerie Radford
1030 Danby Mountain Road, Dorset
You will see a series of garden spaces of various shapes and sizes. The gardens vary in style, referred to as a Japanese garden through to a Mediterranean inspired terrace with lavender growing in the crevices of the rock face. This year there are two new gardens and a long peony border to broaden the variety of the garden spaces. The creative owners have added to their collection of corten steel planters which bring a touch of the modern to contrast with the antiquity of the rock. Sometimes they let plants self-seed and then remove those they don’t want. Other times they carefully curate the planting to accentuate the scale and topography that are the backdrop to all they do. They always emphasize naturalistic planting and make the rocks and the outcrops a feature to heighten the relationship with the surrounding woodland.

2. Bill and Wenke Sterns
3739 Route 30, Dorset
The gardens have evolved over many years into a casual, colorful landscape that defines outdoor spaces and frames views of the golf course and mountains. The grounds feature a marble terrace for outdoor living, kitchen herbs, summer annuals, and classic perennials like peonies, iris, daisies, and phlox, alongside seasonal shrubs for screening.

Recent improvements to the driveway include a stone retaining wall, granite pavers for accessible parking, and a pruned beech hedge for road privacy. These beds emphasize foliage and texture with Blue Billow Hydrangeas, golden elderberry, columnar yew, and ground-layer perennials. Additionally, invasive honeysuckles were recently replaced with a fescue underplanting and a boundary of paper birch and serviceberry along the golf course.

3. Emily Bateson and Tom Cooper
54 Kirby Hollow Road, Dorset
The five-acre property with the house at its center is surrounded by mixed borders and blends of trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals. The aim is to achieve a natural look and to produce the longest season of interest. In addition to making borders, the owners have been making meadows. They have planted thousands of bulbs in the area of spring displays that give wildflowers free reign. The gardens are self-run, for better or worse. It is a work in progress. Enjoy!

Do not miss looking closely at the two upturned stump remains from the cleared pine forest surrounding the house.

4. Geoffrey Campe
33 Nichols Hill Road, Dorset
Notes from the owner:
I would categorize my garden as an English garden with controlled chaos and a bit mysterious. When I bought my home I added two additions and renovated a cottage on the property. Each construction required removingall the plants from the gardens and replanting each time. Additionally woodchucks decided to make themselves quite at home in the gardens. In adversity there is a special joy of recreating a new garden and how your perspective evolves. My gardens bring me great joy and contentment and I feel a visceral connection to them.  There are many varieties of lilies and peonies, roses, tall meadow rue, chinese ragwort, and common mullein.
I don’t employ a landscaper or garden designer but I do have my soul imbued in my gardens.

5. Sewall Hodges
54 Dorset West Road, Dorset
Raven Quarry House, once a site of raw land and abandoned marble quarries, has been transformed over thepast twenty-five years by its owners into a vibrant garden and nature sanctuary. The property features ten distinct gardens, wooden walkways, and viewing points, all created alongside the presence of nesting ravens.  With seasonal waterfalls, blooming bulbs, and unique stone outcroppings, the house and grounds are a continually evolving tribute to both nature and the legacy of those who worked the quarries.

6. Peggy and Bill Fritts

2846 West Road, Manchester
This 1761 Gunstock Post & Beam home originally sat only feet away from Manchester’s West Road, where it served as a home, a barn, and an inn. In 2008, Peggy and Bill Fritts had the house dismantled and reassembled further back on the property, while also adding a new addition. A section of the original foundation remains visible near the pond.
 

The property features a park-like setting with mature trees, stone walls, a pond, and a tumbling stream.  Notable features include a 200-year-old apple tree, a birch grove, and a massive Norway Spruce adjacent to the barn. Peggy’s love of color is showcased in the horseshoe-shaped country garden tucked into the stonewalls next to the house.

At the north end, a productive cut flower and vegetable garden thrives in raised cedar beds, protected by the high stone walls. To the south, the stone walls open to a view across the entire property. This evolving garden is a true labor of love that continues to expand each year.

7. Barnstead Inn, Andrea Conrad, Owner/Manager
349 Bonnet Street, Manchester
The Barnstead Inn gardens feature expansive perennial borders layered with seasonal annuals, designed to provide continuous color and texture from spring through fall. The planting style blends a relaxed, cottage-inspired feel with a refined, intentional layout.  Designed with entertaining in mind, the gardens frame the patios and gathering spaces. They serve as a vibrant backdrop for weddings and special events, where every bloom contributes to the overall atmosphere.

8. Sharon Umhoeffer
268 Meadow Ridge Road, Manchester
We invite you to tour a series of gardens harmoniously blending perennials and annuals, maintained by a Garden Club of Manchester member. The front foundation beds feature astilbe, hosta, azalea, lilies, delphinium, hydrangea, Japanese Maple, and variegated Dogwood, with surrounding beds of daylilies, bearded iris, and coneflowers.

The back of the property features a Victorian Orangery housing herbs, citrus trees, and annuals, bordered by lilac, rhododendron, and a cutting garden of zinnias, daisies, and snapdragons. Before continuing the tour, please enjoy music and refreshments beneath the two-tier gazebo.