Herb Garden on Town Hill

My name is Susan Brindley.  I have been a member of the Norfolk Garden Club since 1998.

Garden Club members who are currently working on the Herb Garden are: Liz Davey, Janet Turner, Sabrina Farley, Kathleen Callahan, Linda Hennessey and Susan Brindley.

I have lived in Norfolk for about 48 years.  Before I was a member of the Garden Club, I would ride my bike around town, and I always loved to visit Town Hill and the Herb Garden.  It was always one of my favorite gardens to visit.  I would sit on the stone bench that is beside the garden and just enjoy looking at the garden taking in the aromas of the herbs and just enjoying the peace sitting up on Town Hill gives me.  The ballad by Simon & Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair, always came to my mind and I would find myself humming. “Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley sage rosemary and thyme ….”

A few of the plants from the original planting of the herb garden still grow in the garden.  The Southernwood, Egyptian Onion, Sorrel, Yarrow, and the large Sage plant with its beautiful purple flowers…. are a few.  The original garden had a Boxwood border.  Because of the location of the garden on the windy hill, we fought to keep the boxwood plants alive for many years.  Finally, we decided to remove the remaining boxwoods and were pleasantly surprised to see how much more room there was to grow more herbs once the border was removed.  We now have four different herb borders of parsley, chives, germander and thyme.  Each in a different quadrant of the garden.

As long as the water is on at Town Hill, the sprinklers take care of the watering of the herb garden.  If you come up early in the morning, you can watch to see if the herbs are getting watered by the sprinklers. Years ago, we had a long hose that we would drag over from the spigot at the library to water the garden. In those days, each team member would have one week each month that they would be responsible for the care of the garden.  When it was my turn, I would come up early in the morning before going to work to weed and water. I remember that I felt like I was on vacation for that little bit of time.  The quiet time before the town wakes up. Just me and the gardens on Town Hill.

Note that the herb garden was created in a circle with 4 quadrants separated by brick paths.  There is a sundial in the center of the garden. Unfortunately, the sundial was broken shortly after it was installed and has never been repaired.

In the spring, after the chance of frost is gone, the team removes the salt marsh hay from the garden and does a light cleanup to make it look presentable.  We remove any plants that have died during the winter. Using the herb garden schematic from the previous year, we can note what herbs didn’t make it and start to plan what plants we would like to purchase for the coming season.

When we feel we need to amend the soil, we purchase composted manure that is in prepackaged $5.00 bags found on the side of the road in front of a house in Millis near the corner of Village Street and Main Street (Rte. 109).  There is a sign nearby that says that the manure is from Boots Farm and the honor system is used when picking up your bags.  Just leave your money in the wooden box.

For many years we used buckwheat hull mulch in the herb garden.  It was very light and could be carried away by the wind.  We have changed to bark mulch and currently are using pine bark mulch as we like the color.  We avoid purchasing mulch that has dyed/colored bark.

We use Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food for Flowers & Vegetables when planting new plants in the spring. We also sprinkle the Osmocote into the rest of the garden and lightly mix it to amend the soil.

Although it is too early to plant our annuals by the time we have the Garden Club plant sale, we like to have the garden cleaned up and looking presentable at the time of the sale.  We wait until the weekend prior to Memorial Day when the weather is warmer to plant our annuals.

We purchase our plants from various places.  I find Brigg’s Nursery has a nice selection of herbs to choose from in the spring. Liz Davey takes cuttings from her Rose, Nutmeg, Peppermint and Lemon Chrispin geraniums in the fall; and in the spring, we plant them in the herb garden.  You can also enjoy Liz’ brightly colored calendula flowers growing in the garden.  We place plant tags by each plant so that it is easy to recognize the name of the plant.

During the summer, the team comes up on Monday nights at 6:30 p.m. to weed and deadhead the garden. Herb gardens don’t like a lot of water, but we check to make sure it is getting watered and do a general clean up.  It is a wonderful time to chat with each other while enjoying being up on Town Hill busily working in the garden. Right up until the fall we have flowers blooming – check out the Saffron Crocus that flowers in early fall adding a final surprise and delight to the garden.

In the fall, we clean up the garden, cutting back the plants and getting the garden ready for the winter.  Prior to the first frost, usually after Thanksgiving, we will cover the plants with salt marsh hay to protect them for the winter.

So many times, when I am working in the gardens on Town Hill, people have come up to me to thank me for the work I am doing.  Telling me how much they enjoy the gardens.  Young and old, we all love a beautiful garden. How wonderful that we now have a bench reminding us of all the members who have dedicated their time working in our gardens. I look forward to sitting on our new bench, remembering them… and humming, parsley sage rosemary and thyme….