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Community Corner

URI Master Gardeners To Host Tour This Weekend

In the 5th bi-annual Master Gardener Tour, 32 local gardens will be open to the public, and gardeners will be on hand to provide tips and answer questions.

The University of Rhode Island’s Master Gardeners are holding their bi-annual tour of 32 gardens throughout the state, many of which are in South County. For a fee of $15.00, those interested will be given a guidebook as a 2-day ticket, which will include a table of information on the various gardens, allowing gardeners to choose which stops best suit their taste. Driving directions to the gardens are also included in the guidebook. 

“There is page in the book devoted to each one of the 32 gardens,” said Thomas Hoagland, the event’s publicity chair. “On each page, there is a little about the garden written by the gardener. We’re trying to return to the educational roots of the Master Gardeners.”

According to Hoagland, each of the 32 gardens featured in the 2011 Master Gardener Tour is maintained by a URI Master Gardener. At each stop, the gardener and his or her green thumb will be on hand to provide advice, answer questions, and provide information on the site.

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“We invite questions, and encourage visitors to come with any questions they might have for any projects of their own,” said Hoagland.

Hoagland provided the following example as to how a curious green thumb might use the tour to his or her advantage. If a homeowner might be investigating the best way to go about installing a pond garden, they would open up to guidebook’s table with aggregate information on each garden. From their, one would be able to determine which sites have pond gardens as part of the tour, and could decide which to visit. Once on site, a Master Gardener would be available to answer any questions the homeowner might have.

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This is the 5th Master Gardener tour, an event the organization has been hosting since 2001.

“It’s a very good educational tool in its own right,” Hoagland said.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the URI Master Gardener educational programs. Ticket information is available by calling the URI Center at 874-2900, or by visiting the URI Master Gardener’s website at urimga.org.

Guidebooks can also be purchased at the following locations:

  • URI Mallon Outreach Center, URI Kingston Campus
  • The Farmer’s Daughter, South Kingstown
  • Highland Farm, Wakefield
  • Schartner Farms, Exeter
  • Wickford Flowers, North Kingstown
  • Wildwood Nurseries, Inc., East Greenwich
  • Yard Works, Warwick
  • Hattoy’s Nursery & Garden Center, Coventry
  • Lincoln Gardens, Lincoln
  • Broadview Garden Center & Florist, Westerly
  • Chaves Garden Center, Middletown
  • Briggs Garden Center, No. Attleboro, MA
  • Redwood Nursery, Swansea, MA
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