Gardening is more than just a shared hobby for the Lubbock Master Gardeners Association.

It is the culmination of the learned skills and hard work that each master gardener polishes into their outdoor passion projects.

“To garden in Lubbock is to suffer,” master gardener Becky Miller said. “So, we all get to suffer together.”

But with all of that hard work comes a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor - and share it with others - which a handful of Lubbock gardeners will do this weekend.

During the second annual Hub City Garden Tour hosted by the Lubbock Master Gardeners Association on Saturday morning, master gardeners will showcase six local gardens of different styles — ranging from a small leisure yard to a high-tech residential garden and an educational outdoor courtyard — from gardeners of all experiences. 

Fran Koch, who will show off her garden this weekend, denies that she's attained the expertise of a “master gardener," although she’s spent decades refining her skill.

Lubbock Master Gardeners to host workshops

She began at a young age working in the gardens alongside her mother, who was often growing food outside their McAdoo home. She said her mother always liked to try her green thumb at unique plants, including kohlrabi, which many people hadn't yet heard of in the 1950s.

While Koch moved to Tech Terrace, part time, about a decade ago, it was only within the last few years that she brought her backyard to life.

Her quaint garden behind her Tech Terrace backhouse showcases greenery, flowers and produce, along with intricate décor, beneath a thick tree canopy.

Standing tall at the entrance of her backyard gardens is a vintage bedframe, which she describes as the centerpiece of her yard. She also displays a bench from McAdoo High School, where she often sat during basketball games, and a couch that she frequently finds herself sleeping on when nights are cooler.

"I'm 83, so I'm usually only able to be out here in early mornings or late evenings," Koch said.

She’s also repurposed lick tubs and water troughs and raised garden beds to house her fruit and vegetable plants — and recycles her empty milk jugs to water her plants. She said watering her plants individually, instead of using a garden hose or sprinkler, helps conserve water.

"There's no telling how much water you waste just by turning the garden hose on," Koch said.

Miller has lived in the Caprock neighborhood, which runs from 50th Street to Loop 289 and University Avenue to Indiana Avenue, since 2017.

Her backyard garden features an impressive rainwater collection system, a chicken coop that she built just ahead of the pandemic and a small shed with an indoor hydroponic system to support new plant growth.

In raised garden beds beneath a shade canopy, Miller grows several produce plants, utilizing drip irrigation for accessible, and sustainable, watering. Her flowerbeds showcase dozens of plant species, including "dwarf" sunflowers — or what Miller believed to be when she purchased them — that have grown to more than 10 feet tall.

Outside the back fence, Miller has expanded her garden into the alleyway, where she routes pipes from the hydroponic system in her shed to water her plants.

At Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, students and faculty planted the original "Magic Garden" in the 1980s, though it wasn't a consistent endeavor, and didn't receive its name, until recent years, said Paula January, who was the longtime principal until last May.

Alisa Palmer, who is a parent at Roscoe Wilson, has taken the lead over the last couple years and often incorporates an educational component, for students, while maintaining the gardens.

"One year, moths ate up our peas, so then we did an experiment where half were covered, and half weren't, to see what would happen," Palmer said. "But I also try to teach kids about pollinators, and why they're so important, and to not be afraid of bees."

The large courtyard garden features several fruit trees, which bear apricot, apples and peaches, as well as raised garden beds that contain a mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables, including mint and pumpkins. 

"I know it's not actually magic, but it feels like it," Palmer said. "I can get things to grow here that I can't get to grow anywhere else."

Lining the garden beds are small tiles, which students from the original garden drew doodles on and colored.

The school garden also features a compost station and a wash sink, which students use to rinse vegetables and collect gray water to return to the plants.

They also have a brand-new rainwater harvesting collection system that deters water that would typically pour off the sides of an awning connecting two buildings into the pollinator garden.

Palmer said she hopes to integrate the garden into school more in the upcoming school year; her goal is that different classrooms will be assigned garden maintenance each week.

"Sometimes the kids, and even some adults, are scared to work in the garden, because they're afraid to hurt a plant," Palmer said. "But we can always plant new plants."

Tickets are available on the Lubbock Master Garden Association website for $15.

Tickets can also be purchased at:

- Tom’s Tree Place – 5104 34th St.

- Ivey Gardens – 1318 E. Municipal Drive

- Southerland’s Home Base – 3701 50th St.

- Mary Lee Gardens – 6702 82nd St.

- Little Red Nursery – 4006 34th St.

Garden tour programs and maps will be available at the Roscoe Wilson Magic Garden beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday at 2807 25th St.