From Judy Leheny
The Pocket Park is Chappaqua’s Central Park in miniature. It is the garden between Susan Lawrence and the traffic light where so many people come and relax, drink their coffee, amuse children in strollers and even take their annual family portrait. In recent years it has been tended by Anne Boyd (and her husband) and the late Maria Carvao. Anne’s family is away all summer so this year there would have been no one to tend the Park. That’s how this project started and it has been very, very successful.
Each Thursday, as their schedules permitted, a core group of 10 would gather between 9:30 and 11:30 to renovate the Park. The key to success seems to have been that people, though devoted to the garden, would not have to come if life intervened and they couldn’t show up. In practice, a great camaraderie developed and we were never fewer than 8. There was a lot of laughter, shared stories and, by the by, a lot of garden lore and techniques were imparted: how to prune a rose bush, how to deadhead Butterfly Bushes to keep the Monarch butterflies coming, how to reduce the size of Hydrangeas, how to prune Russian Sage and much, much more. One of the unexpected and interesting things that happened was how people “took ownership” of certain plants as they took care of them. It has been a great time for novice gardeners to learn. Treasures were uncovered beneath overgrown plants – a beautiful yellow rose which kept blooming all summer and, recently, Autumn Crocus, a total surprise.
Each Thursday, after we had finished, we would sit around and drink lemonade and eat homemade chocolate chip cookies and look at what we had accomplished that day. And what needed to be tackled the next week! Every single day people would stop by and thank us for all our hard work.
Our Thursdays are on hiatus until the spring but there will be one more Thursday this fall when we shall gather to put the garden to bed for the winter. A couple of our gardeners will not be able to help us next spring, so we are going to need more help. The only thing required is a sense of humor. Call Judy Leheny, (914-420-9246) or Anne Boyd (914) 238-9326) if you want to know more about the “Park Rangers.”