Joshua Mostowitz and Patricia Harris-Mostowitz knew the property where they planned their dream house harbored challenges.
“When the wind blows 20 miles an hour in Wichita, it blows 50 miles an hour out here,” Josh said of the five-acre plot of former farmland in eastern Sedgwick County.
So a decade before they built, the couple bought and planted Easter Red Ccedar and Austrian Pine seedlings from the Kansas Forest Service to form sturdy windbreaks on the north and south side. Now, a quarter century after moving in, their thoughtful approach has been carried through in about 30 different gardens or other cultivated areas on the site.
The property is one of six on the 2026 Garden Tour hosted by the Sedgwick County Extension Master Gardeners.
While Pat cheerfully says the couple “are still making a lot of mistakes,” it’s clear they know what they’re doing and enjoy doing it.
They developed much of the landscape with two priorities in mind: making the best use of a limited water supply and providing food sources for pollinators and wildlife.
Scattered around the buffalograss lawn are a variety of drought-tolerant perennials, annuals and other native grasses. Grapevines, sand plums and a pecan grove feed deer, opossum and coyote; birds thrive on the elderberries. There’s milkweed to attract Monarch butterflies and nectar from oregano for bees.
French drains, a retention pond, drip irrigation and plenty of mulch help them manage the water. The clay soil is not particularly good, but they’ve found what works and what doesn’t.
“If you plan ahead, you’ll have color throughout the year,” Pat said.
Hot days of weeding, watering and planting pay off in a couple of sweet spots: a meditation bench surrounded by a brick labyrinth and a shady lane under the cedars from which the couple often watch deer as they come and go.
The couple look forward to answering visitors’ questions.
“This is our first year” on the tour, Pat said. “We’re thrilled.”
2026 Garden Tour
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 5, and Saturday, June 6; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 7.
Cost: $10 per person. Tickets are available at the Sedgwick County Extension Center, 21st and Ridge Road, and online at www.sedgwick.ksu.edu/gardentour. Tickets will also be available at the gardens on the days of the tour. For more information, call the center at (316) 660-0100.
