a closeup of one of the magical conifer varieties. SUBMITTED PHOTO

FARMINGTON —  On August 20 at 5:30 p.m., 106 Heritage Circle, in Farmington, Mary Batt has been gardening since she worked side by side with her mother pulling weeds and identifying plants wherever they lived. She has parlayed this long-time love of gardening into her home at 106 Heritage Circle in Granite Heights, where she will host the August Mt. Blue Area Garden Club garden tour.

Her 1.5 acre property is surrounded by heavy pine forest on ledge schist. Here, she has developed unique gardens as a result of experimentation and a bit of desperation. About five years ago her perennials were not doing well and the deer frequented her garden leaving her with nothing but stubs. She slowly pulled up many (but not all) of her perennial beds and transitioned to dwarf conifers and evergreen shrubs. She now happily engages in Niwaki – a Japanese term for shaping outdoor trees as if they were bonsai.

Mary loved the result and noted, “as one gets older gardening is hard on the body and the conifers are much easier to take care of. They are also shade tolerant and deer resistant and have interesting foliage that will last up until the heavy snows.”

In addition to the dwarf conifers that dot her landscape, one can see her amazing efforts to simplify her lawn. Twelve years ago she began executing her plan to reduce the use of grass and Instead she put in a combo of creeping thyme, Johnny Jump Ups and clover. Eventually creeping thyme won out and she cultivated masses and masses of this hearty plant. “Bees love it, and there is no mowing, watering or feeding needed!”

Specimens that participants in the garden tour will see include Dwarf Blue Spruce; Dwarf Weeping Norway Spruce; and Procumben Nana (Juniper). Seven Larch ranging from five feet to seventy feet are prominently featured as are Gingka Biloba, a deciduous tree that will grow to eighty feet. In amongst the conifers are Brunera, a perennial with silver in them with little blue flowers in the spring which Mary has found to be delightfully deer resistant.

Mary also loves moss, ferns, and fungi and has created a couple of young gardens that feature these that she looks forward to sharing. Because there are numerous types of moss, she will label the varieties.

A tour of indoor gardens will complete the trip through this oasis. She collects cacti and succulents as well as other house plants that thrive in her southern exposure.

Every year the geology department brings students to do research on this ledge in downtown Farmington. We hope you will find this a fascinating trip, too. MBAGC members and the  public are invited to this free event. For more information on this and other events, visit www.mtbluegardenclub.org or email mtbluegardenclub@gmail.com