Garden Club of America x Conservation Project Copy
ZONE I: PLANTS OF ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
Submitted by: Ann Kinney, Garden Club of Mount Desert
The Garden Club of Mount Desert partnered with Friends of Acadia and the Maine Natural History Observatory to create an illustrated guide highlighting more than 900 species of plants found in Acadia National Park. The goal of the project was to bridge the gap between simple wildflower guides and technical floras, and to help monitor the health and existence of plant species.
The Plants of Acadia National Park contains more than 2,200 color photographs throughout its 530 pages, and includes extensive keys, a glossary of botanical terms, a listing of historical records, and a full index of scientific and common names. While there was a five-year period between the proposal and the actual publication (from 2005 to 2010), the guide was so popular it sold out within a year and received a second printing in 2011.
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ZONE I: STORM DRAIN PROJECT
Submitted by: Carolyn Rini, Piscataqua Garden Club
In May of 2010, seven of our club members partnered with fourteen students from Portsmouth High School Peer Leadership Club. Together, we stenciled the phrase, "Dump No Waste — Drains to River,” next to 42 storm drains designated by Portsmouth Department of Public Works. The students painted while our members handed out informational leaflets suggesting ways to reduce pollution.
Our aim was to inform the public that the water from these drains goes untreated into the Piscataqua River, and is a huge source of contamination in our waterways. In addition, there were many significant educational opportunities contained within the project, like hands-on teaching for students, fact sheets for residents, and media coverage to alert a larger audience about the pollution caused by storm drain runoff. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE II: OGDEN HOUSE GARDEN AND HONEY BEE PROJECT
Submitted by: Whitney Vose, Fairfield Garden Club
Since 1935, the Fairfield Garden Club has designed, planted, and maintained the historic gardens at Ogden House in Fairfield, Connecticut. The goal has always been to educate the public by offering an accurate colonial garden, which also includes representation of 18th-century style beekeeping. Our club sustains four Langstroth beehives to promote pollination of the surrounding plant species, in addition to harvesting and bottling the honey. We also provide a special Bee Tea for our visitors, meanwhile teaching them about our Colonial history and the problems facing the honey bee today.
This honey project began in April of 2013, and is a three-way partnership between our club (who owns the hives), the Fairfield Museum and History Center (who owns Ogden House), and Oak Lawn Cemetery and Arboretum (who is the direct neighbor to Ogden House). ————————————————————————————————
ZONE II: POLLINATOR’S GARDEN
Submitted by: Polly Brooks, Litchfield Garden Club
If your beautiful butterfly garden happens to become a salad bar for local rodents, do as the Conservation Committee of the Litchfield Garden Club of Connecticut did, and reimagine your project! Rather than admitting the animals won, we broadened our focus by welcoming all native pollinators, removing self- seeded invasive species, and redesigning the space with endemic plants. The updated garden also includes informative signage for visitors to learn about said pollinators and native plants.
This project began in 1998 and is ongoing, consistently educating the general public about the wonders of pollination. We are fortunate to have a partnership wherein the Conservation Committee maintains the garden, the club funds the purchase of seeds and plants, and the White Memorial Foundation — on whose property the garden sits — mows the grounds. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE III: HASTINGS MEMORIAL WILDFLOWER PARK
Submitted by: Prudence Montgomery, Garden Club of Irvington-on-Hudson
Our club planted the Hastings Memorial Wildflower Park in memory of its member, Mrs. Addison Hastings, who was incredibly passionate about wildflowers and whose daughters had walked through the woodland every day. Following much planting and clean-up, the park was dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enjoyment of our native plant heritage. Unfortunately, the area later became overrun with invasive species — that is, until an orchestrated effort got underway to re-plant the wildflowers and remove invasive plants.
The project’s purpose was to reinvest the park with endemic species and to promote the importance of native plants to the ecology of our local community. The Wildflower Park was originally created from 1971 to 1975, while the invasive plant removal was conducted in 2011 (led by Peggy Hastings Sanford and Joe Archino, Head of Irvington Parks and Recreation). ————————————————————————————————
ZONE III: STRATEGIES FOR CONTROLLING INVASIVE PLANTS IN YOUR GARDEN
Submitted by: Karen Ertl, Philipstown Garden Club
The Philipstown Garden Club invited its members and the public to walk the incredibly designed landscape of Russel Wright's Manitoga, a National Historic Landmark. Our Conservation and Horticulture Committees also developed a workshop focusing on woodland stewardship and understanding the impact of invasive plants. Morning instruction involved discussing what makes a plant invasive, how to identify it, and proven management strategies for their control. Part of the group then spent the afternoon pulling and safely disposing of invasive plants, while others planted natives species.
