The Garden Club of Long Beach Island was organized in 1958 and federated in 1960. The club is a member of The National Garden Clubs, Inc.-Central Atlantic Region and The Garden Club of New Jersey-District Eight. Our meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at 11:30 A.M. at the First Methodist Church, corner of New Jersey and Beach Avenues in Beach Haven Terrace, NJ.
The club maintains the Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens at the Barnegat Light Museum and the Beach Haven Library, organizes a Holiday Tour of Homes on Long Beach Island, provides programs for local nursing facilities, provides scholarships for local school students, has a seedling sale (see details below) of plants that grow well on the island, provides programs for seniors and creates and maintains floral arrangements for the libraries and Historical Museum.
EDITH DUFF GWINN GARDEN
The Edith Duff Gwinn Garden is located at 5th and Central Avenues in Barnegat Light, situated in back of and around the museum. The garden is open from sun up to sundown each day of the year. There is a beautiful fountain in the garden dedicated to all Garden Club members and others who have worked to keep it beautiful. The garden is planted with many different kinds of flowers, making it different each time you visit. COME AND VISIT ANYTIME!
SPECIAL PROJECTS
A Special Projects committee is responsible for the distribution of monies to organizations within Ocean County. These organizations request the funding to enhance the landscape, the environment, the waterways, and the ecology of the area. Upon presentation of these projects, the committee reviews each one and assigns the amount of money that is available for that purpose. For more information, please contact Garden Club member Pam Brotschul at pbrotschul@comcast.net.
NEWLY PUBLISHED BOOK!
The Garden Club has published a book about gardening, titled "Gardening at the Shore". The book was the creation of a number of Garden Club members who felt strongly that our special island needed to be rescued from environmentally unsound gardening practices. With the current rate of construction, landscaping properties become an important issue. The book handles the many problems that affect the unique conditions of a barrier island. To guide the gardener through living with storms, wind, salt, sand, flooding, and drought, there are chapters that range from wind breaks to creating healthy soil, stressing sound practices that will not contribute to pollution of our beautiful waters. The book is illustrated with appropriate art work and stunning photography and concludes with a calendar of month-by-month gardening tasks.
To order a copy of the book, send a check for $15.00 plus $5.00 (S&H) to: The Garden Club of LBI, P. O. Box 344, Ship Bottom, NJ 08008. The book is also available at the following locations:
Camille's Floral Design, Manahawkin Golden Fish, Surf City Country Corner Market, Ship Bottom ** How to Live, Beach Haven ** Kline Bros. Landscaping, Manahawkin The Cedar Garden, Ship Bottom Pottery Barge, Ship Bottom Reynolds Garden Shop, Manahawkin Surf City Five & Ten, Surf City Things-A-Drift, Ship Bottom ** Under the Mistletoe, Beach Haven Wildflowers by the Lighthouse, Barnegat Light** Seasonal establishments
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
On August 13, 1987 medical waste hit the New Jersey beaches. In September, The Garden Club of Long Beach Island became active in environmental matters. With the help of many other groups, we were successful in obtaining legislation to ban the dumping of sewage sludge off our shores, which has resulted in a clean and clear ocean. Since that time we have sponsored a vigorous program of environmental awareness on many issues, but focusing mainly on the maintenance of a clean and healthy ocean, and a campaign to realize a serious reduction in the sale and use of toxic pesticides by the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies and including studies and labeling of genetically engineered foods. So far, we have not been able to get any legislation on GE foods, but we keep trying. Please contact Mary Wilding by email at: mcwilding@gmail.com.
SEASHORE PLANTING INFORMATION
Good cultural practices are essential for successful shore plantings. Water plants in dry weather, provide year-round mulches, and dig large holes and fill them with topsoil when planting trees and shrubs. When preparing flower beds for planting, work in several inches of peat moss or other organic matter to help retain moisture in summer. Apply fertilizer.
