On the first Saturday in October work commenced on Camden Garden Club’s centennial gift to the town.  Kath Holland, of Blue Newt Landscape Designs, collaborated with Camden Garden Club on a Village Green refurbishment design, which was then reviewed and approved by Camden Historical Resources Commission and the town’s select board.

The project began with the removal of a number of Chinese Junipers that had been distorted over the years by heavy snow.  Also removed were some small rhododendrons that were declining due to stress and leaf sucking insects.  The crew from Hall Landscaping Inc. began their work in the boundary area next to the Chestnut Street Baptist Church and continued past the memorial to the border’s edge on Elm Street.     

The evergreen screen between the Church and Village Green will be maintained with new plantings and, in front of the beds, shrubs that flower at different times of the season are being added.  Thanks to the temperate weather, the first phase of the makeover moved quickly with very little disruption to those enjoying the sunshine on the green.  A number of the new plants are not available until spring 2016 when the second phase of the project will be completed. 

Over the past 100 years, Camden Garden Club has played a major role in the beautification of the community and continues to educate its members, and the public, on civic betterment through horticulture.  At the club’s October 22 meeting Aimee Moffitt-Mercer, currently participating in the Maine Bumblebee Atlas project for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, will be the guest speaker.  Her topic “Native Pollinators” will cover the importance of insects to crop cultivation worldwide.  The meeting will be held at the First Congregational Church, 55 Elm Street in Camden, beginning at 9 a.m.  Guests are always welcome.  Camden Garden Club is a member of the Garden Club Federation of Maine and National Garden Clubs, Inc.