How does your garden grow?

A garden with a natural stream and an English Tudor home featuring portions of a 17th century church are just a couple of highlights of the second home and garden tour this Sunday benefiting Verdugo Mental Health.

The 2008 Gardens of Glendale and Beyond will offer a self-guided tour of five gardens and one home, with proceeds going to the center’s mental health programs, said Susan Eyraud, director of services and admissions at Verdugo Mental Health. The homes are in Glendale, La Crescenta and Los Angeles.

The first tour, in 2006, drew 50 people and raised $500 after expenses, Eyraud said.

“It seems to me this was a no-brainer as far as raising money,” she said. “I would see hordes of people going on the tours. I thought it was a wonderful way to give the public a chance to look at what people do, what kind of flowers and the configuration they use, and how they might be able to use those ideas in their own garden.”

Verdugo Mental Health has been offering services to the Glendale, Burbank and surrounding areas for 50 years. The center provides therapy for adults and children, case management, outings to museums and art galleries, treatment for children in the schools, psychiatric services and substance-abuse programs, Eyraud said.

Proceeds from the tour will fund extracurricular activities for clients, like food and gifts for parties on Christmas, Halloween and Valentine’s Day and a Thanksgiving dinner, she said. It will also pay for blood tests for clients who don’t have insurance, Eyraud said.

And the public benefits by getting a chance to see beautifully landscaped gardens, like the natural stream at the home of Rowena and Ralph Dohnel on Niodrara Drive in Glendale, Eyraud said.

“I thought many people would enjoy the diversity of their property,” she said. “There’s a natural stream running through the front yard, and different varieties of trees and plants. They have a beautiful arbor running down the center of the backyard.”

Ralph Dohnel’s father, Paul Dohnel, built the house, which sits at the corner of Colina Avenue and Niodrara Drive, across from Verdugo Park in 1947.

At the time it was built, Colina was a dirt road, and Verdugo Park hadn’t been built, Rowena Dohnel said.

“The stream running through the front yard is probably what catches people’s eye,” she said.