A garden 42 years in the making will finally be open for public viewing this weekend, fulfilling the longtime dream of its creator.

Tim Holtschlag, 67, a longtime islander and landscape designer, has been working on his 4-acre garden near Bethel Church for decades with the hope of displaying it to the public. It is finally finished, but after years of being invited to participate in Vashon Allied Arts’ — now Vashon Center for the Arts — annual garden tour, Holtschlag will not have a chance this year because the tour is not happening due to the opening of the new Katherine L White Hall.

But Holtschlag is in failing health and likely will not have a chance to be part of the art organization’s 2017 tour.

“I’m not going to make it another year,” he said in an interview last week. “I’m in failing health, but I’ve come to terms with it, and I’m good to go. When I moved into this house there was nothing here: no water, no power, no driveway. It now has three ponds, a wetland … a rose garden and a vegetable garden.”

Aware of the work he has done and the dream he has, Holtschlag’s neighbors, Sam and Sara Van Fleet, decided to create a garden tour featuring his garden and make it a fundraiser for Vashon Community Care (VCC). The Three Jewels Neighborhood Garden Tour this Sunday will showcase Holtchlag’s garden along with two others, fulfilling his wish to have the public wander the garden’s multiple facets.

“We were walking through Tim’s garden, and he had this lament about being (asked) by VAA to be in the tour, and now it’s not happening,” Sara Van Fleet said. “He lit up when we told him (about our idea for the tour).”

The tour will feature a total of three gardens in the Bethel Park neighborhood: Holtschlag’s, Van Fleet’s and Andrew Peet and Sam Lanier’s. The three gardens add up to a total of 12 acres and are all adjacent, within walking distance of each other. However, the gardens are not wheelchair accessible or for those who are mobility-impaired.

Holtschlag’s garden has a little bit of everything and consists of a moss-covered forest labyrinth complete with serene Buddha images, a fragrant rose garden, a cottage garden and borders full of rare plants. The garden under the care of Van Fleet and her husband, Sam, is a 2-acre wildlife garden with two ponds, a vegetable garden, bird and bee-friendly borders and hedgerows, a more than 100-year-old redwood and views of the Olympic Range. The 5-acre Lanier-Peet garden includes features originally designed by Holtschlag, such as a stream, mature Japanese maples, a vegetable garden and a contemplative pond.

There is a $15 suggested donation for the tour. All proceeds will go to VCC.

“It’s a terrific facility and they need the money,” Holtschlag said.