The workshop was led by Jessica Schuler, from the New York Botanical Garden, and Emily Philips, from Manitoga. The partnerships we forged that day are ongoing, as we continue to communicate on how to work collaboratively to control invasive plants and protect endangered areas. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE IV: BUILDING A SOLAR SUITCASE: THE GARDEN CLUB OF PRINCETON PROVIDES ENERGY TO WOMEN IN NEED
Submitted by: Kathleen Biggins, The Garden Club of Princeton
A solar suitcase is a stand alone, complete solar electricity system that fits into a rugged plastic suitcase for easy travel to remote destinations. Our club built one of these amazing suitcases to provide electricity to women in a Sierra Leone birthing home. We purchased the kit from We Share Solar, a nonprofit co- founded by one of our members, Gigi Goldman.
These kits are often used in schools, allowing students to learn about electricity, solar energy, and international philanthropy. Our members spent an afternoon twisting wires and securing bolts to help women on the other side of the world — and it was incredibly rewarding! Not only did we learn about conditions in Sierra Leone (which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world), but we were also educated on the rising importance of solar energy in Africa. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE IV: DOES IT COME IN GREEN: A MINI-TALE OF REFORMING OVER-CONSUMER
Submitted by: Susan Finlay, Stony Brook Garden Club
Stony Brook Garden Club developed a user-friendly handbook packed with facts, statistics, and tips focused on the reduction of everyday toxins in the environment and the overall sustainability of the planet. Our goal was to provide a simple and comprehensive guide on what individuals can do to safeguard themselves, their families, and the earth from the threatening effects of pervasive toxic chemicals. The book is a testament to the mission statement of the GCA, and educates the public by offering practical ways each citizen can preserve and protect the environment.
Our club spent two years planning, researching, writing, drawing, and editing — followed by a phase of publicity, marketing, and distribution. The project began during the summer of 2006, and saw its third and final printing in spring of 2010.
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ZONE IV: HOUSEWIFE OF NJ SAVES WETLANDS; THWARTS AIRPORT PLAN
Submitted by: Mary Louise Carrington, Garden Club of Morristown
The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is an amazing place located just twenty-six miles west of Times Square — and is also an outstanding success story in the history of American conservation. In 1959, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey proposed a plan to build an international airport in a sparsely populated, rural area of New Jersey. “The new Newark airport? Wait a minute!” said a proud New Jersey housewife. And with that, the battle began.
This same woman incited the communities in and around the proposed airport, asking them to buy up the land and deed it to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a nature preserve. More than 3,000 acres were purchased by local residents, and her plan worked! In 1960, the Great Swamp became the first federally- designated wilderness area east of the Mississippi. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE V: I CAN, I WILL
Submitted by: Christine Larson, The Providence Garden Club of Pennsylvania
For the last three years, the Providence Garden Club has chosen to support the “I Can, I Will” gardening project founded by Michael Gray and his sons. This is a hands-on project involving students from a very low income area working and gardening together, meanwhile providing a safe environment for children living nearby. The goal of the program is to give a sense of wonder in cultivating, seeding, weeding, and watching vegetables grow.
By sharing what they've learned with others, the students are able to gain confidence in themselves, in addition to having the opportunity to sell their produce at local farmers’ markets. While our club’s contribution to “I Can, I Will” is primarily financial, many of our members have visited the project and have donated materials, as well.
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ZONE V: INVASIVE PLANT CONTROL USING GOATS VS TRADITIONAL METHODS
Submitted by: Sarah Heckscher, The Garden Club of Philadelphia
Our club, the Friends of Wissahickon, and botanists from the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve developed a program to test the value of using goats to control invasive plants. In the spring of 2011, four test sites were flagged, and each assigned an invasive plant suppression mechanism: Angora goats, weeding, herbicide use, or no action taken. The goats were exposed to invasive species during three different months of the growing season, meaning they likely removed the roots of what they consumed.
By comparison, a similar-sized 20’ x 20’ plot was weeded by hand, and a third plot carefully sprayed with herbicide. Though results are not quite complete, the goal was to test alternatives to herbicide because of concerns surrounding its long-term use and its impact on mammal biology and the local water supply. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE V: RESTORING NATIVE HABITAT TO ATTRACT POLLINATORS AND INCREASE BIODIVERSITY
Submitted by: Debbie Goldman, Village Garden Club of Sewickley
The Village Garden Club of Sewickley, in partnership with Allegheny Land Trust, has identified a portion of land as an ideal location to assist in improving biodiversity, educating children on the importance of pollinator habitats, and making a difference in the native landscape. This land, known as the Audubon Greenway, is a conservation area that has been permanently protected since 2003. It is a classic Western Pennsylvania landscape — fields with rolling topography, mature oak groves, and beautiful waterways.
