Greener Together
Garden Tour
Sunday, July 13 @ 4:30PM ET
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
The Glen Ridge Environmental Advisory Committee welcomes you to the Greener Together Garden Tour.
This tour features four beautiful gardens in Glen Ridge that practice sustainable gardening​.
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Designed for beauty and joy. Both professionally landscaped and homegrown properties emphasize enjoyment by homeowners and their visitors
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Native plants. Homeowners choose plants that provide critical habitat for the native birds, pollinators, and wildlife of Northern NJ
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No pesticides. Homeowners choose safe and natural methods of pest control to fight the causes of declining pollinator populations
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Below you will find the schedule as well as information about the gardens you will see.
Finally, ​join us at a fifth sustainable garden that will host a special firefly talk and celebration with naturalist Dawn Snyder.
The Schedule
4:30PM
-7:30PM
Self-guided garden tour
Visit the four garden destinations in any order (see The Gardens below for locations and descriptions)
7:30PM
-8:00PM
20 Hillcrest Road
Head over to 20 Hillcrest Rd, tour the garden, and get settled in for the firefly talk at 8PM.
8:00PM
Firefly talk with Dawn
20 Hillcrest Rd. ​
Join naturalist Dawn Snyder to explore the world of fireflies.​
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Bring a blanket or lawn chair and a beverage to enjoy. Ice cream will be available for purchase (card or Apple pay).
4:30-7:30pm: The Four Gardens
The tour is self-guided; go at your own pace
and in any order.
All locations are in Glen Ridge.
#1. 10 Wildwood Terrace
"Take your time. Not everything is going to take."
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Fern-lovers Leigh Ann and Matt have transformed their concern about the environment into a blooming bird haven.
Plants spill out from their yard into the parking strip, featuring native fern, Joe-Pye weed, great blue lobelia, garden phlox, blue false indigo, cardinal flower, Jacob’s ladder, native grasses, pink tickseed, coneflowers, goldenrod, wood aster, and prickly pear cactus.​
#2. 109 Hillside Avenue
"Don't be afraid."
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Long-time gardener Elisabeth encourages you to start small and grow your garden along with your imagination and experience.
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This labor of love features a colorful mix of shrubs and flowers, including: Spiderwort, echinacea, oak leaf hydrangea (her favorite), coreopsis, Joe-Pye weed, New England aster, butterfly milkweed
#3. 70 Woodland Avenue
"Start small and have fun."
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Carolee brings together beauty and community in her yard, featuring a lush mixture of native plants along with a popular Little Free Pantry and doggie biscuit box.
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This professionally landscaped and maintained garden includes:
A variety of milkweeds, New York ironwood, cardinal flower, turtlehead, buttonbush, rattlesnake master, giant hyssop, and amsonia (eastern bluestar). ​
#4. 19 Appleton Place
"It's a big experiment."
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Inspired by her neighbors, Laura has partnered with local landscaper designer Hortus Life to realize a garden vision to bring happiness to its visitors.
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Laura's garden features black-eyed Susan, echinacea, coral bells, goldenrod, milkweed, columbine, fringed bleeding heart, native hydrangeas, blue eyed grass, spotted bee balm, sweet pepper bush, avens, Indian blanket, lance-leaf coreopsis, Swamp rose mallow, winterberry, eastern bluestar, yarrow, inkberry, lady fern, Christmas fern, viburnum, yucca, and blue vervain.​
7:30-8 pm: The Fifth Garden*
8 pm: Firefly talk
*This location opens at 7:30, to be visited after seeing the other gardens.
Take a look around, and then settle in for the firefly talk and "show." Bring a lawn chair or blanket and a beverage of your choice (optional). Ice cream will be available for purchase (credit card or Apple Pay).
#5. 20 Hillcrest Road
"Start with a corner and go from there."​
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Polly and Marc's garden, in its sixth year of renewal, acts as a stress reliever and creativity outlet. A self-identified "violet nut," Polly has implemented New Jersey's official state flower in full force with 15 different variations.
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In addition to violets, the extensive property features St. John's wort, meadow rue, goldenrod, aster, sweet spire, wild hairy petunia, mountain mint, turtlehead, lobelia, Joe-Pye weed, sedges, penstemons, echinacea, eastern redbud, white pine, witch hazel, sumac, and native blueberries.
Meet Dawn Snyder
Naturalist | Consultant | Travel Advisor
Dawn Snyder grew up on an Iowa farm, nurturing a love of nature and chasing fireflies on warm summer nights. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University. Dawn developed the environmental education program for Woodbury County Conservation Department, establishing and managing a multi-million-dollar Nature Center, and was involved in fundraising, grant writing, marketing, and programming.
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After retiring as Nature Center Director in February 2023, she now volunteers and consults with local environmental groups. Dawn is a past president and current board member of the Loess Hills Chapter of Wild Ones, a non-profit that advocates for planting native plants in local landscapes to promote native pollinators and wildlife.
She enjoys traveling, enhancing her yard with native plants, hiking with her Springer Spaniel Nelle, and arranging travel through her business, Naturelady Travels, LLC.
Contact Dawn
4007 Glen Oaks Blvd.
Sioux City, IA 51104
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Phone: (712) 898-9168
Email: natureladytravels@gmail.com
