FELLOWS GARDENS

By Denise Dick

On a path to the next 50 years

The first leg of the path is expected to be usable this weekend, in time for the spring plant sale.

YOUNGSTOWN — A brick path leading from the fountain to the gazebo at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens is a first piece from the gardens’ master plan.

“It provides a hard surface to walk on,” said Keith Kaiser, gardens horticulture director. “Everybody can use it.”

But it will be especially useful for visitors who use wheelchairs, parents with strollers, park employees transporting materials in utility carts and during special garden events, he said.

Installation of the pathway, though, isn’t intended to keep garden visitors off the grass, Kaiser said.

It will improve accessibility as well as facilitate maintenance. The grass can be difficult to keep attractive in high-traffic areas because of wear and tear from the roughly 400,000 people who visit the gardens each year.

The path is being paid for through the Frank and Pearl Gelbman Foundation through the trust division of Huntington National Bank.

A second phase of the path, expected to begin this fall, will travel from the gazebo through the woody plants collection to the South Terrace.

That phase is being funded by the Ward Beecher Foundation and the John D. and Loretta Hines Foundation, both also through the Huntington trust. The total contributions for both path phases is $70,000.

After completion of the path, flower beds alongside it will be widened to hug more closely to the brick walkway.

The path was part of a master plan unveiled for the park in March, recommending improvements and renovations at the gardens over the next 10 to 15 years.

The plan’s introduction coincided with the gardens’ 50th anniversary.

Upon her death March 19, 1958, Elizabeth Fellows donated the land and a financial trust to establish the gardens. It was named as a memorial to her husband’s parents, Mary and Benjamin Fellows.

Other plans include upgrading vehicular entrances, improving horticulture, enhancing visitors’ experience, providing a stronger and horticulturally rich environment, strengthening the connection and relationship between the gardens and the surrounding neighborhood and developing a strategy to accomplish the goals in phases.

Phase one of the plan includes installation of a garden district sign at Mahoning Avenue and Whitney Avenue, building a family garden and paths to the visitor center, and making garden improvements.

Justin Rogers, MetroParks land planner who designed the pathway, said the idea was to improve park access for physically disabled people and others while fitting in with the design of the gardens — “something rustic and organic in nature.”

The first part of the path, from the fountain to the gazebo, is expected to be complete by week’s end, weather permitting, Rogers said.

That fits with the gardens’ spring plant sale set to begin from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the gardens with a Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens members preview. That preview is open to new members who want to join at that time. Membership costs $35 for individuals and $60 for a family.

The sale continues from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Both of those days are open to all.

Annuals, vegetables, woody plants, perennials, roses, summer bulbs, fruits and herbs are available for sale.

Liz Blazer of Canfield busied herself this week, preparing perennials for sale. She’s been a volunteer at the gardens for 15 to 17 years, she said.

Her involvement started when she took a master gardeners class at the park and she got hooked after that.

Blazer looks forward to the opening of the gardens’ new path, too.

“I just can’t wait,” she said. “It’s going to open more of the park to more people, especially for wedding parties and people in wheelchairs. Grandmas will be able to get up close to the bride.”