Boston Flora

Tag: Belmont garden tour

  • Tuesday, October 4, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Eco Tour: Ecological Maintenance Techniques at Mass Audubon

    At Mass Audubon Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, well-maintained trails wind through serene forests of deciduous and evergreen trees, across meadows, and around ponds and vernal pools. Located just six miles from downtown Boston at 10 Juniper Road in Belmont, this unique 90-acre natural oasis offers recreation and environmental education for all ages. With a wide range of habitats, maintenance on this property is diverse, challenging, and never ending but careful planning along with well-executed ecological practices are proving successful.

    Join tour guide Sandy Vorce on Tuesday, October 4 at 3 pm to learn about the innovative landscape maintenance techniques that the Mass Audubon staff and volunteers practice to keep the landscape healthy and beautiful.

    Landscape maintenance topics included on the tour:

    Invasive plant control and meadow maintenance – both handled with the help of Habitat’s Goats
    Stormwater management – dealing with drought and deluge
    Lawn maintenance using push mowers to reduce noise and emissions
    Recycling organic matter – techniques that plan ahead for climate change
    Weed management using Habitat staff and volunteers

    Sandy Vorce is the property manager at Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. Sandy tends everything from gardens to goats and enjoys working with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds in caring for the property and its’ inhabitants. She is a former Ecological Landscape Alliance board member and now participates with local Land Trusts and Friends groups. $23 for ELA members, $33 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-ecological-landscape-maintenance-techniques-at-audubon-habitat/#sthash.HACXWB8J.dpuf

  • Wednesday, June 24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Edibles in the Landscape – Foraging and Growing Your Own

    Edible wild plants offer opportunities for people to connect to nature via their taste buds, thereby building enthusiasm and support for land stewardship. Reconnect with the many edible plants that are all around us.

    Join tour guide, Russ Cohen, to view plants in the landscape through a new lens. Russ Cohen’s “day job” is serving as the Rivers Advocate for the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration. He is also an expert forager and the author of Wild Plants I Have Known… and Eaten, published by the Essex County Greenbelt Association. For more than 25 years, Russ Cohen has been teaching foraging and leading foraging walks each year at a wide variety of venues throughout the Northeast, including talks for the Garden Club of the Back Bay.

    On this Wednesday, June 24 early evening walking tour of the landscape at Mass Audubon’s Habitat property in Belmont, Russ will point out which commonly found native and non-native plants have edible potential. Russ will discuss how adding edible plants to a landscape can boost biodiversity as well as “spice up” the experience for garden visitors. Learn about dozens of tasty native and non-native plant species that area landscapes have to offer, some of which may already be growing on your property. If your landscape is not rich with edibles yet, let this presentation be your inspiration to add edibles to your landscape this season. Register ($15 ELA members, $25 nonmembers) and see more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/edibles-in-the-landscape-foraging-and-growing-your-own/#sthash.S7t4kEYV.dpuf  Photo below of the Habitat property from www.everytrail.com.

  • Sunday, June 12, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Small Garden Sampler Tour

    The Belmont Garden Club has organized a Small Garden Sampler Tour on Sunday, June 12, from 10 – 4, beginning at 336 Concord Avenue, Belmont. : This “Small Garden Sampler” features six private gardens and a woodland garden. Hospitality Tent and scheduled demonstrations will be held at one of the garden sites. The tour will highlight creative gardening for smaller and/or challenging spaces. Tickets may be purchased at the Belmont Public Library. For more information on ticket prices, log on to www.belmontgardenclub.info, or call 617-484-4190.  Award winning Belmont Hill garden below designed by Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design.