We became an AHS Display Garden in 2009. To be a display garden we had to meet certain requirements. One is having your garden fairly weed free (not weed free) and have your daylilies labeled with the daylily name and hybridizer. We have had the Master Gardeners here twice and will be coming again in June. One of the garden clubs came year before last. Other groups have come, too. We were on the AHS Region 5 Tour last June with over 200 people coming through the garden (not all at one time). We were on a pond tour several years ago and will be again the first Saturday in June. The National is coming to the greater Atlanta area in 2015, and we have applied to be a tour garden. Why? We really like to visit other people's gardens and know that others do also. We have our own standards for our garden whether we have tours or not. Yes, we have done special projects in our garden because it was going to be on a tour that we probably would not have done otherwise. Doing those little extras because our garden was on a tour is the incentive we needed to do something extra that we will be able to enjoy for years to come. For example, we had put in a dry creekbed by the little cabin built down in the back that our main daylily garden revolves around and is the name of our garden, Shady Rest Gardens. David had wanted to have flowing water from the start but I had discounted that idea as too much work and expense. After a few years of thinking about it and envisioning it, I decided that it was doable. We added a small pond and waterfall as part of the creekbed and now have over 70 feet of flowing water that is recirculated back up to the top of the creekbed. Yes, it was a lot of work. The rocks had to be taken out of the dry creekbed, the creekbed was dug out, then it was determined that too much clay had been removed,the soil level had to be brought back up, a liner was put down, more rocks were purchased and rocks were carefully placed over the liner, the small pond and waterfall were dug out, the waterfall was built, we had to purchase two pumps (one for the waterfall flowing into the small pond and one to recirculate the water to the top of the creekbed). Would we do it again? You bet! Would we do some things differently? You bet! Any changes/additions that we have made that may have come about as the result of a tour, we have benefited more than the ones who toured the garden. Our garden is not level. The beds are terraced much like Rita's. Some of the pathways between or around beds are narrow. I do have concerns that someone may fall, but we always forewarn people about the hilly terrain. I suppose the bottom line for us is that we want people to see the daylilies. That is why we became an AHS Display Garden. I like for the beds to be weed free. I don't want to see them and certainly don't want others to. Our place in NOT immaculate. It is too large to be. I don't really care whether someone dislikes the way we have done something in our garden. This is our garden, and it was made to suit us and not someone else. I am sounding defensive and have no reason to. I think that you have to reach the point that you are comfortable with your garden and not worry about what others think of it. A garden should reflect the personality of the gardener(s). Ours is everchanging. It will never be finished until my time is finished here. When we get tired of opening our garden, we will stop. Until that time comes, we will open it for groups and tours to come and enjoy the flowers. It is our opportunity to give back to others what has been given to us.
