For nearly 30 years, a group of dedicated volunteers known as the “Garden Group” has maintained the stunning gardens in Peterborough’s public parks.
While caring for the gardens is a group effort, Garden Group volunteers say landscape designer and longtime Peterborough resident Maude Odgers is the driving force behind the beauty of Peterborough’s gardens.
“Maude really does deserve the kudos. There are a lot of able-bodied people helping, but Maude really is the driver of everything,” said volunteer Trim Hahn. “She is extraordinary in the amount of detail and work she does. She keeps meticulous records, and she brings her incredible talent to her visions for the gardens in town. Especially in Bocelli Park, it’s a real artist’s garden, and that is thanks to Maude’s vision and skill.”
Terry Reeves says Odgers, who has been with the Garden Group since it was originally founded by Dr. Michael Gordon, dedicates countless hours to caring for Peterborough’s gardens.
“People don’t realize how much she does behind the scenes. It’s not just what people see in the park,” said Reeves. “Not only does Maude spend hours in her own gardens and in Peterborough’s gardens, she spends hours organizing the volunteer group, she does the research on the plants, she plans the orders, she organizes the shopping, and we make a huge effort to buy locally grown plants. Maude thinks about the design of public gardens and what needs to happen. People really enjoy working with her because she is so knowledgeable about plants. She’s just an incredibly dedicated gardener and community volunteer.”
Odgers, Reeves, and Hahn currently serve on the Peterborough Parks Committee, which oversees the Garden Group. Currently, 17 Garden Group volunteers take turns planting, weeding, mulching, and pruning the gardens in Putnam Park, Depot Square Park, Bocelli Park (across the street from Putnam Park), Nubanusit Terrace (next to the Peterborough post office), and Texeira Park in West Peterborough.
According to Hahn, this past year, the Garden Group planted over 5,000 bulbs and 560 live plants in Peterborough’s public gardens.
Odgers joined the Peterborough Parks Committee in 2011. She took over organizing the Garden Group in 2016, when Gordon, who initially designed and created most of the gardens in downtown Peterborough, retired from the Parks Committee.
Gordon says Odgers was essential to the creation of Peterborough’s public gardens.
“Maude is one of the original Garden Group volunteers, and she has been working with the parks for 30 years,” Gordon said. “We worked together for 18 years, and Maude was heavily involved in the design process for the parks, particularly when new paths were added to Putnam Park and when the patio was added to Boccelli Garden around 2013.”
Odgers said she and Gordon are both heavily influenced by English garden design.
“Peterborough’s gardens are really special. They are not what you typically see in municipal gardens,” Odgers said. “People come here just to see the gardens. They walk by and take pictures, especially in Bocelli Park. People who know gardening, when they see these gardens, they know there is someone who knows that they’re doing.”
Odgers, Hahn and Reeves all say the Town of Peterborough is incredibly supportive of the Garden Group.
“We are given a budget every year by the town. We also get a generous donation each year from the Betty and Fred Frye Foundation, and there is also a bequest from the Bocelli family, which donated the park to the town of Peterborough. There have been a lot of generous people over the years who have cared passionately about Peterborough’s parks and supported them,” Odgers said. “These families gave this to us; we want to do our best by them.”
Odgers says the Garden Group and the town work seamlessly together to keep the gardens beautiful.
“The town supports us so much. Seth MacLean has been so wonderful and supportive, and Tim Rose is like a walking saint — he set up the irrigation in Bocelli and Putnam parks, and he is just so kind and so helpful in every capacity that he works in,” Odgers said. “He comes by every Wednesday morning when we’re working just to see if we need anything.”
Odgers says she doesn’t know of another volunteer/town partnership like the one between the Garden Group and the town of Peterborough.
“It’s kind of unusual, and it says a lot about the town. The town is always there to listen, they help whenever they can, and they support everything we do — they’ve just been fantastic. They realize what we do is really valuable, and they know how many people come to town to see the gardens,” Odgers said.
Hahn says part of Odgers’ legacy is training new volunteers, transforming many from novice gardeners to skilled ones.
“You really learn a lot working with Maude. She has extraordinary design and garden skills, and she’s just got this eye, and she has vision, and she’s just really terrific,” Hahn said. “She is always teaching — how to mulch, how to water, how to prune, how to take care of the plants properly. I have learned quite a lot. I thought I knew a lot, but I have learned so much from Maude.”
Odgers, Hahn and Reeves all say while their group is highly dedicated, they are always looking for new help.
“Pretty much everybody is over 70,” Hahn said. “We need younger volunteers.”
While Odgers has had a long career as a professional gardener, she grew up in completely different surroundings, in the American Southwest. Odgers met her husband in Colorado, but the couple decided to settle in New England.
“My husband went to Vermont Academy, and he just loves New England, and he wanted to come back to the area. I wanted a town that had art and music and a bookstore and a theater, and my husband found Peterborough. We’ve been here for 45 years, and we raised our family here,” Odgers said.
Odgers said after the wide open spaces and sun of the southwest, she “didn’t love it instantaneously” when she moved to Peterborough.
“I actually felt claustrophobic when I first got here. I missed the horizon and the blue skies. But then I fell in love with it, and with gardening,” Odgers said. “I keep trying to retire, but I’m not sure if I can. We need to keep these gardens going.”
Odgers says the group feels deeply appreciated by the community.
“People always stop and tell us thank you. We all care about the town, and that’s what it is really about — this is how we chose to give back — it’s for the love of the town, our love of gardening, and our love of these spaces, and for all these wonderful people. It’s just really lovely,” Odgers said.