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More Happenings at the Gardens:
Sustainable Lawn and Landscape Programs
Save the date for these educational programs, a partnership with the Peconic Land Trust, Perfect Earth Project and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
- April 11: From Clean Up to First Sowing: Getting the Vegetable Garden Started with Rick Bogusch. 11:30 am.
- May 9: Your Soil: From Compost to Fertilizer with Paul Wagner of Treewise Organics. 10:00 am.
- June 13: Managing Pests and Diseases of the Lawn with Tamson Yeh. 10:00 am
- July 25: Attracting Pollinators & Beneficial Insects, Plus a Native Plant Sale with Vicki Bustamante. 10:00 am.
- August 9: Managing Irrigation for Water Conservation with Robert Boyle of RB Irrigation. 2:00 pm.
- August 15: Planting and Managing a Sustainable Lawn with Sean O'Neill, Tamson Yeh, and Paul Wagner. 10:00 am.
- September 12: Designing with Native Grasses with Edwina von Gal. 10:00 am.
- October 17: Bayscaping for the Health of Our Waterways with Sherryll Jones of Peconic Estuary Program. 10:00 am.
Visit our online calendar for details.
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Join Bridge Gardens' Newly Established
Community Garden,
for the 2015 Growing Season!
Reserve Your Plot Today and Get Growing!
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Our Community Garden grows friends
at our Ag Center in Southold.
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There are 16 plots available for you to choose from -- lease your space today and start growing your own vegetables this season.
Our 5'x12' garden plots offer rich soil, irrigation, and
gardening advice from Garden Manager Rick Bogusch and
North Fork Stewardship Manager Denise Markut.
Then, RSVP for the Community Garden Orientation, on
Saturday, April 11, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
and get started!
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Watercolor Classes Continue at Bridge Gardens!
Lois Bender continues her Spring series of watercolor classes
-- for all skill levels --
in April:
Sundays: April 12 and 26, 12-3pm.
Additional classes in May: May 9, 16, and 23, 12-3pm.
Learn to paint floral bouquets and landscapes in a "nature sketchbook" style or bring your own project idea for development.
$45/class, reservation required through Lois' website at
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Did you know?
Peconic Estuary Program Offers A
Homeowner Rewards Program
Peconic Estuary Program offers a Reward Program for homeowners who add  rain gardens, native plantings and/or rain barrels to their properties. The program is available to homeowners in the towns of Southold, Riverhead, Southampton, East Hampton and Brookhaven. Funds are limited and will be granted on a first come, first served basis. Check it out today and see if you qualify! www.PeconicEstuary.org
Lawn and Garden Advice
to offer advice to homeowners on Sustainable Landscaping.
Visit our new Lawn and Landscape advice section on our website for more tips!
Did You Renew Your Bridge Gardens
Membership for 2015?
Now is the Time!
photo by Jeff Heatley
Join today and visit as often as you like throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall. Also, memberships include free admission to our "Fridays at Six" Music in the Gardens and reduced fees for programs throughout the year.
Individual: $50; Family: $75
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This weekend, Bridge Gardens will open for its 7th season since the property was donated to the Peconic Land Trust in 2008. A public garden since its founding, Bridge Gardens continues to evolve as a community resource, showcasing new plantings that are native and sustainable, offering educational programming that is adaptable to your home gardens and lawn, and featuring engaging activities that bring people together to share ideas and to just have fun!
Also, our partnerships with the Perfect Earth Project, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and the Peconic Estuary Program on sustainable lawn and landscape care is continuing -- and expanding -- this year. We are pleased to be working with Edwina von Gal, Sean O'Neill, Tamson Yeh, Paul Wagner and Sherryll Jones on many programs throughout the season and hope that you can join us. As good stewards, we can all diminish adverse impacts on our groundwater through best practices! It is shaping up to be a very productive year. 
in the Outer Garden, for the growing season. At $100 each, the plots are a great way for you to grow your own vegetables and flowers in a convivial atmosphere and with the opportunity to learn from Trust staff -- me and Denise Markut -- as well as from your fellow community gardeners. We have a limited number of plots still available and have an orientation scheduled for 9:30 am on Saturday, April 11. Due to the snow, growing will probably be delayed a bit, but this is the perfect time to sign up and get planting! 
beds featuring different types of lawn seed to help homeowners understand the types of grass that grow well in our climate -- as well as how they can be cared for in a sustainable way. The beds are in full sun, part shade and full shade. Now that the snow is gone, the grassy beds will begin to awaken and showcase their strengths or weaknesses. Stop by and check them out. They should be looking their best come June. 
Paul Wagner of Treewise Organics and Soil Foodweb NY will be back at Bridge Gardens every Wednesday from 2 to 5 pm starting on April 15 to provide free sustainable lawn and landscape advice. This is a great opportunity to ask questions about your lawn and find answers to some of the problems you may be facing.
While snow does provide a protective blanket for plants, particularly those that are less winter-hardy such as cardoon, pineapple lily, sages and overwintering spinach, it also makes an ideal hiding place for voles from their natural predators: hawks and foxes. This is the first year that I've noticed numerous vole trails in the lawns at Bridge Gardens -- something you may also be seeing at home.
