Master Gardener Profile - Pat Garry

“People garden for a lot of reasons. I garden to create sanctuary.” –Pat Garry

Pat Garry, a Medford resident, is a Master Gardener volunteer at Medford Train Station’s 9/11 Memorial Garden, and at the Children’s Garden at Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. For many years, Pat has delighted children here in the summer camp program with her talks on weeds. Pat is active in the Medford Civic Association redesign of Route 112 and has also volunteered at Bayard Cutting Arboretum.

While working full time in a library, she completed the Cornell Master Gardener Training in 2003. Inspired by that experience, she returned to her alma mater SUNY Farmingdale to complete another degree in Ornamental Horticulture.

Wherever she goes, she brings a wealth of knowledge and a binder called “Pat’s Weeds” with photos and descriptions of lookalike plants that she has researched over a lifetime. Growing up near the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden, her passion for discovery started with a high school teacher who encouraged learning the botanical names of plants. Pat discovered some unusual species, including a striped wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata), growing in her own backyard.

Her advice to Master Gardener Volunteers is to remember that gardening is ongoing practice with living organisms. “You have to commit to any project to maintain it over time.”