The Audubon Greenway provides a perfect opportunity for our club to enhance a native habitat. Allegheny Land Trust, the land manager, and the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania will provide professional guidance for the project as we increase biodiversity, host educational workshops, and sponsor an educational event on monarch butterflies. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE VI: FRIENDS SCHOOL OF BALTIMORE NATIVE PLANT TEACHING GARDENS
Submitted by: Kay McConnell, Guilford Garden Club
In partnership since 2005, Friends School of Baltimore and the Guilford Garden Club have created a series of Native Plant Teaching Gardens throughout the campus, where conservation and education are the focus. The gardens employ Chesapeake Bay Watershed native plants that thrive with minimal care, in order to attract pollinators and to absorb surface water on the school’s sloping campus. GGC has worked with students, faculty, and the extended community to plant more than 4,000 trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses in gardens designed to capture and control the flow of water.
Our club continues to invest time and talents into this project; GGC and Friends School have maintained the same aspiration from the start, to establish a “conservation campus” for water, energy, and native plants that will encourage generations of ecological gardeners to come. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE VII: ENERGY STRATEGIES AND OUR ENVIRONMENT SYMPOSIUM
Submitted by: Jana Dowds, Glenview Garden Club
The Glenview Garden Club hosted a daylong meeting and luncheon in April of 2011 at Nana Lampton's farm, Elmendorf. We extended the invitation to the members of the Lexington Garden Club, who provided a dinner for the guest speakers and the GGC organizers the evening prior. The guests were housed at Elmendorf that night, and attended the symposium the following day to learn from our five speakers.
The goal of the project was to educate our members about different energy choices and the benefits and environmental consequences of each. The joint meeting was helpful to encourage our two clubs to work together at the state level on environmental issues, and gave our club a look into what goes on at the NAL Conference in Washington (which the day was modeled after). ————————————————————————————————
ZONE VIII: PREPARING FOR WET & WILD IN JUNE 2016
Submitted by: Mary Palmer Dargan, Cherokee Garden Club
The Cherokee Garden Club is off to a great start with "Wet & Wild,” a Partners for Plants Wetlands Revegetation Weekend. The event is set for June 2016 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park System. This project is a community collaboration between multi-zonal GCA members, the National Park Service, Jackson County (North Carolina) Master Gardeners, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, and the Southern Highlands Reserve.
Our goal is to revegetate a marshy site cleared of invasive exotics in 2014, by incorporating NPS collected genotypes of endemic plants. The weekend will also include an installation of coir mats, conservation discussion with NPS staff, native plant identification, a wildcrafting display, and a foraging feast — plus watching synchronous fireflies, if weather permits! ————————————————————————————————
ZONE VIII: TREES FOR AUGUSTA
Submitted by: Mary Moretz, Sand Hills Garden Club
Our club’s mission to remove diseased trees and plant new ones has led us to a partnership with Trees for Augusta, Inc., in hopes our collaboration can create a larger impact. Trees for Augusta, Inc. is a local organization with a similar passion for planting trees in blighted areas of Augusta, Georgia. Together, we’re providing leadership and education in the areas of preservation, restoration, and reforestation of the urban corridors of our city.
We understand tree maintenance and replacement is vital to any community; trees are basic to our survival because they provide oxygen and absorb pollutants from the air we breathe. Not only that, but trees enhance wildlife, offer shade, and help control erosion. This project was founded in 2009 and is ongoing, as we currently have four club members serving on the board for Trees for Augusta, Inc. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE IX: CEMETERY ROSE PROJECT
Submitted by: Betsy Holleman, Garden Lovers of Natchez
The ongoing conservation project for the Pilgrimage Garden Club of Natchez, Mississippi, is the continuous care of the antique roses in the historic Natchez Cemetery. Though once in danger of being lost because of neglect, our members have been carefully pruning, shaping, fertilizing, mulching, and propagating these beautiful roses for the last fifteen years. In 2015, we began the process of identifying and tagging the roses, and then produced a brochure showing the locations of each.
The educational component of this project involves preserving the roses for the enjoyment of visitors to our cemetery (which dates back to 1822). Cemeteries were the first public gardens in America, and we believe in the importance of their preservation. Our goal is to care for and maintain our old garden roses for future generations to enjoy.
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ZONE IX: GREAT SMALL TREES FOR HOUSTON
Submitted by: Doris Durbin Heard, The Garden Club of Houston
The Garden Club of Houston’s “Great Small Trees for Houston” project identifies fourteen native trees likely to thrive with little maintenance, offer exceptional beauty and the widest range of seasonal interest, and provide many habitat benefits, especially for birds. We’ve worked to publicize these trees through a brochure and with a demonstration planting project along Houston’s signature waterway, Buffalo Bayou.
The brochure and the plantings are highly collaborative efforts, seeing us partner with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Trees for Houston, and local landscape designers. Our club has helped to plant trees in this well-used park every year since 2010, for a total grove of more than 250 trees — including each of the Great Small Trees!
