WOWTA Garden Habitat Tour Saturday, July 9 in Shoreline

Afia Menke was just building her pond when her garden

was featured on the 2010 WOWTA Tour.

WOWTA Garden Tour, Saturday, July 9, 10am to 3pm

The Where Our Wild Things Tour showcases slightly messy, more informal, but charming and comfortable gardens.

Rather than carefully manicured beds and neat rows of plants, the focus of these gardens is wildlife, particularly birds. The gardens can be tidy, but they will also have ground foliage, and some dense greenery where ground-nesting birds can find a place to raise their young.

The idea of the tour is to show some ways that people have created peaceful and beautiful garden spaces for humans and animals, and to inspire others to do the same.

From the 2010 WOWTA Tour

This year's gardens are all in the Briarcrest and Ridgecrest neighborhoods of Shoreline. 

And here's another sneak peek - SAN columnist Christine Southwick (For the Birds) will be the featured educator in one of the gardens.

The tour is free of charge, open to the public and begins at Briarcrest Elementary School, itself a Certified Wildlife Habitat, 2715 NE 158th Street, Shoreline, WA 98155, where maps and directions for the tour will be available.