Park Hill Garden Walk: Hands In The Dirt
Gardeners Find Quiet Solitude In a Frenetic World
By Kate Blanas | Park Hill Garden Walk Organizer
Kate Blanas and her husband, Jim, in their Park Hill garden. The couple opened their garden to visitors last year. File photo by Cara DeGette
Behind each of the eight beautiful gardens featured in this year’s Park Hill Garden Walk are the amazing gardeners.
Some of them remember their first gardens from their childhood and were inspired by their mothers, fathers, grandparents and neighbors. Others found their first gardening joy as adults in their current homes.
Sandy Stoll and Rebecca Moore both describe how their gardens have little by little taken over the original lawns. Whether they wear boots or shoes, gloves or not, a hat or a neck fan, gardeners garden for a wide range of reasons. Besides juicy tomatoes, benefits include working outside, hands in the dirt, creating beauty, bounty and finding a quiet place in our frenetic world.
“I find the nurturing, tending, and faithfulness that a garden requires deeply satisfying,” says Rebecca Lee. “Gardening connects me to the earth and the life-affirming act of growing things. I view gardening as a life practice. I do the best I can and let go of the outcome. Not always easy — especially when a snowstorm hits the first week in May.”
Making peace with imperfections
Other than bindweed, learning to work with and not against unpredictable Denver weather is the greatest challenge for gardeners whose creations are featured in the June 7 neighborhood event.
Gardeners have many different approaches and styles, but all involve flexibility, determination and patience. Micki Amick has learned to accept that a third of what she plants will not survive. Camille Moore is guided by efforts to find the “right plant, right place.”
“That philosophy has drawn me deeper into native plants, which support local pollinators and feel true to this place,” she says. “I’ve come to genuinely appreciate what makes Colorado’s landscape distinctive, rather than trying to impose something on it.”
Colleen Gill goes with a “survival of the fittest” approach, but her husband, Ron, nurtures and shepherds the seedlings to help them mature into independent plants.
Happy gardeners must make peace with imperfections. In this year’s gardens you will see examples of experimentation, passion and creative spirit.
Gardeners not only grow plants, but grow and change themselves.
“I don’t get as upset as I used to when I lose a plant,” says Stoll. “In the early years I would take pride in knowing every plant name, but now I don’t remember as many. But I know which are my favorites.”
Deborah Bianco describes some of her changes: “We have lived in this house for many years, so trees have come and gone and come again. Shade turned to sun and to shade again, and the flowers changed accordingly. Now that I am older, I have turned to plants that need less TLC. I look to grasses, shrubs, and perennials that are interesting because of contrasting colors, textures, and shapes. I still have fun.”
Amick says she now thinks more about what plants and trees will provide in terms of native landscape, food for her and other species, and sustainability in a changing climate.
Beauty in drought
Garden walkers this year will also see how landscapes are faring under drought conditions. For the first time, watering restrictions have been in effect in the months leading up to the big day.
“Water-conscious gardening is something I’ve practiced for a long time,” says Camille Moore. who has intentionally focused on low-water and native plants. “Most years, I don’t even begin watering until mid-to-late June. But the lack of snowpack this year has been genuinely concerning. I just keep reminding myself not to panic, our garden was built for this.”
Throughout Denver, xeriscaping, long a buzzword, has become a necessity as more gardeners are learning to adapt to the semi-arid climate. Less water, less lawn and more native plants work in the drier times we are facing. Survival of the fittest is no longer just a gardening style but is now almost a requirement for success.
The Garden Walk raises approximately $20,000 each year to help support the five food programs at Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. If you are interested in joining the Garden Walk committee, volunteering the day of, sponsoring a garden or can suggest a garden for next year’s event, please contact Paula Marinelli at paulagardenwalk@gmail.com.
The Fine Print
What: Park Hill Garden Walk — Tour Of 8 Local Gardens
When: June 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sneak peek: These images are from three of the eight gardens that are featured in this year’s Park Hill Garden Tour.
Tickets: Online at parkhillgardenwalk.org. Also available at City Floral, Spinelli’s and the Park Hill Branch Library
Adults: $20
Seniors (65+): $15
Day of Event: $25
Children under 12: Free
Raffle tickets: Win a Garden-In-A-Box from Denver Water. Prices are $5 for one ticket, $10 for three tickets
Get A Hori Hori…
… And Other Pro Tips
Here are some helpful tips from this year’s gardeners:
Read The Undaunted Garden by Lauren Springer, which describes adaptations necessary for Colorado gardeners.
Use a Hori Hori knife (sometimes called a “weeding knife”) It’s Rebecca Lee’s favorite tool for almost everything.
Support local nurseries that sell native and acclimated plants.
Keep a garden journal, to document successes and failures.
Make a garden spreadsheet to stay organized.
Shop at thrift stores for cool things for your garden.
New This Year: Plants For Sale
This year, featured gardener Colleen Gill is hosting a sale of plant seedlings and starters.
These plants will be available for sale on the the day of the Garden Walk, with proceeds going to to the Greater Park Hill Community food program.
If you have surplus seedlings or “weedlings” from your own garden, drop them off before the day of the Garden Walk in small containers with some soil to 6645 17th Avenue (at Niagara Street). Leave them on the side porch off the driveway, and Colleen will take over their care.
If possible, include helpful information about your plants, including name, color, grow size, light and water requirements. It would also be helpful if you could send a picture of the mother plant to Colleen at colleen@nutrition-foundations.com.
Also, thanks to a donation from Denver Water, attendees may enter a raffle for a chance to win a Garden-In-A-Box. This do-it-yourself kit contains quart-sized perennial plants, Plant-by-Number maps, and maintenance suggestions.
Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the ticket pick-up site (19th & Forest Parkway) and at each home on the 2026 Garden Walk tour.