Garden Tours
Over the years Club members have toured many public and private gardens as day trips and sometimes as overnight trips. Sometimes a tour group visits multiple places, for example, visiting a garden in the morning and a special nursery in the afternoon, with a bag lunch or restaurant lunch in between.
The Garden tour lead position can be held by one person or shared between multiple people. Or any member with an idea about a good place to visit can arrange a tour! In recent years the position of Garden Tour chair has not been filled but individual members have stepped up to plan a single tour.
How to Participate in a Tour
Tours are announced in the monthly LAVGC newsletter. Most tours require you to sign up ahead, either at a Club meeting or by RSVPing to the contact person mentioned in the newsletter.
Only LAVGC members are allowed to go on LAVGC-sponsored garden tours because the Club insurance covers only members on tours. (If non-members are invited to a tour, the tour lead must contact the treasurer to obtain supplemental insurance.)
What is Required to Plan a Garden Tour
The thought of planning a tour might seem daunting. But members who have planned tours before have provided some guidelines to make it easier. They recommend that you plan your tour at least a month ahead of time so that there is enough time for you to make arrangements and for members to be notified that a tour is planned. When considering possible tour dates, you might want to consider when regular LAVGC activities like work parties are scheduled. That way you are less likely to be competing for participants.
Steps for planning a tour include:
Select a location. Some tour leaders like to plan for multiple touring sites in the same day, with lunch in between.
Contact the establishment(s) to determine the following:
Hours of operation
Ability to accommodate a group
Fees for entry, a guide if available, and parking.
Determine a date that works for you and the organization.
Submit a blurb to the newsletter editor by the 15th of the month before the month of the tour.
Include a description of the tour, location, date, place to meet for carpool, any fees (including a suggested donation amount of there is no set fee), and any equipment needed such as a bagged lunch or water. If you need to know who is going on the tour, ask members to sign up for the tour ahead of time. If the tour is limited to a certain number of people be sure to mention that.
If the organization you are touring requires payment before an event (for example, Filoli Gardens), have members pay you ahead of time to reserve a spot.
Make it clear that the fee paid to hold a spot will not be returned if they don’t show up. However, if the site to be toured allows, the member could arrange for someone else to take their place.A week before the event ask the LAVGC communications manager to send out an email reminder with all pertinent information. Or send out a reminder yourself to people you know are attending.
On the Day of Tour, meet at the predetermined carpool location, check in everyone, provide driving directions, and off you go!