TOLEDO, Ohio — As the neighborhood celebrates its 101st year, Old Orchard is looking forward to a garden party.
The annual Old Orchard Garden Tour is back on Sunday, highlighting the beauty of west Toledo and the neighborhood's efforts to preserve its botanical integrity.
Eight yards will be on display this year and Brent Lohmann, committee organizer, said each will be unique.
"Guests will be amazed by the hidden gems behind Old Orchard homes," Lohmann said.
Lohmann added that this year is special because three of the featured homes are on the west side of Secor.
"Those homes have larger properties and more sunlight," he said. "When people think of Old Orchard, people think of the trees and shade."
The extra sunlight allows those homeowners to build more diverse and creative yards, he explained. Lohmann described the smaller yards in the original section of the neighborhood toward the east as beautiful, quaint, and cozy.
The tour started in 2018 as a fundraiser for the Old Orchard Neighborhood Association, which is a non-profit organization in the neighborhood.
"The money funds our beautification efforts in the neighborhood," Lohmann said. "We are working on a project right now with the city to restore Kenwood Boulevard and do some enhancements."
Prep work for each tour starts the year before. The Old Orchard Neighborhood Association will start recruiting gardeners for next year's event later this summer.
"We always tell the gardeners that it's a lot of work and can be stressful, but it is so rewarding," Lohmann said. "You feel like you're on cloud nine the day of the tours."
The neighborhood association gives gift cards to the featured gardeners for local greenhouses to help offset the cost of building and maintaining the yards.
The chance for some much-needed rain in Toledo this weekend does not scare Lohmann.
"The first year for these tours we had rain but we quickly learned that it didn't matter," he said. "Diehard gardeners know how to deal with wet weather."
Tickets for the tour are $10 and can be purchased online before June 11. You can also buy a ticket at SIP Coffee the day of the event.
The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 11.
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