Maple Hill Gardeners Begin A New Season
Welcome! The Maple Hill Gardeners meet Monday mornings in the gardens from 9:30 - 12:00 at Beaver Brook (in Hollis, New Hampshire) during April through October. (If it rains on Monday, we gather at the same time on Wednesday of the same week.) If you are unfamiliar with the Maple Hill Gardeners, please click on Maple Hill Gardeners Now. This section will provide you with a better understanding of who the gardeners are and how they operate throughout the year, i.e., a description of their gardening activities, and Beaver Brook events that they participate in each year.
The Maple Hill Gardeners welcome volunteers to help out in the gardens, or prepare for events such as Summer Solstice or Fall Festival, which are held yearly at Beaver Brook. Volunteers do not have to be members of the Maple Hill Gardeners. We are looking for anyone who has one or more hours to give to the gardens, or to the previously mentioned Beaver Brook events.
For those of you who would like to work in the gardens with us, here's what we do (approximately) on a month to month basis. (You may bring your own tools, or there are tools in the shed next to the little barn; you are welcome to borrow them while working in the gardens.)
April - Opening of the gardens. The gardens generally open on the second or third Monday in April; you can call the Beaver Brook office at (603) 465-7787 to request the specific date that the gardens will open each year. If it's raining on Monday, we open the gardens on Wednesday.
Generally, we spend 2-3 weeks raking leaves and debris out of the gardens. Bring a rake, a basket or a tarp to drag the leaves away to a nearby bin or place in the woods. Wear comfortable clothes and layer, depending on the weather.
May - When raking is completed, we will spend time dividing and transplanting perennials. For dividing and transplanting perennials, you will need a trowel and a shovel. We may also edge and mulch the gardens during this month. For mulching, you will need a shovel; there are wheelbarrows on the property that we can use for mulch. Towards the end of May, we will be planting annuals - annuals aren't planted until the danger of frost is past. A trowel is the only tool you will need for planting annuals.
Maple Hill Gardeners plant annuals (left) and edge gardens (right photo) at Maple Hill Gardens
Maple Hill Gardeners weed & mulch, getting the gardens ready for Summer Solstice in June
June - We're racing to get the gardens looking good for Summer Solstice, which is held mid-June. This event by Beaver Brook is free to the public. The public is encouraged to bring a picnic dinner, sit among the gardens, and enjoy the evening. Most of June is making sure the gardens look their best for this event. After the Solstice, the gardeners go on their annual field trip to visit gardens in the nearby vicinity.
July - We slow down a little in July and spend time maintaining the gardens. This amounts to weeding, deadheading, etc.
Maple Hill Gardeners cutting lavender and pruning shrubs in July
(Below) Maple Hill Gardeners cut flowers for drying - July, 2007
August - We continue to maintain the gardens and cut dried flowers, hanging them up to dry in the big barn adjacent to the gardens. We also begin to think about Fall Festival and set dates for 2-3 workshops where we will meet at the end of August and the beginning of September to make dried flower arrangements and other decorations for Beaver Brook's Fall Festival, which takes place in September on two consecutive weekends. At Fall Festival, the public is invited to walk through the big barn and view the art show. Activities are set up for children; programs are available for adults, and the gardeners show off their wares in the little barn.
Maple Hill Gardeners Create Dried Flower Arrangements For Fall Festival
September - Our busiest time of year. We continue making dried flower arrangements, wreaths, and a multitude of other items for Beaver Brook's Fall Festival. We clean out the little barn (where our part of the festival is held) and move all of our arrangements and items for sale into the barn. We each work one Saturday or Sunday morning/afternoon during Fall Festival, selling our wares in order to cover expenses for the year, i.e., planting the flowers in the gardens, mulching, etc.
Home-made goodies and hot mulled cider are sold to the public by the gardeners during Beaver Brook's fall festival each year. Here is a picture of The Little Barn decorated for fall festival, and the other photo shows scrumptious desserts (in the background), just waiting to be served to all who come out for Beaver Brook's annual fall festival in September.
October - We maintain the gardens until a hard frost. Then we put the gardens to bed.
End-of-the-year gathering of the Maple Hill Gardeners
December - We get together for our annual potluck. We discuss ideas for planting flowers in the gardens for the next year, and we bring up any other information that we would like to discuss at year-end.
February/March - We generally have a spring meeting where we can discuss any issues prior to the opening of the gardens in April.
This gives you an idea of what we do in the gardens each season. You are welcome to join us any time throughout the gardening season. If you want know specifically what we're doing on a certain Monday, please call the Beaver Brook office and they will put you in touch with Liz, our gardening manager. She is the one who decides what tasks and gardens we will be working on, on a weekly basis. She also works in the gardens on other days of the week, mostly in the mornings, so if you can volunteer on a day other than Monday morning, you'll still be able to run into Liz at Beaver Brook and she'll steer you in the right direction of where work needs to be done. To find out where we're located, please click on Directions/Contact Us.
If you are interested in learning more about the Maple Hill Gardeners, please contact Beaver Brook (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST):
Phone: (603) 465-7787
Fax: (603) 465-9546
Email: info@beaverbrook.org
Mail: 117 Ridge Road, Hollis, NH 03049