Explore three private gardens in Jamesport, Mattituck, and Shelter Island Heights, open for self-guided tours and plant sales to benefit the Garden Conservancy on Saturday, July 7th; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m..  Highlights include a large-scale vegetable garden, heirloom apples and espaliered fruit trees, native plantings to attract birds and pollinators, hundreds of container plantings, garden rooms hedged in with hornbeam and boxwood, and a subterranean stone grotto partially covered with a sedum green roof. Various plant sellers on-site in Mattituck for pop-up sales. No reservations required; rain or shine.

Where: Visitors may begin at any of the following locations: Winds Way Farm, 73 Winds Way, Jamesport; Garden of Dennis Schrader & Bill Smith/Landcraft Environments, 1200 East Mill Road, Mattituck. Cost: $7 per garden; children 12 and under free. For More Information: See www.opendaysprogram.org or call The Garden Conservancy toll-free weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, 1-888-842-2442.

Winds Way Farm, 73 Winds Way, Jamesport – the gardens are designed to complement the historic buildings that were moved to the property —an 1836 Greek Revival-style whaling captain’s house, an 1872 one-room schoolhouse, an early-nineteenth-century barn—and to create a compelling sense of place. Included are a small orchard featuring heirloom apples and espaliered fruit trees, a large-scale vegetable garden, a soft-fruit area, and herbaceous and shrub borders teaming with plants that appeal to butterflies and other pollinators. As avid birders, the owners have planted many natives to provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for feathered friends. Plantings vary in style from more formal gardens with historically appropriate plant material to naturalistic settings.

Garden of Dennis Schrader & Bill Smith/Landcraft Environments, 1200 East Mill Road, Mattituck – set in the heart of the North Fork’s wine region, this three-plus-acre garden surrounds a restored 1840s farmhouse. The deck, porches, and stone terraces are filled with hundreds of container plantings, and there are many perennial and mixed-shrub borders throughout the garden that can be accessed by numerous winding paths. Garden rooms hedged in by hornbeam and boxwood reflect various themed gardens within.

Additionally, there is a vegetable/herb garden, a formal knot garden, several bog plantings, meadow gardens, and a woodland shade area. The garden also features rustic arbors, trellises, stone walls, and a Tiki hut that contains a collection of exotic plants. The newest meadow garden surrounds the “Ruin”—a subterranean stone grotto partially covered with a sedum-planted green roof. There will be a plant sale with plant material from Landcraft Environments: www.landcraftenvironment.com, Ed Bowen & Taylor Johnston’s Issima, and a large selection of rare treasures from Broken Arrow Nursery, www.brokenarrownursery.com

Birdhouse Garden, 3A Wesley Avenue, Shelter Island Heights – Tim Purtell’s garden mixes trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowering perennials with the goal of attracting and supporting wildlife such as bees, butterflies, birds, and small mammals. There is no lawn. Instead, the fifteen-year old landscape is planted predominantly with natives that provide color, texture, and fragrance from June to October. Aside from the pleasure of its natural form, which mimics wilder places but on a small scale, the garden also functions as a lab to test plants for deer resistance, drought tolerance, and other qualities.