Tour 7 eclectic 'tiny' gardens with Hilltop Arboretum's spring garden tour

Garden enthusiasts are invited to join LSU Hilltop Arboretum's spring garden tour in downtown Baton Rouge from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 11. 

The tour will feature seven eclectic “tiny” gardens in the historic neighborhoods of Beauregard Town and Spanish Town — all designed by their talented creators.

Featured gardeners in Beauregard Town are Chuck Booksh and Van Landry (222 Napoleon St.), Nanci and Scott Gaddy (218 Napoleon St.), Susan Turner and Scott Purdin (630 Louisiana Ave.), and Mark Culotta (818 America St.).

Featured gardeners in Spanish Town are Lloyd Wardrip and Archie Obregon (657 N. 9th St.), June Peay (631 Lucilla Lane) and Patrick Ford and Greg Myers (655 Bungalow Lane).

The beautiful spaces featured all share a spirit that is common among passionate gardeners — a love for creating, planting, growing, discovering, nurturing and sharing. With so much knowledge and experience to share, the tour will be a wonderful opportunity to “talk all things gardening” with our hosts. 

Tickets for this event are $20 and include the garden tour and light refreshments at The Origin Hotel, where a signature cocktail, “The Hilltop,” will be available for purchase. Tickets may purchased online, by phone (225) 767-6916 or on the afternoon of the tour at any of the seven gardens. On the afternoon of the tour, only cash and checks will be accepted, no credit cards.

Garden details

Chuck Booksh and Van Landry at 222 Napoleon St.

This 5-year-old garden, created from scratch, is a gathering of favorites from around the world. Lush planting encases the home. As a gardener, Booksh focuses on flowers with the intent to have as many blooms for as long as possible. Blooming Gerber daisies, roses, irises and confederate jasmine dot the landscape along with an array of beautifully arranged potted plants on the back deck. The garden is filled with singing birds and scampering squirrels, and there are places to take in the wonder in both the shade and sun. 

Nanci and Scott Gaddy at 218 Napoleon St.

This lovely shotgun-style, early 20th century historic home is a warm and inviting retreat inside and out where plants are like people. The couple created the garden using their collective knowledge of potted plants, vegetables, shrubs, trees and pesky insects.

Susan Turner-Scott Purdin at 630-634 and 635 Louisiana Ave.

The 600 block of Louisiana Avenue includes a wide range of architectural styles that characterize historic Beauregard Town. In the 1930s, Turner's grandmother ran a boarding house at 602 Louisiana to put her son through LSU.

While in grad school, Turner developed a master plan that would increase the residential appeal of these historic houses. To provide a sense of community, each residence has a private outdoor living space, shaded parking, and access to several green spaces, including a rose garden, for use by all residents of “Beauregard Block.”

In the fifteen years since these gardens were first on Hilltop’s tour, the gardeners’ obsession to expand has resulted in additional gardens, including a forest garden in honor of Wayne Womack, a large kitchen garden thanks to neighbor John Hollingshead, test plots for landscape plants, a citrus orchard, and a working greenhouse.

Mark Culotta at 818 America St.

Owner of Mark Culotta’s Landscape Maintenance, Culotta has transformed the former site of the family business. His first challenge was removing the 2-inch-thick concrete parking pad, which spanned two lots. Now the area has a pool and lush landscaping that encourages birds and other wildlife to visit.

Culotta is a fan of fragrance, so his garden includes a wide selection of gardenias, camellias and evergreens. He describes his yard as having a “New Orleans” courtyard vibe with statues of St. Joseph and Old St. Louis brick in this traditional formal garden design.

Lloyd Wardrip and Archie Obregon at 657 N. 9th St.

Wardrip and Obregon have built a collection of tropicals and added a small cactus and succulent greenhouse since their garden was last on the tour. Their entire collection is in pots since most of the property is paved.

The potted garden allows them to constantly change out the front of the house as the season progresses. The garden includes many unique and rare plants, grown from seeds and cuttings they have resourced from the internet and other local garden enthusiasts. Both men grew up gardening with their grandparents. 

June Peay at 631 Lucilla Lane

Peay transformed her nondescript driveway into a garden path years ago. Now, the path winds among hundreds of varieties of plants, mostly perennials and native plants. Using the advice of the late professor emeritus LSU School of Landscape Architecture, Neil Odenwald, and gardener Cary Long, Peay created an outdoor living room featuring an abundance of texture and color for the enjoyment of humans and pollinators.

Outdoor sculptures enhance her yard, including a bottle tree by folklore metal artist, Stephanie Dwyer and a contemporary sculpture by New Orleans artist Christine LeDoux. Artwork from other noted artists is distributed throughout the yard. Peay had her yard qualified as a Louisiana Certified Habitat designated by the Louisiana Native Plant Society which requires that the area be planted with plants native to the region. 

Patrick Ford and Greg Myers at 655 Bungalow Lane

The garden was started in 2014 when the beds were planned and laid out to maximize the use of the limited space available. Over the years, the garden has evolved to include a mix of shrubbery, perennials and annual color with varying layers of height, colors, and textures.

In 2016, Ford and Myers created a goldfish pond for the garden. In 2018, they added a garden model railroad, which continues to grow. 

The Origin Hotel at 101 St. Ferdinand St.

The Origin welcomes garden tour participants to stop for a light refreshment and quick break. Located at the corner of St. Ferdinand Street and North Boulevard, this 68-year-old building, once a downtown bank, is the city’s newest boutique hotel which boasts 87 guest rooms, a gym, an all-day restaurant, a lounge and coffee shop, as well as a rooftop bar. Garden tour guests can enjoy light refreshments and purchase a signature cocktail, “The Hilltop."