Preserving History
The Village Garden Club has never lost sight of the founding members' vision of beautifying the Shaker Lakes with flowering trees, and they continue their strong commitment of planting and maintaining the trees throughout the year. The Club holds a special Cherry Tree luncheon dedicated to the grove each May, and they have continued with monthly meetings focusing on enhancing their members’ knowledge of horticulture and the environment.
About five years ago, the Club set upon creating a long range plan in the interest of maintaining and expanding the cherry grove. Mayor Earl Leiken and other Shaker Heights city officials strongly supported the Club's mission and applauded their never-wavering care of the trees at Horseshoe Lake. Today the Village Garden Club enjoys a close relationship with the City as they work together to preserve this piece of Shaker Heights history.
This video of the Village Garden Club's history was created by the Club to celebrate their 75th anniversary in 2005.
Members of the Village Garden Club continue to preserve the Club's archives, which includes minutes, records, treasurer books, photographs, maps, and ephemera. Through this collection, we can see the amazing growth of the grove and the evolving roles of women in society.
Two of the Village Garden Club's trees have been recognized with the Heritage Tree Award from the City of Shaker Heights. Mickey Horner nominated the 2011 recipient, an ornamental crabapple, and VGC member Karen Greer nominated the 2018 recipient, a European Bird Cherry. A former director of the Holden Arboretum recommended this tree as a test plant in 1977 because of its beauty and hardiness. The only tree of its kind in Ohio, its leaves turn deep maroon in the spring and fall, gracing Horseshoe Lake with its beauty.
"...continue our stewardship of the cherry grove, expand our presence in the community, and foster beauty throughout the area."
Looking toward their future, the members of the Village Garden Club said:
“The year 2020 marks our club’s 90th anniversary, and to celebrate we made plans to underwrite the cost of a bench to be installed within the grove. Our plans have been placed on hold due to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District dam renovation project at Horseshoe Lake that could take multiple years to finish. This set back, although disappointing, has not dampened our spirits. It has done the opposite. Our waiting only gives us time to expand our vision. We are encouraging members to ‘adopt a tree’ and reach out to foster relationships with potential members by sponsoring family and community members to aid in the maintenance of the trees. As we move into our 91st year our ultimate focus is to continue our stewardship of the cherry grove, expand our presence in the community, and foster beauty throughout the area.”
Adopt a Tree
The Club has established an "adopt-a-tree" program to assist with the maintenance of the cherry tree grove. VGC members may sponsor non-members to adopt a tree.
Adopting a tree includes:
Weeding the bed under the tree. This includes pulling out weeds, de-heading flowers, including daffodils (if in the bed), and cutting down the leaves of daffodils and other flowers.
Cutting suckers which may grow from the roots of the tree as they sap the tree's energy.
General tidiness including removing debris in the bed.
Reporting any damage to the tree or dead limbs to the Village Garden Club
Adopting a tree does not include:
Mulching (done by professional landscape)
Re-planting of trees
Deer protection
Watering
Using chemicals or pesticides
Fertilizing
Plantings bulbs or flowers or placing any objects in the tree bed
Edging (done by professional landscape)