Gardening at the Library
The 2024 Growing Season
University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners Pat and Judi will be onsite tending to the Library’s gardens from May through October. You’ll find them working hard on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 9 – 10:30 am. Feel free to stop by for a chat or to ask a gardening question!
They will also be offering three “pop up” educational presentations. In June, you’ll learn all about the hottest topic this summer—cicadas! July will give you an opportunity to explore worms and vermicomposting. For August, they’ll talk about harvesting and monarch butterflies. Dates will be announced as they become available.
The Library’s Gardens
Vegetable garden
- Advice from the Master Gardeners: Be cautious of planting too soon just because the weather is nice! The University of Illinois Extension offers specific planting dates (PDF) for the most common vegetables.
- All produce harvested from the Library’s vegetable garden is donated to the People’s Resource Center food pantry here in Westmont.
Pollinator garden
- Did you know we are a monarch waystation? The pollinator garden is planted with natives designed to attract monarchs and give them a resting place during their migrations.
Rain garden / mason bee garden
- The rain garden is host to a number of native plants which help support our mason bees. The hives in the rain garden provide a home for these excellent, non-aggressive pollinators. “Mason bees are native to Illinois. Unlike honeybees, they are solitary creatures. By providing nesting spaces for these gentle bees, we can help improve the garden’s productivity and promote biodiversity.”Male mason bees do not sting. Females are considered non-aggressive, and sting only when handled ‘roughly,’ or when trapped under clothing. And even then, “their sting is small and not painful, and their stinger is unbarbed.” That, plus the limited number of hives, and their placement in the garden makes this a very safe and beneficial addition to the gardens!
Westmont Gardening Club
Join us on the first Tuesday of every month from 6:30 – 7:45 pm for Westmont Gardening Club! Unless noted otherwise, meetings will be held in the first floor Community Meeting Room.
Sign up for our enewsletter here.
Check Out a Gardening Tools Kit!
- Our circulating gardening tools kit comes with everything you need to start your garden. Check it out, plant your garden, and return it. It’s that simple.
