The 2012 Hidden Gardens Tour, sponsored by the Mt. Airy Learning Tree (MALT), will feature a variety of local gardens.  

Nine gardens—four in East Mt. Airy, three in West Mt. Airy, one in Germantown and one in Chestnut Hill—will have their gates open for visitors so that neighbors can enjoy private Edens they might not be able to imagine from the street.  

This self-guided tour, which starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday and continues until 3 p.m., allow registrants to check out, at their own pace, the gardens, which feature funky sculptures made by the garden hosts, ponds, fountains, a garden railway and a a gazebo of intricately carved teak.

One of the gardens is an esoteric ecological experiment that has had coverage in both the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Another includes an outdoor dining grotto complete with a French wood burning pizza oven, and another has topiary critters vaguely defined by the shrubbery.  

The tour costs $20 per person and helps MALT’s capital campaign to purchase its headquarters building.

To register for the 2012 Hidden Gardens Tour, visit the MALT website or call the MALT offices at 215-843-6333 with questions.