31st annual Garden Walk in Oak Park and River Forest takes place June 22 

Rain or shine: The Oak Park and River Forest Garden Walk is the place to be Sunday June 22 if you are seeking to be inspired by the beauty and variety of area gardens.

This, the 31^st annual walk sponsored by the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory (FOPCON) and the Garden Club of Oak Park and River Forest, will focus on eight private gardens in the two villages.

Proceeds of the walk benefit both the conservatory and the Garden Club, which uses its share of the money to fund scholarships for graduates of OPRF High School.

Sue Boyer, one of the co-chairs of this year’s walk, said that the garden walk continues to attract an increasing number of visitors. 

“We had a tremendous year last year, and we’re thrilled that more and more people are so interested in gardening,” she said. 

Each year, the Garden Walk Committee starts looking for the next year’s gardens during the peak of the summer garden season. This year, they chose a mix of styles and sizes of yards that are sure to inspire.

Boyer noted that the garden walk differs from typical housewalks because of the living nature of the yards and encouraged visitors to see all eight on this year’s walk. 

“Every garden is so unique, and you see a lot of eclectic styles. There’s really something for everyone,” she said. 

Homeowner Peggy Kell has been gardening in her Oak Park yard for 48 years. She said that her garden has evolved over the years. Ever since she and her husband moved into the home, they’ve made changes little by little.

 “I call ourselves serial renovators,” she said. “We’ve changed the house itself, adding on a lot over the years. We’ve done the same with the garden.”

When the couple moved in, there was no garage, and they made two large vegetable plots in the backyard. Eventually, they added a garage to the back yard and moved the vegetable plots to the front yard.

When she started gardening, Kell was pregnant with her youngest child; now her four-year-old grandson is an avid helper in the garden, especially when it comes to picking raspberries. Her yard has other fun finds for children, including railroad trains and a fairy garden.

This is Kell’s third time on the garden walk, each time, she said she has a different garden. “Stuff dies, or I find a new piece. Gardening is a journey.”

In River Forest, Marilee Unruh has been working on her garden since 2001. She slowly replaced the lawn until she had gardens but no lawn in the front and back of her home.

A native of California, Unruh loves discovering the variety of perennials that can be grown in Illinois’ climate, but she had to reconsider her planting methods when she realized how close to nature her garden really is.

She not only has plenty of rabbit and deer visitors, but a deer was born in her backyard. “A lot of perennials say they’re deer resistant, but they are not that resistant to deer who think your backyard is their home,” she said laughingly.

In recent years, Unruh has “become addicted to bricks,” she said. She creates circles with brick and gravel, filling in spaces with a variety of flowers and non-blooming plants in various shades of green. She said working in the garden with her hands is one of her favorite activities and a great way to connect with the outdoors.

Also in River Forest, Marylen Marty-Gentile has seen her garden evolve over the 40 years that she and her husband, Michael, have owned their home. When they first moved in, much of the yard was shaded by a large elm and ash trees.

After spending lots of time trying to grow grass under those trees and failing, she turned to Scott McAdam of McAdam Landscape Professionals, and that made all the difference. 

“Scott said, ‘Let’s think about your yard in terms of rooms.’ We started at the front with a section that was about shade. Over time, we got rid of all of the grass in the front and most of the lawn in the back yard,” she said. 

Marty-Gentile says that there’s a lot of trial and error involved in gardening. “It’s been fun, and it’s been an adventure, and we’ve made tons of mistakes,” she said.

In the summer the yard can get a bit of a Dr. Seuss look, she said. “It has a wacky, wild look to it, which please us a lot.”