Beauty, color, and fragrance. Food for your senses in Spring, Summer, and Fall! The Andover Service Club garden volunteers strive to provide all this for those passing by the Andover Town Hall or the Thrift Shop.
We maintain the garden by the roadside, by the Town Office entrance, and around the building as well as the window boxes at the Thrift Shop.
The beautification of the Town Hall was the brainchild of members of the Andover Lioness Club, since disbanded, in the mid 1980s. Bill Hoffman, landscape gardener, was asked to provide a plan for the gardens and the parking lots. Landscape timbers were installed around the front garden and at the parking area by the Town Office entrance. Lawns were fertilized and reseeded by the ladies of the Lioness Club, and the forsythia bush by the walkway and other shrubs were planted and new gardens put in. We were even recognized by Better Homes and Gardens with a garden plaque in a contest we entered.
The gardens were maintained by a few hardy volunteer gardeners until the Andover Service Club adopted the project a few years ago. With minimal funds and determination to continue the worthwhile project, the members of the club’s gardening committee (and sometimes our spouses) have dug, weeded, transplanted, trimmed, raked, shoveled, and watered to keep the gardens looking pretty throughout all of the growing season.
Many of us have shared divisions of perennials from our own gardens to keep costs down as we have expanded the Town Hall gardens. Local nurseries and other businesses have been very supportive with their discounts, donations, and time, for which we are very grateful. One local business not only donated mulch this year but helped spread it, too!
Other town volunteers have planted grass and ornamental trees. All this without a formal garden club!
Time and winter weather have taken their toll. The landscape timbers have rotted or been split by snow plowing and should be replaced. Our four Thrift Shop window boxes were destroyed by falling ice from our new roof this winter. We will purchase new ones.
Spring will come, and we’ll again be anxious to get our hands in the dirt, planting petunias and whatever other plants entice us at the nursery.
Our flower budget is limited, so donations for buying new window boxes and other garden needs are greatly appreciated and may be dropped off at the Town Office or the Thrift Shop in an envelope marked “Town Hall Gardens.” Every little bit helps to make our town more beautiful to residents and visitors alike.
Take time to smell the flowers, everyone, and enjoy. Thank you for support.