The Short Hills Garden Club celebrates 115th year in MSH

2021 marks the 115th anniversary of The Short Hills Garden Club, a proud member of The Garden Club of America. Established by local residents in 1906, The Short Hills Garden Club is one of America’s oldest non-profit garden clubs and works to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore, improve, and protect the quality of the environment. SHGC maintains several civic projects to benefit the residents of Millburn-Short Hills.

In 1979 the SHGC established the Wallbridge Rose Garden in Taylor Park. Using a gift donated to the club by a former member, a gazebo and four quadrant rose garden were created. Since that time, the club has maintained and enhanced the rose beds, along with many of the perimeter plantings, including the installation of the sprinkler system. The club's ongoing spring, summer, and fall commitment to the garden includes pruning, weeding, replacing diseased/dead plantings, and general clean-up. The club completed documentation of the Wallbridge Rose Garden for the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Gardens in 2010.

SHGC members have been the stewards of the Millburn Community Garden, located on Church Street near Taylor Park, since 1975. The community garden sits on what was part of a bequest from long-time township resident Mrs. John Taylor, who designated the land be used for the “permanent enjoyment” of the residents of Millburn Township. The Neighborhood House Nursery School, part of the Neighborhood Association of Millburn Township, leases the land to the Short Hills Garden Club for use as a community garden. The garden contains 85 plots and is open to all Millburn/Short Hills residents. Through the SHGC program “Grow A Row,” plot holders volunteer to grow vegetables and donate excess produce to the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges, an all-volunteer program supplying fresh produce to food-insecure residents of Orange and East Orange. The club completed documentation of the Millburn Community Garden for the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Gardens in 2013.

Other ongoing civic projects include the reintroduction of native plants at the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum, the annual donation of holiday wreaths to local merchants, and the maintenance of the window boxes at the Short Hills Train Station. Recently, The Short Hills Garden Club partnered with the Millburn Township Green Team in the establishment of a Pollinator Garden in the traffic triangle on Whittingham Road.

Past projects throughout the Township include the planting of native plants in the deer exclosure of the South Mountain Reservation in partnership with the Essex County Horticulturist, the establishment of the stream bed garden in Old Short Hills Park, the creation of a Millennium Garden at Short Hills Train Station, and the planting of daffodils. SHGC Members were instrumental in establishing and supporting the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and the Township Beautification League. The Short Hills Garden Club annually supports the Greater Newark Conservancy, Greenwood Gardens, The NJ Conservation Foundations and many other community and national organizations.