Mistake #1: Not enough coverage
It turns out the mulch had been applied too sparsely in quite a few areas. Some areas had a proper 2–3 inch layer, while others were barely covered with an inch. Insufficient coverage defeats the purpose of mulching. When done properly, mulch helps:

• Regulate soil temperature
• Conserve soil moisture
• Suppress weed growth

When done poorly, it’s ineffective, wasteful, and at times even harmful – see Mistake #2.

 Mistake #2: Volcano Mulching
Another widespread mistake I noticed? Mulch piled directly against the base of my shrubs, trees and perennials. This is often called volcano mulching.

This might look neat at first, but it can cause real damage. Piling mulch up against trunks or stems traps moisture and creates a warm, damp environment—ideal conditions for:

• Fungal diseases
• Stem and trunk rot
• Burrowing insects and rodents

Trees need their root flare exposed, and all plants need airflow at their base. I once lost a valuable Japanese Maple after its trunk was buried in mulch for several years.

To prevent this from happening again, I spent the better part of a day scraping mulch away from the base of my plants to correct the issue.

 A Lesson for Next Time
Next time I have someone else mulch the garden, I’ll be sure to share these basic best practices before they start. Because mulching isn’t just about looking good for a few days.  

 Bonus Tip: Free Wood Chips!
Did you know you can often get mulch for free? Visit ChipDrop to request a free load of wood chips from local arborists. I’ve done it twice—just be prepared for a very large pile!

You might have heard about the “No Mow May” movement, encouraging us to put away our mowers for the entire month. And while we wholeheartedly admire the intention behind it – wanting to give our buzzing friends a boost – we’ve been digging into the latest information, and we wanted to share a perspective that’s rooted right here in Framingham.

Let’s Talk No Mow May!

The idea of No Mow May is certainly appealing: a simple way to help bees and butterflies by letting our lawns grow wild. At the Framingham Garden Club, we are always looking for ways to nurture our local ecosystem. However, we want to share some insights that might help us all make the most informed choices for our yards and our pollinators.

The Science Behind It: What’s the Latest Buzz?

That initial research that got the No Mow May ball rolling? Well, science is a journey of constant discovery! Recent findings have led researchers to re-evaluate those early conclusions. It turns out the picture might be a bit more complex than initially thought. As a community that values facts and effective action, we want to make sure our efforts are based on the most up-to-date understanding.

Our Local Landscape: It’s Often Dandelions We See

If we see an unmown lawn in Framingham in May, let’s be honest, we probably see a carpet of bright yellow dandelions. While these early bloomers do offer a little bit of food for pollinators, our native bees and butterflies have evolved to thrive on a much wider variety of native plants. Think of it like offering someone only one type of food – it’s better than nothing, but it’s not the most nourishing diet! We want to offer our local pollinators a diverse and delicious menu of plants they truly need.  

Stop by our booth at Framingham’s Earth Day this Saturday, May 3rd to learn more from us. 

Click here for details. 

Our Lawns Matter Too: Avoiding Unnecessary Stress

Letting our Framingham lawns grow super long in May and then giving them a drastic haircut can actually be quite tough on the grass. It removes a lot of its energy reserves when it’s trying to grow, potentially weakening it and making it more vulnerable to weeds. 

A More Thoughtful Approach 

So, instead of completely putting away our mowers for the entire month, maybe we can explore some more tailored and effective ways to support our pollinators:

• Mow Mindfully: Consider reducing how often you mow in May. Giving your lawn a little more breathing room can still be beneficial without the challenges of a completely unmown yard.
• Raise Your Blade: Setting your mower blade higher encourages stronger grass roots and can allow some low-growing, pollinator-friendly flowers to bloom.
• Create Mini-Meadows: Think about dedicating a small section of your yard to grow a bit wilder with native wildflowers. This creates a dedicated pollinator haven while keeping the rest of your yard more manageable.
• Plant Natives Powerfully: This is where we can all make a real difference in Framingham! Let’s focus on planting a diverse array of native plants in our gardens and even incorporating them into our lawn areas where possible. These plants provide the specific food and habitat our local pollinators truly need.

Click here to leverage resources from Dr. Robert Gegear, Framingham resident and associate professor of Biology at UMass Dartmouth to help you identify native plants that offer a nourishing diet for our pollinators.

The Framingham Garden Club believes in working together as a community to create beautiful and ecologically healthy spaces. By staying informed and choosing practices that truly benefit our local pollinators and the health of our Framingham landscapes, we can make a real difference, one native plant and thoughtful mowing decision at a time

Photos of last year’s national winning sculptures

See the 2022 Sculpture Contest winners here

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Contest Rules

• Children in 4th through 8th grade will be eligible to enter the contest
• Sculptures must consist of recyclable, reused and reduced materials
• Width of the sculpture can be no more than 8 1/2 x 11 inches
• Height should be in proportion to width
• Entries should include as many photographs as can be printed on the back of the entry form but two 4×6 photographs are recommended
• Club entries must be emailed to State Chairman Nancy Martin by Janauary 10, 2024 at  nancymartinmailed@gmail.com

Scale of Points

• Creative use of materials and self expression: 60%
• Description of sculpture and materials used: 30%
• Craftsmanship and technique: 10%

https://gardenclub.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/ngc-youth-sculpture-contest-entry-form-2023.pdf

The Theme for 2022-23 is ‘”I Spy With My Little Eye, Something Green Outside – Celebrating Our Green World.” The purpose of this annual contest is to encourage young people to express their creative thoughts through different types of poetry.

