Another Incredible Weekend Supporting the Chester County Food Bank
Nearly 500 people spent the weekend exploring ponds, waterfalls, gardens, and outdoor living spaces across Chester County during the 2026 Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour.
Every ticket purchased supported the Chester County Food Bank, continuing a local tradition that has now raised more than $250,000 for the organization over the years.
Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket, visited a garden, shared the event, volunteered, and helped make the weekend possible. An extra special thank you goes to the homeowners who opened their gates and welcomed hundreds of people into their backyards.
This tour only works because people are willing to share the outdoor spaces they love with their community. Every year, we’re amazed by how many people show up.
This Is What Community Looks Like
The Water Garden Tour has become about much more than ponds.
For one summer weekend, homeowners across Chester County invite neighbors and visitors into their backyards to see how ponds, streams, waterfalls, plants, stonework, and gardens can transform an outdoor space.
Guests get to travel the county at their own pace, discover gardens they may never have seen otherwise, meet other outdoor living enthusiasts, and gather ideas for their own properties.
Best of all, tour proceeds go directly to the Chester County Food Bank.
The 2026 tour added another memorable weekend to a tradition that has raised more than $250,000 for the food bank over the years.
Thanks to Our 2026 Water Garden Tour Hosts
Opening your backyard to hundreds of people takes a special kind of homeowner.
Our hosts welcomed complete strangers into spaces they have spent years creating, caring for, and enjoying. They answered questions, shared stories, and gave visitors the chance to experience these landscapes in a way photos simply cannot match.
To every 2026 host, thank you for opening your gate and helping make this event possible.
And to everyone who attended, thank you for treating these homes and gardens with care while supporting a cause that serves families throughout Chester County.
See the 2026 Water Garden Tour
What was it like to spend a summer weekend visiting some of Chester County’s most beautiful water gardens?
Take a look at the ponds, gardens, homeowners, visitors, and moments that made the 2026 tour such a memorable weekend.
A Garden Lover’s View of the Tour
Karl Gercens, Conservatory Manager at Longwood Gardens, joined the 2026 Water Garden Tour with his camera.
His photographs captured details that are easy to miss when you’re walking through a garden, including marginal plantings, textures, reflections, plant combinations, and some of the quieter moments around the water.
Karl generously shared his Water Garden Tour photography with our Facebook community.
If you love garden photography, Karl also maintains an extensive collection featuring public and private gardens around the world.
Why Chester County Homeowners Love the Water Garden Tour
There’s a reason people return to the tour year after year.
Support a Local Cause: Tour proceeds benefit the Chester County Food Bank, with more than $250,000 raised over the years.
See Real Backyards: Experience established ponds, waterfalls, streams, plantings, and outdoor spaces at actual Chester County homes.
Meet Other Garden Lovers: Spend the weekend around homeowners and visitors who share an appreciation for water, gardens, and outdoor living.
Find Ideas for Your Own Yard: See different pond sizes, planting styles, stone choices, water features, and ways homeowners have made their outdoor spaces their own.
Explore Chester County: Make a day of traveling between properties and seeing beautiful gardens throughout the area.
Some of the Ponds and Water Features That Inspire the Tour
The Water Garden Tour gives you something a showroom cannot. You get to see established water features as part of real homes and gardens.
You can see how plants have matured around the water, how stone settles naturally into the landscape, how waterfalls sound when you are standing beside them, and how homeowners actually use these spaces.
At Turpin Landscape Design Build, we’re proud to design, build, renovate, and care for ecosystem ponds, waterfalls, natural swimming pools, and other water features throughout Chester County and the surrounding area.
Inspired by Something You Saw on the Tour?
A weekend of walking through beautiful backyards tends to generate a few ideas.
Maybe you saw a waterfall you loved. Maybe an established koi pond changed what you thought was possible in your yard. Maybe you realized your existing pond could use an update. Or maybe you came home thinking it was finally time to create an outdoor space of your own.
Turpin Landscape Design Build creates custom ponds, waterfalls, natural swimming pools, landscapes, swimming pools, and outdoor living spaces for homeowners throughout Chester County and nearby communities.
We can help you think through the possibilities for your property and create a space designed around how you want to enjoy your backyard.
Building Community and Beautiful Outdoor Spaces Across Chester County
Turpin Landscape Design Build serves homeowners throughout Chester County and the surrounding area, including:
- West Chester, PA
- Downingtown, PA
- Exton, PA
- Chester Springs, PA
- Newtown Square, PA
- Malvern, PA
- Glenmoore, PA
- Coatesville, PA
- Phoenixville, PA
- Lancaster, PA
- Landenburg, PA
- Kennett Square, PA
- Chadds Ford, PA
- Glen Mills, PA
- Media, PA
- Villanova, PA
- Wayne, PA
- Chester County, PA
- Wilmington, DE
- Hockessin, DE
See You at the Next Water Garden Tour
The 2026 Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour may be over, but we’re already excited about the next weekend of ponds, gardens, community, and giving back.
Thank you again to the nearly 500 people who joined us in 2026, and to every homeowner who opened their property for the tour.
If you missed this year’s event, keep an eye out for details about the next Water Garden Tour. We’d love to see you there.
