06/09/2026
Happy National Garden Week. Our Louise Moore Park Demo Garden team has an exciting update!
🌿 Growing the Vision at Louise Moore Park
When our Master Gardener team met with Northampton County Parks earlier this year to present our Pollinator Friendly Habitat certification progress and future plans for the garden, we never imagined just how quickly those ideas would become reality.
In addition to supporting our certification efforts, Northampton County Parks challenged us to think even bigger. The result? Three major expansion projects that are transforming the landscape around the historic farmhouse at Louise Moore Park.
One of those projects began with extending the front walkway garden, creating a more welcoming and ecologically diverse entrance to the Parks Office. At the same time, we were asked to develop a new shade garden along the north east side of the farmhouse. After researching plants that could thrive in the site's conditions while working around windows and utility access areas, the team designed a woodland-inspired planting featuring native shrubs and perennials.
New additions include Lindera benzoin (spicebush), Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel), Fothergilla x intermedia 'Mount Airy', Aronia melanocarpa 'Low Scape Mound', and Viburnum nudum 'Brandywine'. Beneath them, drifts of Heuchera (coral bells), Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower), Stylophorum diphyllum (wood poppy), Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox), and Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) will provide seasonal color and habitat value. This is only the beginning, with additional plantings planned for this fall and next spring.
The excitement didn't stop there.
A third opportunity emerged at the park's trailhead entrance, where a large island planting had become dominated by weeds after years of annual plantings. Seeing the potential for something more sustainable and beneficial to wildlife, our team developed a plan for a new drought-tolerant native planting that can be appreciated by visitors as they enter the park.
The more than 1,000-square-foot island is now anchored by Rhus typhina 'Tiger Eyes' (tiger eyes sumac) and complemented by native grasses including Andropogon gerardii 'Heavy Metal' (big bluestem) and Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' (little bluestem). For season-long color and pollinator support, we've added Penstemon, Achillea (yarrow), Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan), and Echinacea (coneflower).
This week the team sheet mulched the entire area to suppress weeds and installed the first phase of plantings. Like many ecological gardens, this will be a multi-year project that will continue to grow and evolve.
In just the past few weeks, our volunteers have created several thousand square feet of new ecologically friendly garden space and planted more than 100 new plants. While Northampton County Parks provided generous support for these projects, team members have also shared divisions and plants from their own gardens to expand the diversity of species throughout the site.
The work has been substantial. Team members have spent multiple 7- to 8-hour workdays installing gardens, mulching, planting, and watering. During the current dry conditions, volunteers have also taken turns making extra trips to ensure these young plantings receive the care they need to become established.
What makes this project special isn't just the gardens themselves. It's what can happen when dedicated volunteers, supportive park staff, and a shared vision come together to create spaces that are beautiful, educational, and beneficial to wildlife.
And we're just getting started. 🌱
Our Team:
Magda Masterson (Louise Moore Park Pollinator Habitat Chair)
Julie Drago (Educational Programming Chair)
Susan Albert
Tara Gomez
Alison Rothrock
Shelley Penchick
Alan McFall
Barbara Schroeder
