Welcome to My Garden

To really understand how a garden works, you need to travel through it to experience all its dimensions. Walking down a path, rounding a corner and ducking under an arbor lets you feel a designed space, as opposed to simply seeing how it looks. You can smell the jasmine overhead and the sage at your feet, or hear the rustle of bamboo leaves. These sensations cannot be gleaned from gardens seen on a glossy page.

Garden tours--where owners bravely open their gardens for a day or two to benefit a good cause--let you experience landscapes firsthand.

Over the next three weekends, a baker’s dozen of tours are scheduled in the Southern California area, from Redlands to Pacific Palisades, from Thousand Oaks to Corona del Mar. The tours “are a lovely peek at other people’s gardens,” said Judy Horton, who organized the garden tours that benefit the Garden Conservancy, a national organization dedicated to preserving historic and unique gardens.

“People travel to other states and other countries to look at gardens, but often the gardens don’t translate well. What you see probably won’t work here,” said Horton. On a local tour, you know that what you see, you can indeed grow and probably get at the local nursery.

All garden tours are self-guided--you follow maps that come with the tickets. It’s a good idea to carpool, since parking can be a problem in some neighborhoods.

* Saturday, 2-6 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., a tour of five gardens is part of a flower show by California’s oldest garden club, the Redlands Horticultural & Improvement Society (founded in 1888). Tickets cost $5 at the show, held in Cope Middle School, 1000 W. Cypress Ave., Redlands, (909) 793-1553.

* Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Santa Monica Bay Auxiliary tour of five Westside gardens, benefiting Children’s Hospital. Tickets cost $20 and are available at Merrihew’s Sunset Gardens in Santa Monica and Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery in West Los Angeles, plus Yamato Nursery and the Outdoor Room, both in Pacific Palisades. Call (310) 395-3713 for more information.

* Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., tour of six San Gabriel Valley gardens. Tickets cost $22 and are available at Creative Arts Group, 108 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre, or call (626) 355-8350.

* April 29, the Gardens of Pasadena tour has three ticket packages. One visits six gardens ($25), from noon-5 p.m.; another visits seven and includes a reception ($75); and the third visits eight and includes a pre-tour coffee ($150). Proceeds benefit Grace Center. For tickets, call (626) 355-4545.

* April 29, 1-5 p.m., the Pacific Palisades Garden Club’s tour of seven gardens. Tickets cost $10 and are available at the Outdoor Room and at Yamato Nursery, both in the Palisades. For information, call (310) 454-7826 or (310) 472-7437.

* April 29, 12:30-5 p.m. the Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks tour of five gardens. Tickets cost $10 and are available at Sperling Nursery in Calabasas, Westlake Florist and the Rose Cottage in Westlake Village, plus Armstrong Garden Center in Thousand Oaks. Call (805) 496-6805.

* May 5, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., the Venice walking tour of 29 gardens, benefiting Las Doradas Children’s Center, begins at the Jay Griffith studio (2 p.m. is the cutoff time for starting the tour), 717 California Ave., Venice. Tickets cost $50 (children under 16, free). Call (310) 390-6641 for information, https://www.venicegardentour.org.

* May 5, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., tour of 10 gardens in the Pomona area, benefiting Project Sister Foundation; starting at the Garden nursery, 845 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, (909) 629-2062. Donations accepted.

* May 5-6, 1-5 p.m., Camarillo tour of five gardens. Tickets cost $12 and are available from Camarillo Hospice, 400 Rosewood Ave., Camarillo, CA 93010-5933, (805) 389-6870.

* May 5-6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., a tour of 29 Orange County Gardens benefiting the Sheepfold, starting at Heard’s Country Gardens, 14391 Edwards St., Westminster, (714) 894-2444. Donations accepted.

* May 6, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Corona del Mar tour of six gardens. Proceeds benefit Sherman Library and Gardens, and tickets cost $30 ($25 in advance). Tour starts at Sherman Gardens, 2647 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. Call (959) 673-2261.

* May 6, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Villa Park tour of five gardens. Tickets are $25, $20. Send check to Villa Park Women’s League, 18112 Catherine Circle, Villa Park, CA 92861, or call Cynthia Wells at (714) 637-0579.

* May 6, at various times, the Garden Conservancy’s tours of 12 gardens in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Some gardens open as early as 10 a.m.; others open at 2 p.m. Admission to each garden is $5. Maps and directions will be available at the gardens of the Getty House, 605 S. Irving Blvd., in Windsor Square (Los Angeles). Directions are also listed in the Conservancy’s “Open Days Directory” (Harry N. Abrams, 2001). Call (888) 842-2442.