By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
The Vestavia Hills Men’s Garden Club is looking for a few more good men to help keep an almost 30-year tradition flourishing.
The garden club, one of the only (if not the only) men’s garden’s clubs in the area, was formed in 1984 by a few retired residents led by Henderson Walker. Over the years, members have been responsible for the garden, now known as the Henderson Walker Garden, on Highway 31 and Shades Crest Road.
The well-maintained garden welcomes drivers to the city of Vestavia Hills. In the spring, it’s bursting with color from tulips, azaleas and dogwoods. Even in the cooler months, members keep the garden up with pansies and constant pruning.
While many of the original members have passed on or are no longer active, the club is still dedicated to the upkeep of the garden. And they’re looking for new members to help.
Membership is only $25 a year, and longtime member Frank McGuire said it’s worth it.
At age 91, Frank is still active in the garden club. He’s just not doing the actual gardening anymore. He does still attend monthly meetings, for which he prepares the agendas.
“I really have enjoyed it over the years,” he said. “One thing is the companionship, especially when we first started. We’d finish working and get the cooler and a case of beer or Cokes and just enjoy the fellowship. It’s been real enjoyable.”
While age is keeping Frank from working in the dirt as much as he’d like, as it has many of the other early members of the club, new enthusiasts are coming along to keep up the tradition and the beauty of the Henderson Walker Garden.
Lee Higginbotham joined the club two years and recently took over as the club’s president. At 40 years old, he’s one of the younger members. To him, joining was a way to get involved with the city.
“When I moved here, I just wanted to get involved with the community in some way,” said Lee. “I started going to meetings, and then last year, they asked me if I’d step up and be president.”
The club has about 25 members now, Lee said, and it’s always looking for new members, no matter what their age and gardening background.
Lee replaces Henry Chilton as the president of the club. Henry joined the club shortly after its formation and, until recent family illnesses, was still active.
“I’d say at one time he was here working the garden two or three hours every day for probably at least 15-20 years – literally,” Lee said.
The club has all levels of gardeners. As owner of Advanced Mower, Lee has firsthand knowledge of landscaping. But Frank, who joined the club in 1985 after retiring from Liberty National, just loves “to dig in the dirt.”
“I was always interested in my own yard, and my father was very active in Mobile developing types of camellias,” he said. “My daddy was very interested in it. I guess that’s where I got it.”
Being a member of the garden club isn’t all play. A lot of work goes into keeping up the plot of land that serves as a gateway to the city of Vestavia Hills.
“It kind of ebbs and flows,” Lee said. “In the fall, it slows down some, but it picks up in the spring.”
Each year, the club plants 500-1,000 tulip bulbs. In the cooler months, colorful pansies are planted to brighten the area. Over the years, members also have planted around 150 azaleas and dozens of dogwoods and pear trees.
In addition to the plants, the club added a fountain, sprinkler system and American flags to the garden. The most recent addition, made possible by member Fred Dyess, was an arbor at the garden’s entrance.
The work in the garden isn’t the only thing the Vestavia Hills Men’s Garden Club does, either.
They conduct monthly meetings with speakers and have at least one fundraiser a year. They also have an annual Christmas party.
For more information about the Vestavia Hills Men’s Garden Club or to join, contact Lee at [email protected].
“We want to keep up this tradition,” he said of the men’s garden club. “Some of the younger ones are now bringing their sons with them, and we’ve had Scouts out here working with us. We need members young and old, and they don’t have to live in Vestavia, either.”
