Barnegat Garden Club

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

Late-summer cleanup is easier when I remember that not every tired-looking plant needs the same treatment ✂️ What I usually check first:
🌸 Trim faded catmint, hardy geranium, salvia, and Shasta daisies to healthy growth
🌿 Remove spent daylily stalks, but keep green leaves working
🐦 Leave some coneflower and black-eyed Susan seed heads for birds
🍃 Keep healthy peony foliage until frost
🌱 Remove only damaged iris leaves instead of cutting the whole fan down
🌾 Leave ornamental grasses standing until early spring
My exception is diseased foliage. I remove and discard that promptly rather than leaving it in the bed through winter.

07/28/2026

Got gardening questions? 🌿 Ask a Rutgers Master Gardener!

The Rutgers Master Gardeners of Ocean County are popping up at two local library branches and the Stafford Green Fair this week! Bring by your plants or insect samples for identification, diagnosis, and care tips.

📅 This Week’s Schedule:
📍 Barnegat Library: Mon, July 27 | 9 AM – 12 PM
📍 Stafford Township Green Fair: Mon, July 27 | 4 PM – 7 PM
📍 Manchester Library: Thu, July 30 | 1 PM – 3 PM

Come say hello, and let's keep Ocean County growing together!

07/18/2026

!!SAVE THE DATE!!
The 2026 Jersey-Friendly Yards Conference will be held on Saturday, September 26 at Ocean County College.
More details can be found at https://jerseyyards.org/events/2026-conference/

07/13/2026

MEET YOUR OCEAN COUNTY PARKS
Lochiel Creek County Park
177 acres, Barnegat Boulevard North, Barnegat
Opened in 2014, this hidden gem covers over 177 acres of forests and wetlands. The park is located along the westbound side of Barnegat Boulevard in Barnegat Township. The entrance road winds among pines and blueberries into a quiet and pristine setting.

Amenities include a comfort station with restrooms, ample parking, and a 1.75 mile marked nature trail. The trail highlights the park’s diversity as it meanders through rolling hills that are relic sand dunes from a time when the area was a prehistoric beach. The trail also crosses Lochiel Creek, the park’s namesake, which harbors populations of federally threatened wildflowers and strange carnivorous plants. Along with native orchids and wetland shrubs, there are plenty of wildflowers to see throughout the growing season.

One of the most convenient features of the park is its accessibility to the Barnegat Branch Trail. The parking area serves as a trailhead where visitors can access the 6.5 contiguous miles of the Barnegat Branch Trail via a short connector trail.
www.oceancountypark.org

07/01/2026

The July meeting of the Barnegat Garden Club is rescheduled to Thursday, July 9, due to the July 4th Holiday weekend and the extreme heat. Hope to see you there.

06/24/2026

Please join us for a short, leisurely walk on the Ocean County Parks Barnegat Branch Rail Trail on Thursday, June 25 starting at 6:30 p.m.
The event will start at the parking lot by the ballfield off of Barnegat Boulevard. We will walk on the Branch Trail from there to Lochiel Creek.

Club member and naturalist McDuffy Barrow will lead the walk, identifying both native and non-native plants that border the trail. Some of the plants we’ll encounter include Atlantic White Cedar, Highbush Blueberry, and Persimmon. We will end the walk by returning to the parking area at the ballfield.

The entire trip will be done in daylight. Comfortable walking shoes and water are appropriate items for preparation. Insect repellant may be an option for some, but we shouldn’t encounter much in the way of biting insects.