Garden Tours

Visit These Unique Gardens in Our Community!

More Gardens Are Being Added! Check back for more information!

Friday & Saturday, June 7 & 8
Open 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Open to public.

Horticulture Gardens and Greenhouse at Piedmont Technical College
720 South Emerald Road
For the first time ever the Piedmont Technical College is a participant in the national All-America Selections (AAS) program as an official AAS Display Garden. Come out to see the latest national and regional AAS winning plant varieties on the market. Students have been working hard all year long growing new plants in our greenhouse and enhancing our horticulture gardens. There are always lots of new things to see and learn in the gardens and greenhouses.

You will get to see and learn how students have built raised garden boxes and a composting bin system and installed a retaining wall and a lawn and drip irrigation system during their horticulture course labs.

The John & Elizabeth Holman Community Garden at Wesley Commons
1110 Marshall Road
From the primary Marshall Road entrance, take a right onto Bishop’s Way at the four-way stop, and make your way to the parking lot adjacent to the campus nature trail and dog park. Cross over Bishop’s Way to independently explore the John and Elizabeth Holman Community Garden and nearby Bocce Court Garden.

The Community Garden features a collection of both floral and vegetable beds as well as tasteful designs like the human sundial which help create a space that is as engaging as it is functional. A short distance away, the Bocce Court Garden was designed with architectural elements that meld with the outdoor surroundings and provide the perfect backdrop for an afternoon match with friends.

Both of these gardens are masterfully maintained by residents of the community. Don’t miss out on this fun adventure!

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Gardens at the Gleamns Site
229 N. Hospital Street
Born in Greenwood County, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays rose to become an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who is credited with being “the principle founder of the Civil Rights Movement”.

The site contains Dr. Mays' birth home which was removed from its original location in Epworth in southeast Greenwood County and furnished with circa 1900 furniture. In addition, the site has a barn-like structure that serves as a modern museum and theater.

Visitors will find a large collection of his books, writings, films, speeches, and personal items. The third building on site is the original Burns Springs one-room African-American school, originally located in Epworth.

The yard surrounding the home site is reminiscent of a 1900s era sharecropper homestead that includes a cedar post clothes line, wash pot with rinsing tubs, chopping block, tree swing, old well, an original outhouse, and a family garden. The homestead is accented with a cotton field.

For further information, please contact: Christopher B. Thomas at (864) 229-8833

The Elsley Shade Garden
520 Bryte Street 

Come out to see Greenwoods premier shade garden located in the heart of Greenwood, SC. Cultivated by John and Billie Elsley over the past 40 years, this one-acre shade garden is comprised of an overarching canopy of mature native oak trees providing shade for the garden beneath, an intermediate shrub and small tree layer, and an herbaceous groundcover layer. John Elsley is a renowned planstman having formal horticulture training from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and as botanist at the Royal Horticulture Society's Wisley Garden and has a combined 35 years of horticulture experience at the Missouri Botanical Garden and Wayside Gardens. The Elsly Shade Garden is also home to the orginal Cornus elliptica 'Elsbry' Empress of China® dogwood tree, which John selected and introduced into the market commercially over 20 years ago. This garden is comprised of over 200 unique varieties of plants and is a true horticultural gem to Greenwood and the entire southeast United States. 

Ruby Clark Serenity Garden
223 Wells Ave

In December of 2022 Self Regional Auxiliary Lights for Love campaign raised $15,000 during the holiday season. It was decided to use these funds to create an Employee Serenity Garden and dedicate this wonderful space to our team members for their outstanding dedication and exceptional performance. The garden and all of its hardscapes were designed and installed by Piedmont Technical College Horticulture students as course lab projects in 2023. Come out and enjoy the beauty of this brand new garden.