In 2005, two years after the successful expansion of the Hood River County Library, the grounds surrounding the Jacobethan-style library building were completely renovated.
The adjoining lot to the west was generously donated to the Library Foundation by the Stoltz family of Hood River. That vacant sloping lot at Sixth and State Street, separated from the library by trees and tall shrubs, was merged with the original park during construction. Marion McNew, of Mount Hood Gardens, created the design for the new Georgiana Smith Memorial Gardens, named for the 19th century benefactor who started the first Hood River library in her home, and whose family donated the land for the 1913 Carnegie Library. (The building was expanded in 2002 after a community fund-raising drive.)
The late Virginia Hosford, long-time Foundation president, was instrumental in the development of the park, as was June Knutson, the previous library director, now retired.
The preferred way people traversed the grounds determined the layout of the current paths. Installation was completed by Hood River County Public Works and Mount Hood Gardens, along with copious in-kind work and generous donations. (Master Gardeners regularly tend the xeriscape beds on the State Street side in front of the library.)
The gardens connects State and Oak Streets, and provides pedestrian access to Sixth Street via a curving pathway lined with benches and commemorative bricks, sold by the Foundation as a gardens fundraiser.
Three different patio spaces create separate outdoor rooms, and all are handicap-accessible. They allow for sitting, eating, or staging small musical events. Benches along the natural rock wall entice visitors to sit and relax, and offer stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge. The patio at the Sixth Street end features a pergola and other improvements donated by the Hood River Rotary Club in 2005.
In 2014, McNew oversaw new plantings just up the hillside from the Rotary patio, after trees were removed that had grown into view-blockers at Stoltz Winery, overlooking the west end of the park.
An intriguing feature of the gardens is “stone-iferous pine,” a 12-foot conical sculpture built in 2006 by a national group of stonemasons who were conferring in Hood River at the time.
A new phase for the gardens is in the planning with the Hood River Library Foundation, which funds the maintenance and upgrades. (The March 7 Feast of Words this year raised about $30,000 for the near- and long-term needs of the project.)
McNew and the foundation have re-designed five planting borders in Smith Gardens, which suffered after the closure of the Library in 2010-11. Planning for reduced maintenance and a more contemporary design, the majority of plants are shrubs, exhibiting extensive texture interest, disease-resistance, and long blooming periods. In three of the planting areas, compact Boxwood hedges will frame the borders, furnishing structure and year-round color. McNew said the design suggests a flowing, soothing pattern, with liberal repetition and generous groupings of plants.
Marion McNew is President and principal designer of Mount Hood Gardens Inc., an award-winning landscape design/build company located in Hood River, Oregon. Mount Hood Gardens has created public and private gardens throughout the Mid-Columbia Region, and is celebrating its 30th business anniversary this summer.
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