The next Garden Club meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 12th at the NMC Clubhouse, 607 Tegner Way at 7:30 p.m

New Mark Commons Garden Club Reports
on a Mighty Good Year

 Ever thought of joining the New Mark Garden Club? Ever wondered whether we do more than gather with good friends and neighbors to discuss gardening topics? (And what is wrong with that, you might ask!) For a taste of our activities, co-presidents Ellen Stein and Patricia Polster invite you to read about the club’s highlights for 2007:

 During our regular monthly meetings, the club members had the opportunity to learn tips from gardening experts ranging from a forest ecologist at NMCPPS to master gardeners with the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension and Brookside Gardens, as well as from our very own New Mark gardening maestro Gene Silverman. The topics addressed a variety of gardening challenges, all relevant to our New Mark environment.  We heard about how invasive plants have upset our natural ecology and how we can improve the situation; Gene spoke about the planting and care of azaleas; We found out about the do’s and don’ts of shade gardening and how we can discourage deer from eating our plants. Our last meeting addressed the fool-proof art of planting bulbs. 

 This past year, the club embarked on a series of community projects designed to reach out to the immediate neighborhood and beyond, all in an effort to enhance the beauty of our neighborhood and raise awareness of all it has to offer.  In our NMC community, after the Board’s approval, we developed a long-term landscape plan for the pool’s perimeter and supervised its implementation. In the spring, the plants were put in place and the community enjoyed their beauty throughout this summer and fall. Just a few weeks ago, we capped that effort with a very successful “bulb planting party” where many New Mark families joined members of the club to plant 384 daffodil bulbs around the pool perimeter. November was indeed a busy month: In addition to planting the bulbs, members of the club were on hand for the regular pruning expedition at the lake steps and the center island at the entrance of the community off Maryland Avenue. And just for fun and for the pleasure of the NMC residents and their guests, the club arranged and planted the flower pots on the pool deck.  In May we held our annual Plant and Bake Sale. The sale is always a success and a guarantee of great weather: In all the years that it’s been held, we’ve always had gorgeous weather! In August and September the club launched another fundraiser through the sale of spring bulbs. By the way, the money raised by our fundraisers is put aside to subsidize a host of community projects, both in New Mark and beyond. In between all those ambitious projects, we still found the time to prepare and donate a basket for a silent auction to raise money for Brookside Nature Center, and take a tour of five gardens in the Sandy Spring area. 

 We have many more new projects in the works, one of which will involve the launching of an informal junior garden club to get our younger residents involved in the life of our neighborhood. Judging by the success of the bulb planting party at the pool this past November, there is much to bet that pretty soon, the neighborhood will be teeming with an army of pint-size gardeners!

 So, if you’re interested in gardening, if you want to be more involved in New Mark projects, we hope you’ll join us.  Make it your Number 1 resolution for 2008! (Hint: You don’t have to participate in every project and attend every meeting!) Announcements of our meetings are in the NMC newsletter. For more information, contact Ellen Stein at 301-279-9533 or Patricia Polster at 301-251-2964.