Navesink Garden Club Announces Plans For 2025 Season

RED BANK, NJ — The Navesink Garden Club has announced its plans for the upcoming 2025 season.

Whether you’re looking to learn more about nature, plant health, or something in between, the club has plenty of events planned for the spring.

Here’s your sneak peek at some upcoming discussions:

Beneficial Insects
On Tuesday, March 11 at 11 a.m., you can hear Kevin Akey discuss “Beneficial Insects: Natural Born Killers, Body Snatchers and the Crawling Dead.”

The presentation will look at one of nature’s mechanisms for maintaining the balance around us; the “beneficial insects.”

Akey serves on the Little Silver Environmental Commission and Community Garden, and is an instructor at the School of Environmental Services.

Pruning Basics
On Tuesday, April 8 at 11 a.m., Master Gardener Bob McGovern will discuss "Pruning Basics."

Guests can join the garden club to learn why pruning plants is needed, when pruning is appropriate, and how to do it without spreading disease or making things worse.

McGovern is a horticulturist for a large retail nursery and gives workshops on managing plant health. He has also worked on issues surrounding watersheds, rain gardens and soil testing.

Ikebana
On Tuesday, May 13 at 11 a.m., Navesink Garden Club member Yoko Ikura will share her vast knowledge of Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangements) with attendees.

At the age of 22, Ikura began her studies at the Sogetsu School of Ikebana in Tokyo.

She now possesses the second-highest rank in Sogetsu Ikebana, according to officials, and enjoys sharing the beauty of nature and relaxation through Ikebana lessons, demonstrations and arrangement displays.

At this May meeting, rather than using store flowers, Ikura will demonstrate how you can use materials from your garden for Ikebana.

The May 13 meeting will be the last meeting open to the public until Fall 2025, officials said.

The Navesink Garden Club was founded in 1948 and is part of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the Garden Club of New Jersey Central Atlantic Region.

The club serves the Red Bank community in various ways, including performing weekly care and maintenance of the planters throughout downtown Red Bank, aiding preschoolers at Monmouth Day Care in planting spring bulbs, and, each month, aiding residents of the Atrium in creating floral arrangements.

Members of the club provided a grant to the Monmouth Museum to assist in the creation and maintenance of a nature setting adjacent to the museum on the Brookdale Community College campus. The nature setting also includes a Little Free Library for children.

The latest addition to the Garden Club’s responsibilities is maintaining the garden and beds at No Limits Cafe in Red Bank, which employs adults with intellectual disabilities. The club also helps with planning annual and perennial flowers, vegetables and herbs to be used in the meals prepared at the cafe.

To learn more about the Navesink Garden Club, you can visit their website or contact Patricia Wotton at 732-673-8305 / pwotton@comcast.net.

All garden club meetings take place at the Atrium at 40 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank. Free valet parking is available.