Program Meetings 2023-2024
Program Meetings for 2023-2024
Meetings will be hybrid.
4/2/24, Tuesday, 7pm social, 7:15pm speaker, Bemis Hall, Open to the Town
Native Lawn Alternatives, presented by Alexis Doshas
How can webetter support biodiversity and resiliency in our green spaces? Kill our lawns! – Or at least reconsider them. In this informal and practical talk Alexis Doshas from The Native Plant Trust, will discuss ways to increase life and support healthy ecosystems through the use of native ground covers. We will review tips and techniques for landscape transformations, and introduce a palette of native plants for various conditions.
For Zoom registration the link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sdeGppjgtHtVvKrGtKqxqva8Fs_1N4lxL
5/6/24, Monday, 9:30am social, 10am speaker
Culinary Exploration of Weeds: Which are Edible, Which are Medicinal?
presented by Karina Hines, Bemis Hall
6/4/24, Tuesday, 10am, Annual Meeting Summer Fun, Socialize and walk the Pierce House Gardens.
Annual Meeting Summer fun!: Come gather with fellow gardeners as we celebrate the end of a remarkable year. We’ll mingle with icebreaker games, celebrate each other and our lovely community, partake of delicious foods, and walk the Pierce House Gardens together. Don’t forget that special celebratory hat!”
6/4/24 Tuesday, 12 noon, Business Meeting and Luncheon, Pierce House
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10/2/23, Monday, 9:30am social, 10am speaker
Japanese Gardens, presented, by Christie Dustman, Bemis Hall
JAPANESE GARDENS – BRINGING HOME THE ESSENCE TO YOUR GARDEN While the intensive labor required for a Japanese garden as seen in Japan is beyond most home gardeners, there are elements of Japanese gardens that can translate into our gardens. We will look at the use of line (a design principle and visual construct) as well as other key design strategies that impart that essence of a Japanese Garden that we admire and often try to emulate. Let’s examine how stone, intentional focal points, the integration between house and garden, and the spirit of the garden can improve our gardens, no matter what style you want at your home.
11/7/23, Tuesday, 7pm social, 7:15pm speaker, Open to the Town
Leave the Leaves, presented by Kathy Connolly, Bemis Hall
Kathy Connolly is a well known speaker who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants. She has a master’s degree in ecological landscape planning and design and is a Master Gardener. She will be discussing why we do not want to rake our Fall leaves or cut our dead flower stems and how we can incorporate this into our clean up routines.
12/5/23, Tuesday, 9:30am social, 10am speaker Holiday Program
Gardening is Painless (and Other Stories We like to Tell Ourselves) with Neil Saunders, Pierce House
The ever popular Neal Saunders will regale us with more hilarious stories drawn from his gardening escapades, such as why Slinkys won’t stop squirrels from raiding your feeder, and why giving a flower show ticket to a gardener can injure your back.
2/5/24, Monday, 9:30am social, 10am speaker
Garden Design-A Deeper Dive, presented by Joanne Pearson, Bemis Hall
Ever wonder what makes a garden great? We’ll explore and dissect garden design including both hardscape and soft scape elements that make a garden shine as we view Joannes photographs of showcase gardens across Europe and the US. We’ll discuss how you can create a concept plan for your yard and ways you can modify and incorporate themes seen in showcase gardens into a scale suitable for your own space, your pocketbook and your schedule. Joanne Pearson has a background in Landscape Architecture and is a professional photographer as well.
3/4/24, Monday, 9:30am social, 10am speaker. Please note this will be a Zoom only presentation.
New Perennials: A Love Story, presented by Deborah Chud by Zoom, Bemis Hall
Deborah’s garden has become a “must see” for MA garden clubs & green organizations, as well as a source of data for a study of pollinator activity by Professor Richard Primack of Boston University.