Important: Pick up your map to the Tour Gardens at Topiaries on the day of your tour. Maps will not be available online.
Ticket Sales will be at Topiaries (138 East 4th Street) in downtown Hermann on tour weekend beginning at 10AM. These sales are cash and check. You will be given a map at time of purchase.
The 28th Garden Tour is on June 3rd and 4th, 2023. The Descriptions below detail the features of those gardens. Gardens open at 10AM. Welcome to the 28th Year of Garden Tours in Hermann. We are happy you have decided to join us. The money we raise from our tours supports beautification in Hermann and scholarships for Hermann students.
Please do not rely on GPS to find gardens. GPS is unreliable in both the town and country portions of the Tour. Use the maps provided. A green flag will mark the entrance to the garden. There are also some green signs that guide you on turns. Please note that many gardens have uneven areas and historic or steep walkways and steps. While we are thrilled that you have decided to come on our tour, the Garden Club and garden owners assume no liability for those who choose to enter the gardens. The tour goes on rain or shine. Visits may be spread over Saturday and Sunday. We hope you enjoy the tour and will return next year; our tours are always the first weekend in June.
Welcome to our gardens!!
Town Gardens 1. Garden Tour Ticket Sales and Topigardens at Topiaries 138 East Fourth Street Topiaries is located at the corner of East Fourth Street and Schiller Street. Tickets will be sold here from 10 until 4 on Saturday and 10 until 3 on Sunday. A map will be provided to the Gardens. Don’t miss the beautiful, two-level garden behind the shop called TopiGardens. Enter from Schiller Street through the Moongate, and enjoy all the beautiful plantings and garden ornamentation. The gardens are a combination of form and function with a focus on bird habitat. Flagstones connect the two levels of the garden with multiple water features perennial flower beds, and multiple seating areas to watch the birds.. Some uneven terrain on rock paths and stepping stones.
Parking: Street Parking on both sides of Schiller and Fourth 2. The Gardens at the Captain Wohlt Inn Important: Guided Tours on the Top of the Hour There are beautiful but steep 200-year-old limestone stairs from 3rd St. to the main gardens. The main garden may be accessed from 3rd St., up the stairs along the stone wall. Our vegetable garden is in the back of 116 East Third St. Guests may wait and relax in the garden if they like. We will have free lemonade and water as well as music playing. Feel free to wander around and enjoy the plantings.
Parking available on both sides of 3rd St. The gardens are not handicap accessible, but guests may avoid the limestone stairs by parking, or dropping off, at the alley between 2nd and 3rd St. While a little difficult, buses can navigate down 3rd St. They will need to park or wait along Gutenberg for pick-up.
Public Gardens 3. Hermannplatz (No Gardener Available) (Public Garden located behind the Hermann Firehouse). To reach Hermannplatz, park near the old Firehouse and follow the sidewalk behind the Firehouse around the side of the building to the garden with the bronze statue of the German hero Hermann in its center. This Hermann entrance garden was funded by the Garden Club and other community organizations. This beautiful garden has year-round color. Plantings include Emerald Magic Holly, Crape Myrtle, , Annual Coreopsis, Prairie Dropseed Grass, Dwarf ‘Hamelen’ Grass, and Limelight, Annabelle, Summer Crush, Let’s Dance, Invincible Spirit II, Tiny Quick Fire, and Munchkin Hydrangea, Norway Spruce, Weeping Redbuds and Castle Green Oak. A landscape plan may be provided with tour map.
4. Deutschheim (Gardener may not be available_ Enter using the steps located between 101 W. 2nd and 107 W 2nd. Pass through the beautiful old iron gate and step back in time. A traditional German four-square gemüsegarten is planted with heirloom vegetable varieties, as it would have been in the 19th century. There is also a Kraütergarten (herb garden), black raspberry bushes, heirloom peach trees, and a variety of flowers including roses. A guide on 19th Century German Gardening Practices will be provided when you pick up your tickets. Visitors can exit the gardens the way they came in. Guided tours of the homes are offered at 10:00, 12:30, and 2:30 on both days and the visitor center will be open from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm each day. The guided tour is $5 for adults and $3 for students.
Parking: Park on either side of West Second Street. Walk to the Hermannplatz from here.