Students in grades K-9^th grades, English as a second language learners, and Special Needs students are eligible to enter. Students are judged against other poets at their level. The winners of the state contest will be entered in the New England Regional Competition, and those winners will be entered in the National Garden Club’s competition. Winners of the National Competition will be published by the NGC.  Framingham had one National Winner in 2023!

Poems must be submitted to the Framingham Garden Club NO LATER THAN January10^h by email to admin@staging.framinghamgardenclub.org

Youth Poetry 2023-24 Contest Rules and Guidelines

•  All entries must be typed and titled.
• Include name, address, age, grade, and school of participant on the back of entry.
• Sponsoring garden club and state garden club name must also be identified.
• Sponsoring garden club may be that of a grandparent.
• All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
• Poems do not have to rhyme.
• Poems may be traditional verse, acrostics, blank verse, cinquains, diamond poems, limerick, or Haiku.

• Special Education: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
• English as a second language: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
• General Education: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
• No students may win 2 consecutive years.
• The theme should not be used as the title to any poetry. When judging, the title is worth 10 points.

Scale of Points

• Title: 10%
• Content: 40%
• Creativity: 30%
• Style: 20%
• Total: 100%

When lawns have dried, remove any debris by raking lawns with a spring-tined rake.  Avoid the temptation (and the ads) to apply fertilizer or grass seed.  Fertilizing and seeding are best done in the fall when the grass is not competing with annual weeds.  New England lawns do well without a spring fertilization, but a thin (1/4 inch) top-dressing with compost will do wonders for it by adding beneficial soil organisms.

When you can walk about the garden without leaving footprints in soggy soil, cut down dead perennials before any new growth begins to show.  Add the ‘debris’ of the cleanup to your compost heap. 

While the ground is soft, April is a great time to pull out invasive plants such as Japanese barberry, Japanese honeysuckle and burning bush.  Make certain you get as much as the root as possible to prevent it from quickly growing back.  Replace these with American natives such as blueberries and itea — spring bloomers with fabulous fall color that lasts longer than burning bush (pictured here)

Here are two examples designed by FGC’s own experts, Minal Akkad, Ruth Evans and Marion Goodman.

Notice the clusters of plant material placed next to other clusters. 

Design tip: place wet Oasis one inch above the top of the container.  If your container is large, place non-clumping litter in plastic in the bottom 1/2 to 1/3rd for stability, then put the Oasis only in the top part of the container. This minimizes the weight of the completed design. 

Click on the slideshow for photos of the workshop and resulting designs

My Garden By Stella Cote

This little garden

I saw last night

See it grow

With all it’s might

Tomorrow it will bloom

A surprise delights!

Spring Returns
By Maureen O’Connell

I dug my feet into the soft soil
It was cool beneath my feet on this hot day
I smelled the breeze and wished I could eat it
I sat down by the flowers
I leaned against the great oak behind me
It felt good
I felt good
I liked it.

I looked up
The clouds covered half of the sun
I stared up at the clouds
They looked like marshmallows
The huge trees looked down at me
I felt small
But small isn’t always a bad thing.

I looked back down at my flowers
Pansies, Roses, Bluebells, and marigolds looked back
Hydrangeas seeped with blue and pink
While Buttercups reached for the sun
Iris’s produced their best colors for me
And Sweet alyssum faced down
They didn’t need sun

Moonflower so big, white and beautiful
I guess that’s why it’s called a moonflower
I wish I could bring it with me wherever I went
The poppies shone bright red in the afternoon sun
The flowers all them smelled so good
Like chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven,
Freshly mowed lawn,
And butter browning all at the same time

I loved my garden and everything in it
Those spring and summer days were better with my garden there
But then the wind came
The bitter cold snow made everything white
And it killed my flowers
The garden
I raised from seeds
Was gone
Only brown scraps were left
All that work
All that time
All those beautiful flowers
Wasted

Then spring comes around again those flowers that died
They left something behind
Seeds

And new plants sprout

Maureen O’Connell’s poem Spring Returns was selected as the winner the New England Regional Poetry Competition in her age group. Her poem was one of 50 youth poets to be published in the National Garden Club’s annual publication  Down the Garden Path. Maureen will be honored in May for her accomplishments.
 

One Friday a month, the FPL hosts wonderful lunchtime continuing education workshops and entertaining lectures that are open and free to the public. 

Framingham Garden Club members Martin and Goodman’s contribution to this ‘Brown Bag Brain Boost’ was filled with simple tips to make beautiful centerpieces using inexpensive flowers from the supermarket that will be the envy of your family and friends. 

Our participation in the Framingham Public Library’s event series is just one of the ways we love to give back to our friends and neighbors. 

Our genial host took us around his grass tennis court, gardens, extensive fruit trees, and his Koi ponds. (FGC member Margery fed the fish and almost fell in with all of the food!)

Andrea Shagory prepared a wonderful picnic lunch for us. Members commented that it was both educational and relaxing. Pam told our host that he inspired her to try wintering over the tropical water lilies in her Koi pond.