Seeds for the Garden Of Your Heart

By Roger W. Davis, Davis Design Group

‘Fisher of Men’ statue with one of the waterfalls in the background. Photos courtesy of Fred Passmore, Guido Evangelistic Association

In the mid 1970’s Roger Davis of Davis Design Group, a landscape architecture firm was contacted by the Rev. Michael Guido, president and co-founder of the Guido Evangelistic Association to prepare a master plan for a video taping garden. At that time the association taped broadcasts for radio and television but did not have a suitable area for a garden themed video telecast. A master plan was designed gratis for a parcel of property adjacent to the studio, which was almost four acres.

As with many non-profits, there was no money to accomplish the elements of the plan, the design intent included individual themed garden rooms in a natural informal setting with the sight and sound of water throughout the grounds. Roger persuaded a local Augusta, Georgia landscape contractor (Mr. C. S. McCorkle, McCorkle’s Nursery) to assist him in the construction, free of charge with the association buying the material. In those days, in the rain, we constructed the first waterfall and streambed. The garden has been a work in progress over the last 35 years, adding new areas as funds became available. Our firm has continued to prepare detailed plans, free of charge, as areas were developed.

View of the ‘Empty Tomb’ through Indica Azaleas.

Garden Continued To Grow
Through the years additional garden rooms and statuary were added which portray religious significance such as the 23rd Psalm Garden, The Empty Tomb, The Old Rugged Cross, Joseph’s Carpentry Shop, Board Members Memorial Garden, Chapel Garden, Sower Topiary, Sower Sculpture, Fisher of Men Sculpture, 10 Commandments Sculpture, Praying Hands Sculpture, Chartes Angel Sculpture and the Great Commission Sculpture. The gardens are filled with annual color and are changed twice a year. Other items which were added: a green house, garden statuary, enhanced plantings, restroom building, shelters, a gazebo, a Chapel referred to as the ‘Chapel in the Pines’, and in the month of December, the gardens come alive with over 1,250,000 Christmas lights during the ‘Nights of Lights’ and the gardens are open until 10 P.M. Music and the voice of Dr. Michael Guido are piped throughout the garden.

Volunteers have accomplished much of the work and much of the material donated. Donors to the ministry have also paid for pieces of statuary and some portions of the garden areas. Since the first waterfalls and stream project, McCorkle’s Nursery has donated most of the plant material through the years and to this day.

The view of the Garden gazebo with a Dynamite Crapemyrtle in the foreground.

Destination For Peace and Solitude
The ministry provided multiple television and radio services to military audiences in 176 countries and United States territories and aboard all U. S. Navy ships The current programs now include the one minute ‘A Seed From the Sower’, a five minute and fifteen minute ‘Seeds From the Sower’ and ‘Sower Twenty Five’, a twenty five minute broadcast.

With the death of Michael Guido in 2008, the gardens are no longer used for video taping but remain open to the public. What started out as a video taping garden has become a destination attraction for those who seek peace and solitude and is a source of restoration for thousands of visitors each year.