GARDEN CLUB CALENDAR

Purpose

The purpose of the Westgate Garden Club is to educate members and our neighbors about horticulture, emphasizing low-maintenance and environmentally-responsible gardening practices. We also maintain all the Westgate common areas.

Membership

Membership is $20 annually and new members are always welcome.

Meetings

Monthly meetings are held September through May, except January and February, at members' homes. Members and guest speakers have presented information on pond building. landscape architecture, forgotten pollinators, herbal lore, soil science, lasagna gardening, bulbs, houseplants and more. Contact Garden Club President, Janet Gross, 410-719-6637, or email, jangross@bcpl.net and check the website events link for upcoming schedules.

Special Events

The Club sponsors a plant swap and wreath-making. These are free of charge and open to the community. They are held on Sunday afternoons and include refreshments. We have taken field trips to Ladew, Watercolor Lavender Farm in Harford County, and the National Arboretum in D.C. In 2004, we also held a garden tour, despite the cicadas.

Westgate Beautification

We help to clean and maintain Westgate Park at North Bend and have landscaped the sign-beds there and on Edmondson Avenue. We also maintain the Route 40 plantings, supplementing the state crews, and have created a woodland garden in the northeast corner of Westgate Park at North Bend.

The plants for the woodland garden and most of

those at the sign-beds have been provided through a free program sponsored by Civic Works in Baltimore City. Civic Works operates a perennial nursery, obtaining castoffs from commercial nurseries which are then provided free of charge for community gardens. The sign-beds were both financed through grants from Parks and People Foundation of Baltimore. Garden club members supplement the plantings with both donated material from our own gardens and the purchase of perennials. For more information on upcoming meeting topics and special events, contact Janet Gross at 410 719-6637 or jangross@bcpl.net.