STONE HARBOR – In its continuing effort to beautify the borough, the Garden Club of Stone Harbor has revamped an island on 122nd Street and Second Avenue near its Garden of Remembrance.
During Borough Council’s meeting July 7, Garden Club President Karen Lane approached council concerning a formal donation to the borough to hire Meadowview Landscaping of Court House to do the work on the median island garden.
Club volunteers typically work on the islands themselves, however, Lane said the club had put this work out to bid because of the size and scope of work she said was in “dire need.”
The club periodically maintains all islands from 80th through 122nd streets and raises funds to buy the plants. Among its many projects, the club also plants along the bay by Sunset Drive and along the 96th Street tennis courts.
As a partner in the effort, Stone Harbor Realty Owners Association (ROA) annually donates funds to the Garden Club, which was used this year for the 122nd Street island project, Lane said.
The Garden of Remembrance was created in the 1980s from a vacant sandy lot through donations in memory of lost loved ones. It won the Philadelphia Horticultural Society’s Suburban Greening Award in 2005.
The garden offers a unique and secluded setting in mature plant growth right off the beach with benches where visitors can meditate and relax. Lane said the club is working towards installing birdbaths there.
She said the 122nd Street median garden had looked “pretty bad” by comparison because of the intense wind at Stone Harbor Point and a car had backed into the shrubs therefore it needed to be totally re-landscaped.
The borough provides mulch and the club buys thousands of dollars of plants with funds it raises through its annual house tours, plant and bake sales in order to maintain the median island gardens.
Lane told the Herald that Meadowview Landscaping has done a “phenomenal job” and will maintain the garden for the remainder of the year. Borough Public Works provides water to borough gardens through irrigation systems.
The Garden Club is now in its 31st year of operation and “every year takes on more projects,” Lane said. “We couldn’t survive without all of our volunteers and the support of the townspeople.”
The Garden Club and ROA also partnered on a project to install hanging flower baskets on 96th Street.
Eighth grade students from Stone Harbor Elementary School worked on a garden in the water tower parking lot on Second Avenue across from Borough Hall.
“We’re trying to get young gardeners started so, when they get older, they might join us and help with plantings,” Lane said.
Another project on the horizon is to establish a butterfly garden at 117th Street and Third Avenue.
Lane said, “It needs some serious work” because it had been cleared and seeded before but weeds came back so new soil is required.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.
Sea Isle City – If you prefer concrete and stone yards because they require less upkeep, that's perfectly fine and your prerogative. But no need to criticize and put down people choosing a more natural yard…
