Save that Date!
Thanks for your responses to our survey, we plan to hold the 26th Life-Friendly Garden Tour on
Sunday June 23.
This was the most popular weekend in the survey,
It’s the last Sunday of National Pollinator Week,
And it’s about the time when Monarch Butterflies reach New England.
As Watertown is a signatory of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, we will explore how we support Monarch Butterflies by gardening without chemicals, planting milkweed and nectar plants, and celebrating the living beings around us.
We look forward to your ideas!
Co-hosted by Friends of Bees and Watertown Pollinator Pathways, this program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
The map and brochure for the Fall 2023 Garden Tour are posted below.
A printable version of the map and brochure describing the gardens is available here! Keep an eye on the online map for last minute additions.
The numbered green dots indicate hosted gardens. Hosted gardens will be welcoming guests during the hours of the Garden Tour. Until the next tour, please be respectful and view these gardens from the street.
The golden flowers indicate unattended planting strips and public gardens. These are open for viewing from the street any time!
A printable version of the map and the brochure describing the gardens is available here!
The Fall 2023 Garden Tour was our 25th! For this event, we returned to our roots and emphasize the benefits of gardening without chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
As you may know, the City of Watertown uses organic methods to maintain our public landscapes. Watertown Community Gardens are grown organically, as are our all our public pollinator gardens. If you have participated in the Garden Tour, you’re not using chemicals, either.
But we’ve all seen places where chemicals are being applied. This year, let us spread the word about why this is usually not necessary. Our gardeners will happy to tell our story to tell about what we’ve learned by not using pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.
We also plan to include a scavenger hunt for the kids, as one of the big reasons not to use chemicals is to protect their health. Things you might look for include artwork, fruits, insects, galls, and even a T-rex!
Let’s make friends with the life in our gardens and work together to make a better world!
Anyone in Watertown who has not used chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers for at least a year is invited to participate as a host garden. As in last year, this could be your whole yard, or just your planting strip. (The Watertown DPW has an excellent flyer about the planting strip available here. ) If you will be available during the hours of the Garden Tour to answer questions and share ideas, you will receive a sidewalk flag to help guests find you. If you won’t be available that day, you can still have your planting strip included in the Garden Tour, which guests can view from the street.
Since this is an outdoor event, we are not requiring anyone to wear a mask. We do recommend that you be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
If you like to be added to the Garden Tour mailing list, send us an email here.
You may join our discussion group on Facebook here.
About the Garden Tour
The Life-Friendly Garden Tour was founded by Henrietta Light to educate about gardening without chemical inputs. Exposure to chemical fertilizers and pesticides can sicken people and cause long-term health issues. The impact of chemicals is even worse in the garden. Most insecticides kill insects, whether they are pests, pollinators, or beneficial insects. Herbicides also kill a broad range of plants, including host plants for butterflies and moths, such as the milkweeds that Monarch butterflies depend on. Chemical fertilizers damage the balance of organisms that create a healthy soil. Through the Garden Tour and other events, we demonstrate that no chemicals are needed to create vibrant, healthy yards.
The first Chemical-Free Garden Tour took place in 2007. Since eliminating chemicals is rewarded by an increase in living beings, the name was changed to the Life-Friendly Garden Tour. It usually is held in on the second Sunday in September. This self-guided tour is free and open to the public.