Somerville Garden Club

Work in the Fall Garden

Learn about proper practices for putting gardens to bed for the winter and other important work in the Fall. Topics include: Cutting Back Plants, Planting, Transplanting/Division, Leaf Management, Seed Collection, Managing Dead/Diseased Material, Soil Testing/Amending, Cold and Critter Protection, No Pruning, and Planning for the Future. This talk will help you understand these important topics and provide information and links to put into practice in your own garden.

With more than 25 years of hands-on experience on both coasts, Reed brings horticultural knowledge and real-world expertise to every garden he works in. His career spans San Francisco to Boston and includes work in multiple nurseries, ownership of design, installation, and maintenance businesses, management of a 30-acre historic private estate in Brookline, and leadership of one of New England’s premier fine-gardening companies. Today, Reed focuses his passion on working one-on-one with gardeners through his company, Barking Dog Gardens, where he helps clients understand why plants behave the way they do and how thoughtful, well-timed care can transform a landscape. Known for his clear teaching style and practical approach, Reed emphasizes plant health, seasonal awareness, and long-term beauty—empowering gardeners to make confident, informed decisions in their own gardens.

In-person meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available for a small fee, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. 7-9pm. The SGC has been informed that the entry doors to the TAB will be locked at 8pm, including on our meeting days. Please arrange your arrival times accordingly.

Meet Your Native Bees!

We will watch a video of a talk given by Pam Phillips, head of Watertown, Massachusetts’ Friends of Bees, a working group of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, about our local bees. The talk was hosted by Mount Auburn Cemetery during Pollinator Week in June 2022.

You’ll see that there’s more to bees than honeybees. Native bees in Watertown come in a variety of sizes and shapes. There are roughly 20,000 species of bees in the world, about 4,000 in North America, and about 400 in Massachusetts. So what kinds of bees do we have in Watertown? In “Meet Your Bees”, you’ll learn what they look like, how they live, and what we can do to help them.

Pam Phillips is a self-taught naturalist and bee enthusiast.  Her interest in bees began in 2006 when she learned about colony collapse disorder. In her own Watertwon backyard and she identified twelve (12) varieties of bees in since then she has expanded her interest and knowledge through working with on Citizen Science projects through Bug Guide.Net, an online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information. 

In-person meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available for a small fee, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. 7-9pm. The SGC has been informed that the entry doors to the TAB will be locked at 8pm, including on our meeting days. Please arrange your arrival times accordingly.