Column: Maine gardeners find it hard to leave a paradise they created themselves

SUN JOURNAL • July 7, 2026

Twenty-one years ago, Andy Turocy moved from Provincetown, Massachusetts, to a 1732 colonial on an idyllic forested road in Georgetown. He devoted as many as six hours a day to the 2-acre “park” he carved out. Now, Turocy is selling the house and moving to Wells. Three years ago, Claudia Thompson and her husband moved from their home of three decades in Cambridge, Mass, to Piper Shores senior living community in Scarborough. Over many years, Thompson had taken their Cambridge yard with its unsightly brush pile and nonexistent landscaping and turned it into “this rich, biologically diverse, absolutely beautiful native landscape.” The couple faced health challenges. They made the difficult decision to put their house, with its cherished garden, on the market. Westbrook resident Jennifer Rowland was also nurturing a native garden. She’s at a major life turning point as well, in her case, divorce. Aaron Chadbourne, of the Greater Portland Board of Realtors, advises clients not to return to check out their garden after they’ve sold their house. Turocy gestured at his garden. “It’s going to be for the next person to interpret. You just have to pass it on.” ~ Peggy Grodinsky