The East Lyme Garden Club is hosting David Bulpitt, presenting Soil 101 for Home Gardeners in March, a special program of interest to anyone who gardens…and then some. The meeting is open to all and is scheduled for Monday, March 12 at 7 pm at the East Lyme Police Department Conference Room on Main Street in Niantic, CT.

David Bulpitt is a principal of Brookside Nurseries, a family business that primarily grew annuals, vegetables, and herbaceous perennials in greenhouses and outdoor containers and was involved with general ornamental landscape installation of plants and turf. In recent years, Brookside has specialized in marketing soil mixes that they produce and design using special soil formulations for site specific applications, involving diverse and prestigious projects such as the Phillip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, CT, Central Park and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as well as many area private homes in Connecticut and New York.

David Bulpitt is a licensed and accredited College Level Faculty member of Soil Science at the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, Bronx, NY. He has recently been honored as “Instructor of the Year” by the New York Botanical Garden, encompassing the largest professional and continuing horticultural education program in the US with approximately 200 instructors and 700 different courses attracting students from around the world.

He will be sharing a Soil 101 program he has skillfully prepared, with critical elements for Home Gardeners, for area Garden Clubs and Conservation Groups giving special attention to our Connecticut soils. Mr. Bulpitt has been featured in national publications and on national television.

The East Lyme Garden Club maintains and refurbishes civic plantings and gardens at the East Lyme Public Library and Community Center and Thomas Lee House and other short-term projects, and also provides May baskets and Holiday Baskets for Meals on Wheels recipients and the Senior Center. The Club hosts an annual May Mart Plant Sale as well as educational programs and field trips. Their programs support educational, charitable and environmental efforts, and help to further the preservation and cultivation of beauty in the community.

The East Lyme Garden Club meets the second Monday of each month at 7 pm at the East Lyme Police Department. Programs are always open to the public.

For more information about the club contact Carolyn Lombardo at 860-739-3405 or Jean Hamilton at 860-739-0506.