The Garden Club of Long Beach Island, New Jersey  

"Watch Us Grow"

Introduction

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.

Seedling Sale

Lilacs    (3/$8)                Kousa Dogwood (4/$9)                    Bloodtwig Dogwood (3/$6)

Blue Spruce    (5/$8)        Red Cedar (4/$6)                        Rugosa Rose (5/$9)

Bayberry    (3/$8)            Beach Plum    (4/$8)                        River Birch     (3/$6)

Red Bud    (3/$6)            Atlantic Coastal Grass    (20/$16)        Fertilizer tabs (10/$3)          

Send orders by March 15, with checks payable to The Garden Club of LBI, to LBI Garden Club - Seedling Sale, in care of Betty Frey, 416 North 4th Street, Surf City, NJ  08008.  Please include your phone number.

 

 

The club maintains the Edith Duff Gwinn Garden at the Barnegat Light Museum and the Beach Haven Library garden.  We also organize the Holiday Tour of Homes on Long Beach Island, provide programs for local nursing facilities, provide scholarships for local school students, hold a seedling sale (see details below) of plants that grow well on the island, provide programs for seniors, and create and maintain floral arrangements for the libraries on the island and in Stafford and the Historical Museum in Beach Haven.

 

  

   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, please contact Madelyn Pietrucha (609) 492-3397 or email her at ribbonlady@verizon.net, or send a check for $20 made out to LBIGC 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

The Garden Club of Long Beach Island Scholarship News

The Garden Club of LBI offers scholarships for people pursing the following majors:  Marine Biology, Horticultural Science, Agricultural Education, Botany, Landscape Design, Oceanography, Forestry, or Environmental Science.  If you are in high school in Ocean County and plan to study in one of these areas, an application with an essay would be due by April 1, 2012.  If you are already in college and are from Ocean County or enrolled in an Ocean County college, an application with an essay would be due by May 2, 2012.
 
Please check your high school web site, talk to your counselor or email pmspatsy6@gmail.com for an application.  When finished please send the application to The Garden Club of LBI, 330 Belvoir Ave., Beach Haven, N.J. 08008.
 
If you are awarded a scholarship, a copy of your bill needs to be sent to the address above and the money would be sent directly to you.
 

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The Environmental Consultant provides information to the Club members on a variety of issues regarding our environment.  Members of the Garden Club of LBI have been active in a variety of efforts which have focused on different aspects of our ecology including the maintenance of a clean and healthy ocean.  On August 13, 1987 medical waste hit the New Jersey beaches.   In September, The Garden Club of Long Beach Island became active in this environmental matter.  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 members have been given information regarding a variety of environmental concerns, suggestions on how each of  us can take action to encourage our elected officials to support initiatives that protect our environment, to inform our friends and families regarding these concerns  and to encourage all to participate in doing their part to protect our fragile planet. 

Specific areas addressed most recently include:

  -Supporting New Jersey initiating the Nation's first Fertilizer Bill signed into law which is expected to contribute to improving the health of Barnegat Bay and other bodies of water.  In addition to strict statewide fertilizer standards, the  bill dictates professionals applying fertilizer be certified, calls for standards for restoration of soil destroyed during construction, and  addresses the development of a stormwater management plan for Ocean County.    

  -Advocating for the installation of cooling towers at the Oyster Creek nuclear generating station to reduce the billions of fish and shellfish eggs and larvae being destroyed in the Barnegat Bay waters. 

 - Participating with other environmental groups such as the Alliance of the Living Ocean and Clean Ocean Action in community activities such as the Hands Across the Sand, a national gathering in opposition to offshore oil drilling and supporting clean energy; Earth Day clean up of Long Beach Island's beaches and bays.

 - Advocating to reject proposals for the installation of liquefied natural gas facilities off the coast of  New Jersey and New York.  Currently two proposals have been withdrawn and the third has been vetoed by N.J. Governor Christie. 

Some of the ongoing environmental activities are the collection of lids and caps which are recycled, in addition to the daily recycling of household products.  Members were all given cloth bags to be used instead of plastic bags to help decrease the flood of plastic bags to our dumps and landfills and also into our waters.    Gardening responsibly is an ongoing effort of the total membership and suggestions are provided by many members.

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 wind blown 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:

 

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