Northtown Garden Society

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~ Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com

About the Northtown Garden Society (NGS)

The Northtown Garden Society, established in 1982, provides gardening education and community service to the West Rogers Park (West Ridge) area on the far north side of Chicago. Meetings are held monthly, usually on the first Thursday of the month at the Warren Park Field House, 6601 N. Western Avenue. Refer to the Calendar for more information about meetings and other activities.

The Chicago Botanic Garden recognizes NGS as a community garden organization. Our gardens in Indian Boundary and Warren Parks have been added to a list of approved sites for CBG master gardeners to work towards their 30 hours of required volunteer time. See NGS News below for scheduled work days.

Coming Attractions

Thursday, May 10, 2012, 7:00 P.M. NGS Program; Container Gardening, Speaker Dena Anastos, Master Gardener and floral desiger, Warren Park Field House. Ms. Anastos will give a presentation and demonstration on innovative ideas for container gardens. Note change in date.

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., NGS Fundraiser; Sale of Used Gardening Books, Tools, Garden Decor and Houseplants, Warren Park Field House, The sale will benefit the educational and community service projects of the organization. We are accepting donations of:

Used gardening books or magazines
Used gardening tools (clean and in good repair)
Used decorative objects for the garden (clean and in good repair)
Potted houseplants

How to donate:

Smaller donations (books, magazines, small tools) can be placed in labeled tubs located in the NGS Green Room in the Warren Park Field House
Arrangements can be made for pickup/delivery by e-mailing NGS. Please include "NGS Book Sale Donation" in the subject line.

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., Indian Boundary Park Advisory Council Plant Sale, Warren Park Field House; selling annuals, tomatoes and donated perennials to benefit the gardens at Indian Boundary Park. Pre-orders are being taken until April 30th. To download a Pre-order Form in PDF format, click here.

If you need to download Adobe Reader™, visit www.adobe.com.

Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20, 2012, 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse Plant Sale, 3501 N. Kilbourn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641; selling organically grown vegetable, herb and flower seedlings. Please bring your own tray or box for carrying plants.

Thursday, June 21, 2012, 6:00 P.M., Annual Spring Evening Garden Walk; Stay tuned for more information.

NGS News 2012

The NGS Board wishes to express heartfelt thanks to all NGS members and friends who generously donated their time or money in 2011 to support our programs and community service activities. Without our volunteers for the gardens, plant sale, garden walk, and program/hospitality committees, we would not have been able to do it.

ROS Garden NGS Community Service Schedule

4/22/2012

Saturday, April 28, 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon, Triangle Garden, East side of Indian Boundary Park, 2500 W. Lunt St,, Chicago, IL;

Saturday, May 26, Rose of Sharon Garden, Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Ave.,Chicago, IL, near Field House; 10:00 A.M.

For more information about these events or if you can volunteer to help, e-mail NGS and enter "Community Service" on the subject line.

Goldfinch

Wildlife Habitat Certification

4/17/2012

Is your backyard a wildlife habitat and you just don't know it? If you have a food source, water source, shrubs/trees for cover and raising the young and have a sustainable garden e.g. native plants and no chemicals, you may qualify for certification through the National Wildlife Federation. If you are interested, please visit www.nwf.org.

2012 Programs and Community Service Events

Martin Garage Roof Thursday, April 5, 2012, 7:00 P.M. Rooftop Gardening: Presented by Beth Martin, a local artist, Master Gardener, TreeKeeper and interior designer focusing on sustainable design. Beth's many creative talents are well-known in the community. One of those talents, rooftop gardening at her home, is relatively new to her but she is approaching it with gusto. In her presentation, Beth spoke about the types and benefits of rooftop gardens, lightweight soils, garden structures, materials used and design safety. She then described the creation of her version of a rooftop garden located on the roofs of her chicken coop and garage(pictured above showing the garage roof on the right and the coop top on the left). Using Smart Pots™, Woolly Pockets™, and Earth Boxes™, she grows vegetables on the roofs with access via a ladder. Links to rooftop gardening suppliers and sites with rooftop gardening information are located in the 'Links" section on the left.

Sunday, April 1, 2012 Triangle Garden Cleanup Day: A group of NGS volunteers gathered at the garden for several hours to dig out weeds and prune shrubs and perennials. Due to our very early spring, the rhododendrons were finishing their blooms and the lilac was budding out...all a month early. The grape hyacinths were in bloom and the species tulips were up. We are attempting to rid the garden of those pesky Stars of Bethlehem by cutting them back to keep them from blooming and, hopefully, stopping the creation of hundreds of bulblets.

M Meyer Thursday, March 1, 2012 The Care of Your Tree(s) and Plantings in Your Parkway. Speaker Martha Meyer, an NGS member, Master Gardener and TreeKeeper, shared her knowledge and experiences with parkway plantings.

Important points in caring for your parkway and tree if you have one:

Get rid of the grass. It competes with the tree and will steal nutrition
Mulch and aerate. Hand aerating is best as the mechanical plug removers can damage tree roots
Plant small plants to keep from disturbing tree roots...hostas, ground cover, or bulbs

In addition, Martha gave helpful tips on grass removal (kill it with newspapers) and tree pruning.

Links for tree care are on the left.

Thursday, February 2, 2012: Attracting Birds and Butterflies to the Garden. Speaker, Marian Thill, earned her Master Gardener Certificate from the Chicago Botanic Garden and became a Certified Naturalist through the Morton Arboretum. She is also a Bird Monitor through the Bird Conservation Network. Marian is currently using her vast wealth of knowledge to educate children and adults on how to use native plantings to attract birds and butterflies to local gardens.

Marian (photo, right) spoke of the evolution of her gardens which are designed to not only attract a variety of butterflies and birds but to look attractive throughout the year. Photos of Marian's stunning yard revealed "islands" of gardens containing a variety of native plants mixed with an occasional annual or perennial for color or interest.

Updated 4/17/12 GD

martin

Northtown Garden Society

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