Greer’s Garden
Location: 318 Chase at the DNRT Center at Helfand Farm | View Google Map
Year Opened: 2021
Access Point: The trailhead to Greer’s Garden is beyond the two handicapped parking spaces closest to the DNRT office.
Additional Regulations:
- Dogs must be leashed and waste removed from the trail
- Stay on all trails
- No bikes
- No horses
Wheelchair accessible and handicapped parking available.
Learn more about pollinator gardening here!
Description
Come experience this short trail, only 500 feet, to see what a natural backyard landscape can look like. The loop consists of a stone dust path, making it the first DNRT trail system that is wheelchair accessible.
Greer’s Garden features a variety of fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and perennial flowers that will provide food, nectar, and pollen for our local wildlife. Named in honor of Dr. J. Greer McBratney, this garden is designed to provide food year round. DNRT’s first TerraCorps Service Member, Bruce Traban, managed this restoration project, which took an overgrown field, previously the Helfand family’s garden, and converted it to a beautiful pollinator garden and micro-orchard. The plants were selected based on research compiled by Dr. Robert Gegear, UMass Dartmouth professor and Beecology founder, and were planted with the help of Susie Humphrey, a landscape designer and DNRT volunteer.
The stone dust path loops around the field filled with plants chosen to benefit pollinators and wildlife during all seasons. The Garden also features a bench built by Paige Durant as part of her Girl Scout SilverAward, a table handcrafted Richard Tabors made with a slice of a tree from Parsons Reserve, a beautiful oversized bird bath donated by Mary Dewar, and an antique potato digger that was transported from the Wernick Farm Reserve. Come by and learn about the native species planted throughout the garden and consider planting some of these species in your own yards! The bees, butterflies, and birds will thank you for it!
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Dartmouth Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