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ZONE IX: WEED WRANGLETM - NASHVILLE
Submitted by: Laura Landstreet, Garden Club of Nashville
For our inaugural Weed WrangleTM-Nashville in 2015, more than 1,300 volunteer hours were dedicated to remove bush honeysuckle, privet, euonymus, and other invasive plants from our publicly accessible lands. At least twelve local organizations partnered together to make it all happen, and with the generous cooperation of Belmont University, we also hosted a community lecture by Steve Manning of Invasive Plant Management, Inc. Finally, many in our community learned about the threat of invasive plants through our comprehensive media campaign targeting television, print, and social media.
The second event in 2016 saw us joining with Warner Parks and thirteen other city parks in and around Nashville. The ongoing goal of the Weed WrangleTM is to broaden its partnerships and continue to increase its impact.
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ZONE X: LEARNING TREE PROJECT
Submitted by: Nancy Pockrandt, Bay City Garden Club
Since 2008, we’ve had an ongoing project called the "Learning Tree," in partnership with the Bay City Community Center. Our club hosts a presentation for the children attending the center's summer program, educating them on the different trees found in the Kantzler Arboretum. The children are then divided into groups and given a map noting the approximate location of numerous trees, as well as a question/answer sheet about the arboretum. Depending on the weather, the children have the opportunity to go outside and hunt for the specific trees!
We host two sessions per day for four days, with two or three BCGC members volunteering at each session. Our goal is not only to teach the students about trees, but to offer them a greater understanding and respect for nature as a whole. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE X: NATIVE PLANT RESTORATION - CUYAHOGA NATIONAL PARK
Submitted by: Dedee O’Neil, Akron Garden Club
The Akron Garden Club has loved working in the Cuyahoga National Park to preserve and protect its native plants! For the last few years, our club has been gathering seeds of endemic plants from within the park’s boundaries, and then focusing on the germinating and growing processes. The plants are later rooted in areas of the park where invasive species have been removed, or where construction has destroyed the plant bed.
Through this project, we’ve learned a great deal about native plants — what conditions they need, when to pick their seeds, and how best to germinate and grow them. While the first seeds were gathered in the fall of 2010 and planted in the spring of 2011, this continues to be an ongoing project for our members. ————————————————————————————————
ZONE XI: FOREST PARK RENOVATION
Submitted by: Margaret Marshall, Lake Forest Garden Club
As our club was preparing to celebrate its centennial anniversary, we had just one wish: a lasting gift to the citizens of Lake Forest commemorating the LFGC’s founding in 1912. The city responded by agreeing to the rehabilitation and preservation of Forest Park, our gateway to the shores of Lake Michigan. We partnered with city officials to form the Forest Park Project Board, committed to following standards of excellence in horticultural design, conservation, engineering, and historic preservation.
The Forest Park master plan (developed by landscape architect Stephen Stimson & Associates) not only reflected the needs of modern society, but it maintained a strong connection to the historic past of the park and the city itself. The LFGC is now looking ahead to our next 100 years, dedicated to conservation, education, preservation, and stewardship of Forest Park and the surrounding environment! ————————————————————————————————
ZONE XII: CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA GARDEN CLUB MEMBERS VISIT SALT POND RESTORATION PROJECT IN ALVISO, CA
Submitted by: Judith Cunningham, Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club
In November of 2015, twenty of our members took a field trip to Don Edwards Environmental Education Center in the Alviso, California. Our guide, Park Ranger Jose Garcia, gave us a historical overview of the South Bay Salt Ponds, as well as describing the Salt Pond Restoration Project that is currently underway. This endeavor, the largest coastal wetlands restoration in California’s history, is a collaborative effort focused on habitat restoration, flood control, and public access within the 15,000 acres of former salt ponds in the South Bay.
Following this presentation, we visited the ponds and sloughs alongside our guide, learning about sedimentation rate, tidal and non-tidal sloughs, and various water regulating devices. Attendees loved the opportunity to gain a greater knowledge of the area’s ecology and such a fascinating restoration project! ————————————————————————————————
ZONE XII: SANTA FE RIVER STEWARDSHIP
Submitted by: Elva Busch, Santa Fe Garden Club
For ten years, our club members have been stewards of one of the 26 stretches of the Santa Fe River, an endangered and seasonal river in our area. Our goals have included cleaning the river on a monthly or as needed basis, reporting any problems we observe, assisting with the removal of dead material and invasive species, and advocating for a permanent water flow.
In addition, we’re focused on teaching the public about the importance of this body of water to the history and continuing vitality of our community. This is a collaborative effort involving local children and adults, civic groups, and governmental and NGO representatives. Not only is this project ongoing, but the SFGC has been a steward of the river for the entire duration of the Santa Fe Watershed Association's existence!