The following plants are suitable for seashore plantings:
TREES: Plane-tree Maple, Red Cedar; London Plane; Service-berry; Sour Gum; Silver Poplar; Russian Olive; Colorado Blue Spruce; Laurel Leaf Willow, American Holly, Sassafras
SHRUBS: Chokeberry (Aronia), Heath (Erica), Seabuckthorn Groundselbush (Baccharis), Beach Heather (Hudsonia), Memorial Rose, Japanese Barberry, Hydrangea, Rugosa Rose, Heather (Calluna), Shore Juniper, Japanese Yew, Japanese Quince, Creeping Juniper, Blueberry, Summersweet (Clethra), California Privet Arrowwood (Viburnum), Scotch Broom (Cytissus), Bayberry, Inkberry, Autumn Olive (Elaegnus), Beach Plum
ANNUALS: Centaurea, Annual Phlox, Nasturtium, Gaillardia, Dwarf Marigold, Petunia Lantana, Cleome, Portulaca, California Poppy, Geranium, Verbena
PERENNIALS: Golden Tuft (Alyssum), Chrysanthemum, Arabis, Dianthus, Rudbeckia, Armeria, Daylily, Bearberry (Arctyostaphylos), Gaillardia, Santolina, Sedum, Candytuft, Teucrium, New England Aster, Perennial Flax, Periwinkle, Lavender Bulbs, Bearded Iris, Veronica, Cerastium, Yucca
VINES: Climbing Hydrangea, Chinese Fleecevine, Wisteria
Plants unique to the seashore:
EMERALD SEA SHORE JUNIPER is a spreading shrub that grows to a height of one foot. It spreads by lateral branching to form a dense ground cover. On dunes the foliage is pale green. It is an excellent shrub for landscaping and stabilizing sand dunes, for cover on sandy road banks, and for border plantings. Plants two feet apart provide complete cover in two to three years. It grows well in the same environment as the Japanese Black Pine, but has a better tolerance to shade.
BAYBERRY is a semi-evergreen shrub that grows to a height of about 7 feet. It is native to coastal sand dunes. White flowers appear in May and large edible fruit in August or September. It grows in medium-fertility, slightly acid, loamy, and sandy soils. It has fair shade tolerance and excellent drought tolerance. It is used for stabilizing sand dunes, beautification, and its edible fruit.
BEACH PLUM is a deciduous shrub that grows to a height of about 7 feet. It is native to coastal sand dunes. White flowers appear in May and large edible fruit in August or September. Soil preferences and uses are the same as the Bayberry.
DUSTY MILLER is an ornamental plant used for stabilizing coastal dunes. It grows to a height of 1 to 2 feet and plants placed 2 feet apart will provide complete ground cover in 2 years. It spreads by rhizomes to form a loose cover. It has furry-textured, grayish-white stems and leaves.
AMERICAN BEACH GRASS grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet. It spreads rapidly by underground stems to form erosion-resistant cover. It traps windblown sand to build dunes. Two varieties, Cape and Hatteras, are commercially available. Planting clumps of grass 12 to 18 inches apart will provide cover in 1 to 2 years.
RUGOSA ROSE is sprawling shrub that grows to a height of 3 to 5 feet. It spreads by stout underground stems. Surface stems have sharp spines. Dark-green leaves turn bright orange in the fall. White, pink, or purple flowers blossom most of the summer, and red fruit appears in the fall. It provides food and cover for songbirds.
Source: Conservation Plants for the Northeast U.S. Department of Agriculture
GARDENING WEB SITES
Please visits these web sites for helpful gardening hints:
www.for-wild.org Site for native plants
www.herbsociety.org Site of The Herb Society of America
www.gardenguides.com Site with good, all-around and useful info on many plants and sources
http://www.winterthur.org Site for Winterthur
www.GardenClubofNewJersey.com Site for the Garden Club of New Jersey
http://plantexplorer.longwoodgardens.org/ Longwood Gardens has launched its Plant Explorer website. Plant Explorer allows you to look up any plant by name and provides unprecedented access to Longwood’s plant records, plant images, garden information and interactive maps
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