Hingham Gardener Needs Help Planting at Bare Cove Park

The snow has melted and the sun now shines down on Bare Cove Park.  For Hingham resident Barbara Nicosia, this means planting season is here.

For over ten years, Nicosia and other local residents have been bringing their passion for gardening to Bare Cove Park and planting a variety of bright colored flowers at the park’s Triangle Garden. 

Nicosia has already started planting at Bare Cove Park this spring but she needs more help.  On Friday April 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. she invites anyone from the Hingham community to help her plant.  Nicosia is looking for people, like her, who love to prune and garden.

 For Nicosia, gardening has been an ongoing hobby, which she has been continuing to do for over a decade.

“We decided to do something nice for the park because we walk our dogs there all the time,” said Nicosia. “So it was basically a group of dog walkers who decided to give back to the town. We wanted to show our appreciation for being able to walk our dogs off leash. “

 Nicosia first started gardening at Bare Cove Park because she wanted to help former Park Ranger Frank Sheltry build a garden.  Sheltry has since passed away, but Nicosia remembers when he used to plant flowers at the park only to have them run over by the dogs. She now dedicates her free time to making her favorite park look beautiful.

 “I really like to leave a place looking more beautiful than the way I found it,” she said.  “I love to create beauty through planting flowers.  It gives people so much pleasure. Every time I’m out there, people will come by and tell me how great it looks.”

 The Town of Hingham has supplied Nicosia with old utility poles, soil, and woodchips and mulch for the garden. The Friends of Bare Cove Park have also raised funds to assist Nicosia’s work. Last year Nicosia built a wood gate to put around the garden, and Bare Cove Park Ranger Scott MacMillan helped install it.

 Nicosia believes planting at Bare Cove Park is a fun activity and hopes more people will come volunteer their time this year by helping out.

 “It’s really fun to spend time in the park, and see your friends walking by," she said. “Everybody is just happy to be there.  It’s just a fun thing to do.”

 To help out Nicosia on April 8 or in the future, contact her at banicosia@me.com.