Six homeowners across Deschutes County welcomed visitors Saturday to walk through their gardens during the 25th annual High Desert Garden Tour.

The tour — organized by the Oregon State University Extension Service and Central Oregon Chapter of OSU Master Gardeners — offers a chance for gardeners to view a variety of garden features and styles and get ideas for their own properties.

The self-guided tour comes with an address list of the featured homes, and most people start at the top and work their way to the bottom. Others carve out their own path.

Bend retiree Donna Trussell and her two friends had already visited three home gardens before they arrived at the property on the top of the list in the Mountain High subdivision in southwest Bend.

Trussell no longer tends to her own garden, so she gets her gardening fix on the tour.

“I’ve been on several garden tours,” Trussell said. “It’s always so nice. I love them because they are just so peaceful.”

Toni Stephan, tour co-director, said a few homes have been on the tour more than once, but each year organizers try to feature new gardens.

Organizers look for homes in the region with special features that will give visitors new ideas such as pathways, islands and ponds in the gardens, Stephan said.

“It’s to inspire people to do different things and give them ideas and talk with homeowners who have done it,” Stephan said.

Ken Atwell, who owns the property in the Mountain High subdivision with his partner Sandi Mootry, said he enjoyed sharing the different components of his garden, which wraps around his house.

Visitors were especially drawn to his Bonsai plants in a dry pond, which felt similar to a Japanese Zen garden. Next to the dry pond is a greenhouse studio, where Atwell works on plants and does artwork, including paintings, pottery and woodworking.

Atwell, a retired college professor and business consultant, said his property was just a grass yard with a few plants close to the house when he moved in 19 years ago. Now the property is full of small gardens connected by pathways around the house, ideal for a garden tour.

“The neighbors have watched me work on this for years,” Atwell said. “It’s nice seeing people enjoy it.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com