Artist and gardener Alex Tureaud never wants to mow the lawn again. “Having a lawn is a very demanding chore to have to do at a beach house,” he says. “Big time.”
Surveying his Eastham garden, which appears to be expanding a bit into his neighbor’s yard — there’s not an inch of canvas in his own yard left to plant at this point — one starts to suspect that if Alex had his druthers, his neighbors wouldn’t have any lawns either.
I visit Alex at his home on Salt Winds Drive on the last Sunday in June to get a preview of his lawn-free oasis. His is one of five properties on the Eastham Garden Tour, which will be open to ticketed visitors on Tuesday, July 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Eastham tour benefits activities organized by the Friends of the Eastham Public Library. It’s a leg of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, the annual 10-day event that celebrates the unique private gardens of the Cape and all the things — not just hydrangeas — that can be found within them.
In Tureaud’s deeply planted back yard, a large piece by sculptor David Boyajian, affectionately known as “Big Red,” is the focal point. Tureaud took classes from Boyajian at Castle Hill a decade ago; his own works made there as a student now decorate the master bedroom inside. “David is a very sensitive, creative, caring person,” he says. “He teaches in a way that you can’t make a mistake.” That’s something Tureaud, a retired educator, appreciates.
In another corner of the garden is his own ornament, a torso made of fiberglass — found years ago at a Cape clothing store that was going out of business — painted black and contrasted with a planter of white impatiens. For the garden tour, Tureaud will hang one of his own paintings on the garden wall behind it to complete the tableau. He hasn’t decided which one he’ll choose from among those in his studio, he says as he talks about his favorite explorations of color and style.
The Eastham gardeners who are readying their yards for Tuesday’s tour all want to show you the things they love best about their outdoor worlds. Eric Nickerson on Sunset Drive opens the door to reveal the inside of his rose-covered fishing shed, where he stores 40-something rods, each with its own distinct purpose. Jane Hennes on Schoolhouse Road won’t let me leave without first seeing the hidden wren’s nest in her flower box. (That mama wren, though, is happy for me to scoot.) And Laura Cammarano of Ireland Way walks me through her back hedge composed of unusual native trees and shrubs, including ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud, Franklinia, and two types of Carolina allspice. She would send me home with an armful of squash if she had them.
Just don’t turn around and give her any zucchini bread, like a neighbor did once. “If I give you a squash,” she says, “please don’t bring it back in another form.”
Five Private Gardens
The event: Eastham Garden Tour
The time: Tuesday, July 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The place: Map available on Eastham Chamber of Commerce website
The cost: $5 for a single garden; $20 for all five. Tickets at the gardens (cash only); Eastham visitor information booth; Eastham library (cash only); Ponderosa Garden Center
