Daily Archives: March 20, 2011

Tuesday, April 5, 10:00 am – Rain Gardens: Beautiful Water-Saving, Wildlife-Friendly Gardens

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The April meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will be held Tuesday, April 5, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, and will feature Dori Smith of Gardens for Life speaking on Water Gardens: Beautiful Water-Saving, Wildlife-Friendly Gardens. Would you like to help protect our precious water resources, while at the same time creating lush, beautiful gardens that attract birds and butterflies?  Rain gardens take advantage of our natural abundance of rainfall rather than wasting it as runoff – using water flowing from your roof, driveway, or lawn.  These gardens are easy care, and can often solve problems such as erosion, icy walkways, or wet basements.  Using inspirational PowerPoint slides, we will review design options, construction details, and appropriate native plants.  Attendees are welcome to bring photos or descriptions of their own landscapes to use as case studies.

Trained in design and horticulture, with a certificate from Tower Hill Botanic Garden “New England School of Gardening” and an advanced certificate in native plants from New England Wildflower Society, Dori is a member of the NEWFS Educational Committee, and is accredited as an Organic Land Care Professional by Northeast Organic Farming Association.  She has installed over 15 rain gardens in Boston’s western suburbs, and has published in the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Sanctuary Magazine.

An optional lunch will follow the presentation.  The lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are essential.  Lunch will cost an additional $20 for Garden Club  members, $25 for guests, and reservations may be made by emailing info@gardenclubbackbay.org before Tuesday, March 29.  Garden Club members will receive written notice of this meeting.

http://www.goodnaturepublishing.com/images/Raingarden.jpg

The Friends of the Boston Park Rangers

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The Garden Club of the Back Bay web site has a new link on the right hand side of our home page – the Friends of the Boston Park Rangers.  The Boston Mounted Horse Project: Preserving Boston’s Park Ranger Mounted Unit, can be found at www.SaveBostonsHorses.org.  The friends group, led by Julie Donahue and Cokie Perry, has applied for independent non-profit status, but on a temporary basis, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy is serving as the fiduciary agent for the friends and welcomes donations payable to the Justine Mee Liff Fund, designated for the Boston Park Ranger Program.  Checks may be sent to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy at 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115.

The Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit was created in 1982 through an initial effort by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. It has since grown into a program that once boasted more than twelve patrol horses and twenty-four year-round park rangers plus the addition of seasonal rangers. However, due to budget constraints, the program has been halved and is under consideration of total disbandment.

When the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit faced disbandment last year, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy raised $140,000 in donations to maintain the unit through the fiscal year 2010 and the early part of 2011. The efforts of the Conservancy saved jobs and protected the safety of the park system by providing funding to local enforcement to continue providing mounted security to the Emerald Necklace.

Now, facing a renewed effort to cease the mounted program, the Friends of the Boston Park Rangers have taken up the cause. Through fund-raising and donations, they hope to reach their goal of providing the city of Boston with $155,000 to maintain the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit through the fiscal year, and further prove the mounted program’s importance and necessity in maintaining the safety of Boston’s park system.  Some very nifty aprons are available for purchase, too.

Thursday, April 14, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Wild Foods, Nutrition, and Land Conservation

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Land conservation has many obvious benefits — protecting habitats and watersheds, preventing erosion, offering places of beauty and respite. Few of us consider the additional benefit to our health and well-being that derives from the wild, nutrient-dense foods these natural areas can provide. Take a provocative look at agriculture (particularly small-scale) and its effects on the environment and human health in this Thursday, April 14 lecture by Arthur Haines at Garden in the Woods, Framingham, co-sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society and the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Drumlin Farm. How does clearing the canopy and understory of a natural area affect wild food sources? Do changes in our diet over the past century have a physiological and genetic impact? Appreciating the critical need humans have for wild food provides another powerful argument for the protection of land from uses that drastically alter its ecological function. $20 for members of the sponsoring organizations, $24 for non-members.  Register at www.newfs.org.