The 16th annual Garden Walk, sponsored by the North Central Wisconsin Master Gardener’s Association, Inc., will be held Friday, July 7, 1-7 p.m., and Saturday, July 8, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. This year we travel to the Rib Mountain area to view five beautiful private gardens and one community garden.
During Garden Walk, you will enjoy gardens with handmade bricks with inspirational quotes, a “friendship” garden, unique water features, a “container garden” with brightly colored pots, plus learn how a gardener has overcome working with challenging clay and rocky soil.
A special feature this year is the Rib Mountain State Park Native Wisconsin Wildflower Garden, planted by the North Central WI Master Gardeners and Rib Mountain State Park staff. The gardens are located along Park Road and maintained by both groups. You will enjoy and appreciate this wildlife garden that attracts bees and butterflies. Admission to Rib Mountain State Park requires a state park vehicle sticker. Without one, you will need to pay a $5 per vehicle fee ($3 if age 65+) to enter the park if your vehicle has Wisconsin license plates.
The following Rib Mountain gardens are featured this year:
•Lisa Mages-Greene and Rob Greene, 2603 Fern Lane, Wausau
•Amy and Russ Kitsembel, 2811 Bittersweet Court, Wausau
•Rib Mountain State Park Native Wisconsin Wildflower Gardens
•Carol and Gerald Ray, 3206 Kildeer Lane, Wausau
•Tanya and Tim Schwartz, 1906 Fern Lane, Wausau
•Sharon and John Zortman, 1103 Oriole Lane, Wausau
Tickets can be purchased at any of the private gardens during the Garden Walk event. Tickets are $10 per person. Advance tickets are available at the Marathon County UW-Extension, 212 River Drive, Suite 3, Wausau. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information, visit http://fyi.uwex.edu/marathonmg/ or contact Alice Davies at [email protected] or 715-571-4757; or Angie Reuter at [email protected] or 715-680-6434.
Recently North Central Wisconsin Master Gardener Association (NCWMG) celebrated 20 years of Growing, Learning, Teaching and Sharing. The association includes Lincoln and Marathon counties and maintains an active membership of more than 80 volunteers.
In the last 16 years, NCWMG volunteers have established and served in many service projects including: manning the Garden Line, Garden Clinic and booth at Weston Farmer’s Market, hosting the Garden Visions conference, hosting an annual spring plant sale, hosting Garden Walk, establishing a Native Wisconsin Wildflower Garden at Rib Mountain State Park, and maintaining a teaching garden. In the last 20 years NCWMG volunteers have served in many notable community service projects including:
•Yawkey House Museum Garden, Wausau
•Aspirus YMCA Community Garden, 3402 Howland Ave, Weston
•Establishing the Rib Mountain State Park Native Wildflowers Project
•Garden of Giving, Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield
•Robert W. Monk Garden, Wausau
•Rothschild Village Hall Gardens, Rothschild
•Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Gardens, Wausau
The Cooperative Extension has been helping people solve their agricultural problems since 1913. Extension agents/farm advisors supervised “Victory Gardens” during World War I and II and have helped home and community gardeners ever since. Eventually, a voluntary educational program was initiated to teach gardening to people who would then extend the information to others in the community. The first Master Gardener Volunteer Program was started in 1972 in Washington State. Since then, Master Gardener Volunteer Programs have spread to more than 45 states and four Canadian provinces, and boasts of more than 45,000 volunteers.