By Greg Ellison

(July 9, 2020) Although plans are on hold until fall, modifications are on tap for the Ocean Pines Library Memorial Garden, which has been revamped over the past few years.

Worcester County Library Director Jennifer Ranck said the Ocean Pines branch, which opened in 1999, was funded in part through the sale of memorial bricks that were installed just outside the entrance.

“Out of that space grew a garden with hydrangea bushes and flowing plants around that brick area,” she said. “It’s kind of grown from there.”

In recent years, a handful of master gardeners, under the guidance of Ginny Rosenkranz with the University of Maryland Extension, have made numerous improvements and reinvigorated the location.

Rosenkranz, the Commercial Horticulture Extension Educator for Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset Counties, also serves as the Master Gardener Coordinator and coordinates an annual Master Gardener Training Program.

Sandy Kelley, one of Rosenkranz’s protégés, got involved at the site in Aug. 2018 after recognizing the area required attention.

“Normally, there are plant clinics on Tuesdays at the Ocean Pines Library,” she said. “It started because I walked out of one of them into the garden and thought, ‘Wow, this looks like an area of need.’”

Kelley, along with gardening associate Elena Ake, approached the Friends of the Ocean Pines Library to approve their vision and lend financial backing.

“They funded us and they’ve been wonderful collaborators,” she said.

After spending a few months working the soil, in Oct. 2018 the area was closed while a new roof and gutter system were installed and remained fenced off until April 2019.

“That was the first one. We started cleaning it up and had been putting in some new plants and putting designs together,” she said. “That was short-lived.”

Kelley said a handful of master gardeners trained by Rosenkranz resumed their work that May.

Ranck said after the building improvements were completed, problems arose with the outside growth.

“After that work was done, we had a little bit of standing water in one part of the area,” she said.

Corrective actions performed last fall included re-grading the slope and removing several trees.

“We had some trees we had to remove because the leaves were getting into the gutter and that wasn’t working properly,” she said. “We removed trees that were probably too close to the building.”

Kelley said the area in question included a huge swath of garden that had run along the long length of the library building.

“They had a pipe problem and things were getting backed up,” she said. “There were four large tress that were removed because, apparently, the roots wrapped around the existing pipes.”

The entire section was sodded with shrubbery and trees removed.

“There was a huge tree and it was buckling the brick,” she said.

Kelley and associates subsequently provided input to county officials to address the issues.

“We gave them our suggestions for the trees, and they did try to save several of the shrubs and bushes that were removed,” she said. “I was told they would be digging some new beds to hold over these plants.”

Kelley said at this point there are two beds remaining with plants installed.

“They created a new one that runs parallel out in back with some of the plants that they dug out to keep them alive,” she said. “We’ve given them suggestions as to the trees to return that are much smaller in size and would still give a canopy.”

Kelley said for now the master gardeners work remains on hold.

“We’re on a pause and we’ve been told to hold our breath,” she said. “The master gardeners are only going to be weeding and not designing, cleaning or planting and we were told we probably weren’t needed until the fall.”

Ranck said the gardeners have done a stellar job of maintaining the area.

“We have a nice area now and we have a lovely volunteer garden group that we’ll work with in the fall when it’s a better planting season,” she said.

Kelley said her group is excited to resume work on the remembrances garden later this year.

“Obviously, they’re going to need to put some more trees back in there because they need the canopy as it would be hot as blazes in that garden otherwise,” she said.