St. Mary’s Garden
The St. Mary’s Garden is located behind the Parish House at the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary in Falmouth, Maine. The garden is open to the public and is used for many public events. The garden club is responsible for design, planting, and maintenance.
The garden was first laid out and planted in 1944. The following year, the Norton Memorial Garden was added to honor the late Ralph Norton, long-time groundskeeper at the church. The plants came from his personal garden. The smaller blue-and-white Austin Memorial Garden was added in honor of Mrs. Walter Austin’s beloved granddaughter.
Renovations at the church and the removal of many trees and rhododendrons to improve drainage in the mid 2010s had a negative impact on the gardens. In late 2017, St. Mary’s Garden Club formed a committee to look at redesigning the gardens. The redesign goals were increasing the church’s use of the garden, updating the garden as ADA accessible, reducing the required maintenance of the garden, addressing new light conditions and updating the garden to incorporate current garden design theories.
Redesign work began in the winter of 2018, and the design team proposed a three-year project that was approved. As requested, the church removed some aged trees and invasive shrubs.
The first year a garden path was added. Visible from the church’s entrance, it draws one into the garden. The garden’s central area was regraded into a slight mound to create a space for gathering and a focal point for a speaker or ceremony. A ring of Montmorency cherry trees was planted for a garden backdrop.
The second year, the bed adjacent to the rectory was planted. The design encloses the area while providing privacy for the rectory deck. In addition, River Birch trees were planted as a parish house backdrop.
The third and final year featured planting the blue and white Austin Garden, which is the primary seating area for visitors and the most visible section of the garden. A bench was anonymously donated in honor of garden club presidents past, present and future.
The National Garden Club, Inc. awarded St. Mary’s Garden Club a $1000 Plant America Grant to complete the work on the garden. It was earmarked for the final 2021 plantings.
The 2020 Covid 19 pandemic led to extensive use of the new garden. Church services were held, and various public groups were able to gather safely there when the church facilities were closed.
Lois Murphy Kindness Garden
The Lois Murphy Kindness Garden was established in the early 2000s to honor the memory of a beloved guidance counselor at Falmouth Middle School. Two members of SMGC served on the planning committee, and were instrumental in the space’s planning, creation, and ongoing care.
The space is used by the guidance department as an oasis of calm for students in need of respite. It is also used by science teachers, art teachers, and the middle school’s garden club for ongoing education. SMGC stays involved with maintaining the space, and interacting with the garden club students.
Falmouth’s Blue Star Marker
At the junction of Rte. 88 and Rt. 1 in Falmouth stands a Blue Star marker, one of 27 that have been installed in Maine. It was placed there in 1955 and dedicated to honor all veterans. At the time, St. Mary’s Garden Club was tasked with caring for the marker. In 2013, the marker was refurbished and the garden around it redesigned. It was rededicated in a ceremony on November 11 involving local Girl Scouts, Blue Star mothers, a high-school trumpeter, club members, and many Falmouth residents. It stands to honor, to remember, and to thank military members in this community.
