ABOUT US
Our Mission
The purpose of the New Vernon Garden Club is to promote learning in all areas of horticulture and to encourage practices that add to the beautification of our environment and its preservation for future generations.
The New Vernon Garden Club is fully responsible for three of the public gardens in New Vernon: the Tunis-Ellicks Parlor Garden, the Sarah D. Ortman Park, and the George Washington Bicentennial Garden at the George Washington Triangle. Diagrams of these three gardens are featured in the club’s Yearbook. We also gifted and maintain “Big Bayne”, the Norway Spruce and surrounds at the entrance to Bayne Park in the heart of New Vernon.
Our Initiatives
WE BEAUTIFY THE ENVIRONMENT!
- We host flower shows
- We arrange field trips
- We host programs
- We promote education
- We fundraise
- We decorate our village
- We preserve our history
Membership
JOIN US!
Become a member. Membership is open to all Harding
Township residents regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.
Interested gardeners are invited to attend any monthly
meeting as a guest.
To apply for membership, or for more information, please fill out the form below or email newvernon.gardenclub@gmail.com.
We look forward to meeting you!
Shelly Lasky, Membership Chair
Become a member. Membership is open to all regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.
Interested gardeners are invited to attend any monthly meeting as a guest.
To apply for membership, or for more information, please fill out the form below or email newvernon.gardenclub@gmail.com.
We look forward to meeting you!
Shelly Lasky, Membership Chair
Contact
NEW VERNON GARDEN CLUB, INC.
P.O. Box 1981
New Vernon, N.J. 07976-1981
newvernon.gardenclub@gmail.com
Our Gardens
TUNIS-ELLICKS PARLOR GARDEN
The Tunis-Ellicks Parlor Garden was established following the New Vernon Historical Society’s lease of Township property on the corner of Village and Millbrook Roads. The house, dating from the 1800s, underwent extensive renovation to restore it to its original condition. At that time, there were no gardens around the house, and the Historical Society wanted to establish a garden appropriate to the period. Cynthia Robinson – Historical Society member, landscape architect, and wedding floral designer – devised a “parlor garden” plan of clearly defined raised beds containing plants that would have been used at the time by the family for food, decoration, and medicine. Thus, each of the garden beds was designed for those purposes. Espaliered apple trees were planted along the side of the house. By current standards, this may appear rather exotic, but in the 1800s, it was a practical way to grow fruit trees in a confined area and also made picking the fruit considerably easier.
The Tunis-Ellicks House is used by the Club on special occasions. Every Active Member contributes at least one morning per year tending the Parlor Garden, which features plants that thrive in the sun.
SARAH D. ORTMAN PARK
The Sarah D. Ortman Park is adjacent to the Tunis-Ellicks Parlor Garden and contains only plant material that is native to New Jersey. This enchanting garden features a meandering, circular walkway and small wooden benches. Many of the plants in the Park were rescued from areas slated for development that would otherwise have been lost. The Park features plants that thrive in the shade.
The park was originally an unused municipal plot. The Township offered it to a Harding youth, who wished to create a pocket park as an Eagle Scout project. Ann Granbery, a local landscape architect, donated her services to draw up a plan, and various civic groups donated funds for the purchase of the original shrubs. The New Vernon Garden Club has assumed responsibility for the Park. Its focus has evolved to feature native plants, and the Club is now experimenting with some endangered and difficult-to-grow natives.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL PARK
Continuing Club Projects
PAULINE BERRY
GARDEN EDUCATION
The New Vernon Garden Club continues to purchase and accept donations of quality books on horticulture and gardening, which benefit the gardening education section at the Kemmerer Library Harding Township.
BAYNE PARK
The Club, in cooperation with the Department of Public
Works, Friends of Trees, the Shade Tree Committee,
and the Environmental Commission, will continue its project
to refurbish the Park. We will work to interpret the
design, commissioned by the Club, which is now
incorporated into the Township’s Master Plan. We will
replace dead and dying trees and develop areas as the
Township finishes the hardscape.
TUNIS-ELLICKS PARLOR GARDEN
This charming garden requires weekly maintenance during the growing season. All Club members are required to work one gardening shift in the fall, spring, and summer.
GARDEN DOCUMENTATION
SARAH D. ORTMAN PARK
This native wildflower garden continues to change as the trees surrounding it die off. Special care is given to maintaining its woodland character. Research is continually being carried out on native New Jersey
species, and a plant inventory is maintained. Adding and preserving rare and endangered species is a primary goal. Club members work weekly in the Park.
KEMMERER LIBRARY
FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS
WWII MEMORIAL ROCK GARDEN
GEORGE WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL PARK
HOLIDAY DECORATIONS
FOR THE VILLAGE
HARDING SENIOR CITIZENS
MEMORIAL DAY
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Members of those community organizations that handle environmental affairs are invited to make presentations throughout the year. Club members voluntarily participate in the annual Environmental Commission’s Clean-Up Day in Harding Township.
ARBOREAL MANAGEMENT
INITIATIVE
Club Officers
President – Sally Quinn
Vice President – Judy Buehler
Secretary – Ellen Laird
Treasurer – Judy Otterman