The annual Chapel Hill Garden Tour invites visitors to experience five private gardens as part of its new showcase, “Sculpted and Soaring Skywards.”
From April 24-25, visitors will not only be able to explore the lush greenery and stunning rock formations, but they will also discover deep connections to Carolina’s past and present in two of the private gardens being shown.
Allison Garden was originally built in 1908 by noted Carolina professor, William Coker. (Daphne McLeod; Chapel Hill Garden Club)
Allison Garden
Built in 1908 by Carolina professor and inaugural chair of the botany department William Coker, the garden is now owned by Board of Trustees member Ritch Allison ’89, ’95 (MBA) and his wife, Susan ’89. Over the past century, the garden has gone through several renovations, but in its current state, it reflects Coker’s original horticultural vision.
“We think of ourselves as caretakers, not owners,” Susan Allison said, adding that a preservation easement now permanently protects historic aspects of the property.
The garden’s signature oak tree has stood for over 150 years. (Daphne McLeod; Chapel Hill Garden Club)
Standing in the garden is a prairie-style home framed by a 150-year-old oak tree. The garden also features unique plants such as white oak, mock orange and Lebanese cedar, as well as a massive boulder outcropping, with the largest one dedicated to Coker’s late wife, Louise.
In addition to several old trees, the gardens include four millstones used to grind grain when the property was a working farm and rebuilt arbor that served as the prototype for the one in Carolina’s Coker Arboretum, named after this garden’s original owner.
Gourley Garden was built almost 100 years ago by former chair of Carolina’s botany department, John Nathaniel Couch. (Daphne McLeod; Chapel Hill Garden Club)
Gourley Garden
Dating back to 1928, Gourley Garden features a canopy of aged oak trees and rock outcroppings. Originally built by John Nathaniel Couch, an associate of Coker and former professor in the botany department, the garden is now owned and maintained by Sara Gourley and Rob Euler, who bought the property in 2015.
Surrounded by a fieldstone wall that evokes the stone walls of Carolina’s campus, the garden is home to plenty of native plants such as the Eastern sweet shrub, mountain mint and rattlesnake master. Also notable about the garden is its unique rock outcropping surrounding the house, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The rock outcropping for Gourley Garden has been recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. (Daphne McLeod; Chapel Hill Garden Club)
The garden also features sculptures that have been purchased by Gourley and Euler over the past decade. It also acts as a habitat for various birds such as bluebirds and Carolina wrens, which can be seen on the property.
On the tour, Tar Heels might recognize Kevin Stewart, associate professor in the UNC College of Arts and Science’s Earth, marine and environmental sciences department, serving as the on-site rock expert. Stewart is a longtime member of the Carolina faculty whose research is focused on the structure, tectonics and geologic history of mountain belts.
In addition to the Allison and Gourley gardens, visitors will have access to three other private gardens — Huckshorn Garden, King Garden and McGraw Garden — as well as the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Carolina Community Garden and American Indian Cultural Garden.
Buy tickets and learn more on the Chapel Hill Garden Tour site.
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