The Travis County Master Gardeners’ Association will present our 2008 Garden Tour, Inside Austin Gardens, on Saturday, April 19, from 9 am – 4 pm. The tour this year is devoted to the principals of sustainable gardening. The gardens selected represent life long projects by our gardeners, represent a way of living, and have all incorporated features that are earth-friendly, bio diverse, and incorporate vegetable, fruit or nut production in conjunction with just beautiful flowers. There is no grass in these unique back yards; rather paths and walk ways, the incorporation of major raised beds, composting on site, judicial use of water systems, and plants with a sense of place and time.

There will be talks on becoming a Green Garden designated site, rain water collection systems, drip irrigation, composting, beneficial insects, backyard vegetable production, bulb selection, butterfly promotion, and alternatives to grass. As Master Gardeners, our mission is to render sound horticultural information to the community through our programs. We charge a nominal fee to help cover our costs, but the real purpose of our tour is to provide the home gardener with practices that can easily be translated to any garden. Tickets are $10 (or $5 per garden, if you only have time to see one or two). Children under 12 (with an adult) are free. Tickets may be purchased at each garden location.

Full details, pictures and an interactive map at insideaustingardens.org.