Four lovely, unique gardens will be showcased in this year’s Garden Tour, including three Summerville gardens with inspiring stories of restoration along with the historic, non-profit Bath Gardens in nearby Blythe, GA.

Friday, April 24, Noon-5:00 PM

Garden Descriptions

Applegate

How do you create natural garden magic and mystery in a bland suburban landscape? Just six years ago this garden was all grass — one tree, one camellia bush, and a too-large concrete driveway. Now, it feels stitched together by imagination, magical plants, whimsy, and soil under fingernails. That same driveway welcomes guests with hundreds of pots of flowers, bonsai trees, and vegetables. Beyond an outdoor living room, curving paths seem to choose their own direction through a well-planned garden journey, winding round a frog pond, greenhouse, and through a hidden garden with a hand-woven wattle feature. Art, handmade treasures, fountains, and a giant bamboo curtain add interest through the jungle of plants. Every corner offers a gentle surprise — the kind that makes you slow down and smile. This is a space shaped not just by gardening, but by the joy of making, the curiosity of watching things grow, and the quiet delight of creating a world for plants, frogs, bugs, and people to enjoy.

Kings Way

This garden underwent a remarkable transformation between 2017 and 2026. When the homeowners purchased the home in 2017, the space was largely neglected and overgrown: patchy grass competed with weeds, mature trees cast heavy shade over uneven ground, and any existing landscaping looked tired or minimal, reflecting the challenges of reviving a grand early-20th-century home in the Summerville neighborhood. 

The homeowners started by remodeling the main home and pool house and then tackled the gardens and pool area, clearing it of brush, adding emerald zoysia grass and working with landscape designer, Gerald Stevens, implementing a four-seasons strategic planting of shrubs and flower beds. Over time, the emergence of defined pathways and seating areas tame the wilder edges. By the mid-2020s, the backyard had evolved into a polished outdoor retreat: lush, well-maintained lawns framed by maturing roses, camellias and azaleas, with new hardscaping elements and appropriate lighting, creating inviting zones for relaxation or entertaining amid the property’s historic charm. This evolution turned a once-overlooked expanse into a vibrant extension of the home, mirroring years of dedicated care and investment.

Winter St.

This garden is a place of intention & pleasure, filled with plants the homeowners find beautiful, useful or delicious, alongside those that have simply decided to grow here and have earned their spot. We favor plants that thrive without fussing, because gardening is about much more than work. Scattered among the greenery & flowers is a collection of found objects kept for memory, beauty or pure strangeness, yard art in the truest sense. The garden also serves as a habitat: birdbaths & feeders, water for stray cats, nectar plants for bees & butterflies. Gardening here since the mid-1980s, the homeowners have followed and guided this space through many lives – from neglected yard to leveled ground with stone walls, and the most recent change: Hurricane Helene which took trees and tall shrubs from the side yard, stripping away years of privacy and shade. Now it’s full sun and open sky which has meant new, real curtains for the house and a new vision for that part of the yard. This upheaval, though, is exactly what makes gardening spiritually profound. Trees grow and cast shade where there was none. Trees fall and suddenly the light returns. Plants bloom and die; seedlings grow to flower or fruit; something planted today won’t bear fruit for years. Through all of it, the natural world continues around us: birds nesting, butterflies drifting, bees at the water’s edge. As we participate in this process, the garden nurtures us back, connecting us to the quiet, peaceful awe of nature. We are so happy to share it with you.

Bath Gardens

(This 55-acre garden features stairs and natural walking paths; sturdy shoes are recommended.)

Located just 25 minutes south of downtown Augusta just off Hwy. 1, Bath was a favored summering place for affluent families throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, noted for its cold springs that offered relief from the hot Georgia summers. It fell into disrepair after the Depression when families moved away and the structures crumbled. Bath’s rebirth was the vision of Alonzo Plumb Boardman, “Lonnie” who created the garden from 1958-1964. Bath Gardens covers 55 rolling acres and features a European inspired garden with five cement ponds, four fountains, and 100s of camellia and azaleas. Mr. Boardman, Mr. Berckman, and Judge Hammond were highlighted in the 1939 Life Magazine for their work in propagating camellia and nurturing azalea.

Bath was a private garden for nearly 65 years. Extensive restoration of the garden began in 2019 and the garden was opened to the public for the first time in 2021, with approximately 1700 adults and children attending during the three-day opening celebration. The non-profit garden is lovingly cared for by a dedicated cadre of volunteers of the Bath Gardens Foundation, whose mission is to conserve the garden’s architectural elements and historic artifacts while providing a soothing respite for those who visit.

Specifically for the Sacred Heart Garden Tour, the Lodge will be open for refreshments, historic carriages will be displayed, and tour guides will be located throughout the property giving information about the bell and cannon artifacts as well as other unique features of the garden, such as the statues and ironwork. Natural walking trails offer relaxing strolling overlooking dogwood, azalea, hydrangea, flowing spring water, and numerous birds and butterflies in this refreshing wildlife retreat. During the Garden Tour, there will be drawings for unique prizes.

In addition, nearby historic Bath Presbyterian Church will open its Church and cemetery for visits and provide information about Richmond Bath, once a resort for planters from Waynesboro and Augusta residents. In the early 1900s, eighteen very large country homes were in Richmond Bath, where the cold spring water refreshed during the hot summer months.