By Laurie O’Neill — Laurie@concordbridge.org
A town garden “invites you in and makes you feel that ‘this is a nice place to visit’,” says Jane Rupley, a landscape designer and member of the Garden Club of Concord.
One of the club’s two town gardens flanks the entrance to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail at Commonwealth Avenue and Route 62 in West Concord. It provides an eye-catching burst of color for trail users and passing drivers and is currently showing off its late-summer hues.
GCC members designed and planted the site in 2019. Originally there was a garden in the triangular traffic island at the junction. After the intersection was redesigned and its plot was paved over, the town gave the club permission to install a new garden at the trail.
A labor of love
The town helped prepare the area, bring in loam, and install a water hookup, says Rupley, who helped create the display. Sandy Conrad and Dorrie Kehoe co-chaired the project, and GCC members Kathy Kobos, Pam Hixon, Mary Ann Ferrell, and Cris Van Dyke worked on it, too.
The BFRT garden contains a mix of foliage and flowers and features large shrubs including rhododendrons, blue holly, and hydrangea, and established perennials such as echinacea (coneflower), daylilies, hosta, and sedum, some of which bloom into the fall.
GCC members take turns watering and weeding the Rail Trail garden and its sister plot in front of the Town House in Concord Center.
The BFRT, named for a Massachusetts state representative from 1969 to 1986, is a work in progress, some 16 miles long at this point. Each section is developed by the community through which the trail runs.
The paved pathway is intended to follow the 25-mile route of the old New Haven Railroad Framingham & Lowell line, winding through Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford, Carlisle, Acton, Concord, Sudbury, and Framingham.
Bees and butterflies
Rupley notes there are additional public plots in West Concord, planted and tended by other groups. “Our garden helps to extend those areas and unify the theme,” she says.
The club promotes the appreciation of gardens and the preservation of Concord’s natural environment. Its mission includes awarding grants to community organizations that support its goals and presenting a scholarship to a graduating senior at Concord-Carlisle High School who plans to pursue horticulture, environmental studies, or a related subject.
The gardens “provide a place for the bees, birds, butterflies, and other insects to find food and shelter,” Rupley says. “When you see a lovely public garden, you appreciate the hard work and care that people put into their hometown.”
