Annual garden tour blooms in Clayton

The Clayton Gardens Tour is one of Spring’s most anticipated events. This year’s tour marks 23 years of residents having the opportunity to peruse gorgeous gardens and lovely landscapes in the Clayton Valley area. Many have made attending this annual event a spring tradition, touring with friends and family. The Clayton Gardens Tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26.
This year’s tour is packed with unique touches, and dashes of garden flair. Tour-goers will delight in seeing spectacular plant specimens, artistic sculptures, whimsical garden art and winding pathways with many charming surprises. Other thrilling features on this year’s tour include gazebos, fire-pits, built-in bars and barbeques, water-wise and California native landscape ideas.
Those touring this year’s Clayton Gardens Tour will meander through Dana Hills, up to Oakhurst, down Marsh Creek into Diablo Downs, and finally through Regency.
Dana Hills hosts two of the gardens featured this year. The garden of Dirk and Marilyn Fitzgerald has a traditional frontage complete with Japanese Maples, hydrangeas and camellias. An iron gate welcomes tour-goers into the outdoor living area where family and friends enjoy each other company while delighting in the sounds of water from a fountain, hanging out by the fireplace, or sitting around the covered bar. This entire landscape is wrapped in brick, giving the area an estate feel. There is a large, refreshing swimming pool, and a gazebo where the views of Mt. Diablo are stunning.
Jeremy and Karen Amos have a California Native garden to share. They’ve been featured on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour in both 2013 and 2014. Their landscape is exceptional, filled with flowers and texture. This garden uses only minimal water and it’s a fabulous example of California Native Landscaping done right.
Ingrid Raddeck and Heinz Windt’s garden in Oakhurst is quite a treat. This husband and wife team has created their cottage style garden together through the years. They have an eye for color, enjoy perennials and have created artistic elements to include in their outdoor space.
The front yard of the Raddeck-Windt garden appears traditional, but take a moment to notice their good-looking patch of artificial lawn —you may have to feel it to believe it.
The Humes Garden in Regency has a lawn-less frontage. This garden has a natural flow. Boulders and flagstone walkways share the landscape with foundation plants and ornamental trees. Decorative grasses and flowering shrubs have been allowed to become rather than be controlled. The garden was designed with mature growth in mind, and the over-all results are fabulous.
In the garden of Denis and Barbara Weil, tour-goers will roam through pathways visiting whimsical destinations as they journey through this unique space. This garden is an acre of wonder, set at the foot of Mt. Diablo. There are many sitting areas located throughout this garden. Visitors are welcome to sit and take-in the ambiance, gaze at the ceramic figures, birdhouses, and fairy garden. This garden is more than a space, it’s an environment. Visiting the Weil garden will be a favorite among tour-goers this year.

Tickets for the Clayton Gardens Tour are $30 each and can be purchased in advance on line at www.claytonhistory.org or at R&M Pool, Patio, Gifts and Gardens at 6780 Marsh Creek Road. Tickets are also available on tour days at the Clayton Historical Museum located at 6101Main Street Clayton, the starting spot of the tour.