5. Modern Victorian Garden The garden features a rock garden with dry creek, a cowboy garden with pollinators and bath, a shade garden, a slope of hope, arches, a tea garden and more Sidewalks and stone surfaces have some rough areas, so take care. Parking: Park along Second Street
6. Weinwood Estate Garden Old World terraced gardens surround a 3-story house tucked into a wooded hillside. The effect is a step-back-in-time to a quieter more reflective era. Beautiful trees and plantings. You can walk up the hill to the Hermann Hill Vineyard, Inn and Spa or drive around. The road does not connect the two properties. Note: Hilly terrain and limited accessibility Parking: Along Wein Street. If you are unable to walk up the sloped driveway to the home, you may enter the driveway with guidance from the traffic assistant. Traffic is one-way, so you will need assistance
7. Hermann Hill Vineyard Inn and Spa You may drive around to this garden from Weinwood Estate or walk up the hill on the newly opened Wein Street walking path north of the Inn. This offers new views of Hermann and the MO River valley. Looking down from this vine-clad slope, one can envision 19th century Hermann, with its patchwork of vineyards, and tidy backyard kitchen gardens, among the brick homes and businesses of its German settlers Observe the imposing rock cliff and its tumbling waterfall. Beds of carefully tended roses and perennials and the terraced Norton grapevines make this an especially harmonious hillside setting. Walk down the curving sidewalk on the north side of the Inn past the Dorothy Shrader three season garden to the recently opened Wein Street walking path. Stop by "Forest of Gongs" and ring the selected gong that defines your relationship as many times as the years you've been together. Grab a bottle of cold water in our picnic shelter that features a natural gas fire table and grill for Inn guests. Look at the pink tubes for over a 1000 River Birch, oak, and conifers (white and jack pine) that were planted this Spring (2023.) Over 1000 hardwoods and conifers were also planted here in the spring of 2022. Our goal is to establish a relaxing forest experience for guests along this Wein Street portion of our historic three mile walk. Benches are also available if you'd like to stop and just admire the view. Brochure in the holder by the entrance to Wein Street path that also leads to the Forest of Gongs and Picnic Shelter.
Parking: Limited parking adjacent to gardens on both sides of the Inn..
8. Teresa’s Garden at the Hermannhof Cottages ‘Teresa's garden' is located beside the 'Wienert haus'. Originally the residence of Joseph Weinert it has been standing since 1869 and is a nationally registered historic building. It is named for Teresa (Will) Webber who resided on the property in the mid 1920's and is believed to have started the gardens. The current garden is a stone-walled courtyard featuring a pair of fountains and a mixed border of shrubs, perennials, and annuals that provide four seasons of interest. From beneath the shade of the centrally planted oak, visitors and guests of the surrounding cottages can enjoy the garden and views to Hermannhof plaza and town and river beyond.
Parking: Parking spots surrounding the garden.
Country Gardens 9. Lakewoods Wildlife Garden The last part of the road to reach this lovely garden is rough at the bottom, so proceed slowly.
This is a young garden in its third growing season. We put wildlife at the center of our planning and care, avoiding chemicals and allowing leaves and dormant plants to stay throughout the winter to provide habitat. We’ve seen an explosion in butterflies, fireflies, and birds over the three years we’ve been gardening here. We welcome all wildlife and regularly host foxes, deer, raccoons, groundhogs, moles and others. The garden includes flower borders, a tiny savannah by the lake, a fenced vegetable garden, and a koi pond. Construction of a shed-greenhouse is underway, as is a new stone patio around the koi pond. Iris, allium, peonies, and baptista may be blooming during the tour. Of special interest is the flowering groundcover between the large stepping stones; it is called creeping mazus.
Parking: Park along Dogwood Lane.
10. Sage Hill This beautiful garden surrounds an historic brick home built around 1900. It is fenced because the owner has two very sweet beagles. It is 95% native Missouri wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. There is a micro-prairie in the process of restoration across the road from the house. There are strawberry and pumpkin patches and paw-paw trees,. The gardener also raises Monarch butterflies from larvae. The seven spice bushes should have spicebush swallowtail larvae. In June, you should see Monarda, purple poppy mallow, downy skullcap, false sunflower, anemones, coral honeysuckle, lanceleaf coreopsis and many more.
Parking in the driveway or barn lot
11. Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church Garden (Saturday Only, 4PM). You are welcome to visit the church garden and attend their picnic starting at 4PM. The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church was established in 1867. The gardens are simple with old-fashioned favorites like roses, peonies, hydrangea, daylilies, hostas, and many more perennials and shrubs.
All images and text copyright Hermann Garden Club, Hermann, Missouri, 2010-2020
