OGDENSBURG — If you like to garden and you want to help keep Ogdensburg beautiful and give back to your community, joining the Ogdensburg Garden Club may be for you.

Like most clubs, there is much to be done with limited funds and declining membership numbers. The club has seen a 50% decline in membership over the years.

“Currently we have only 18 active members with a median age of over 70 years,” according to Donna Pirie, a member of the group. “Next year we will be celebrating 100 years and we are becoming very concerned about how much longer we can survive.”

She said that when speaking to potential new members, many say they don’t know anything about gardening and don’t have the time. A vast knowledge of flowers and gardening in general is not required and meetings and work sessions are not mandatory.

“We realize we are all very busy and are appreciative of any help we can get,” Pirie said.

The Ogdensburg Garden Club holds monthly meetings April through December. At each meeting, there is a program and/or business meeting , food and socializing. In the last couple of years, club members have learned about landscaping, care of garden tools, making holiday decorations, and nutrition and health benefits of herbs. Each year there is a holiday party and a summer picnic .

This year the club continued to support the Youth Garden Club, presented Maple Leaf Awards to three Ogdensburg citizens and conducted the annual Hanging Basket project. To the delight of many, members decorated a canoe at the St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union in beautiful Fall décor. The mums, pumpkins, hay bales and gourds certainly welcome this colorful season to the city. Their touches of autumn can also be seen at city hall and the post office.

Field trips may be planned. This year’s schedule included a visit to the Enchanted Edible Forest on Wellesley Island where owner and hostess Dani Baker guided the tour. Erica LaFountain from Cornell Cooperative extension spoke about soil testing and enrichment and club member Mickey Snye did a presentation on garlic with delicious recipes to sample and braiding techniques.

Of course, club members also work very hard from May through October planting and maintaining the Arterial Garden, the Agarwal Garden, and Library Park Gardens.

There is plenty of opportunity for novice gardeners to “get down and dirty” and have the satisfaction of providing lovely public gardens for all to enjoy. These hour-long work sessions are weekly, weather permitting.

“If you enjoy working with local youth, the Kids Garden Place offers this opportunity as well,” Pirie said. “There are multiple learning gardens including a butterfly garden and meetings and planned activities for our youth.”

For more information about joining or to arrange to be a guest at a meeting, call Lin Griffin at 315-393-5202 or Donna Pirie 315-276-5296.

‘We are hoping you will consider becoming a member of our club,” Pirie said.