The Bay Ridge Garden Committee (sound the horns!)

Over a year ago, the Garden Club leaders reached out to BR—seeking new volunteers to take the helm. Participation had waned over the years—due, in no doubt, to today’s crazy-busy lifestyles. So. We got to thinking.

What could be more awesome right now that a new, re-calibrated Garden Club? Very little. So, here we go.

We’re delighted to re-introduce the Bay Ridge Garden Committee (v. 2.0)! We met with the current BRGC leads, Jodie Lacey, Bobbie Hecklinger and Kathy Flynn, to learn all their awesome secrets. Then we brainstormed a little bit—and thought on other things that would meaningful to residents.

See, there are new trends that are so great. There are older traditions that should never be lost. There’s some fantastic in-between stuff that is awesome. That’s what we’re after. Leveraging forward-thinking ideas, maintaining heritage, and coming together in some cool, new ways.

Here’s a bit about our renewed focus.

Mission

The Bay Ridge (BR) Garden Committee works to inspire interest in our community’s gardens, promote sound environmental practices that benefit our community, encourage residents to interact with nature, and bring neighbors together who care to preserve and enhance Bay Ridge’s natural bounties, essence and history.

Programming

It’s easy to think about how lucky we are to live on the water, and to have our great woods. We are lucky, indeed.

But there’s more to Bay Ridge—less obvious characteristics that distinguish it so. It is the gardens that greet us every morning—thoughtfully planted flowers, grasses, vegetables, shrubs—that showcase a deep love and pride for our community.

Many of them tell a story—some inherited from previous owners, planted around a hundreds-years-old tree, old brick patios or walkways, for examples—and others simply serve the noble purpose of summoning us outside to enjoy nature, to reflect, work with one’s hands, and greet neighbors. In today’s tech-heavy world—the importance of this can’t be overstated.

So, let’s celebrate our gardens and heritage in some cool ways. We’re pulling together some fun events and programming around these core themes:

Family events. Gnomes! Fairies! And families. The weekends are so sacred—we’re planning some fun plant-related events with our littles kiddos in mind.

May Day baskets! Join us at the Marina clubhouse on Sunday 4.30 at 1 pm—we’ll assemble some lovely May Day baskets to welcome spring in to Bay Ridge. $15 and BYOB (basket). Just RSVP to anna.chrietzberg.mckenzie at gmail dot com and join us!

Hidden Pockets of Bay Ridge. Written articles of secret spots of Bay Ridge—pictures and stories of beautiful gardens around the hood that share history or ecological interest…. that maybe you’d otherwise not see.

Common Grounds—the gates and common community areas—maintained and lovingly improved. (TBD)

Seasonal events.. stay tuned. Just maybe think about some croquet. Or hats. Just sayin’. So much more is coming.

Speaker series on topics related to Maryland nature and heritage.  Possible topics include green-Bay-friendly ways to garden, new trends… helpful things to keep your yard looking good—sustainably so.

Interested in joining us? Please drop us an email at emailblast at bayridge.org! We’ve assembled a mighty crew of interested residents who will leading a lot of these events (thank you, crew!) and can use a few more!

– Holly Moring, Meredith Howe and Julie Schablitsky