By Anne White
As New Canaan Garden Club celebrates a landmark anniversary of stewardship, the community is invited to help safeguard one of New Canaan’s most beloved green spaces. On Friday the club formally unveiled its new initiative, Friends of Irwin Park, aimed at restoring and enhancing Irwin Park on the occasion of the park’s 20th year under town ownership.
Located at the cusp of downtown, Irwin Park spans roughly 36 acres of lawns, orchard, and native woodland. Since the town purchased the property from the Irwin family in 2005, the Garden Club has served as its official steward, managing projects such as the daffodil plantings, specimen-tree installations, and the popular 1.2-mile Flexi-Pave walking loop.
“The Irwin Park leadership team has worked tirelessly to develop Friends of Irwin Park and the Irwin Park Restoration Project,” said Olivia English, co-president of the Garden Club. Co-president Dao Engle added, “The Garden Club is thrilled to launch these initiatives … which will benefit New Canaan for years to come.”
The first phase of the campaign — the Irwin Park Restoration Project — will begin with the removal of invasive, non-native plant species that have spread through large sections of the park, crowding out native flora, disrupting ecological balance, and detracting from the park’s visual appeal. Once cleared, the site will be replanted with meadows, trees and pollinator gardens composed of native, sustainable species. Future plans include expanding the trail system by 21 percent, enhancing the apple orchard, and reinforcing the park’s ecological resilience through native plantings.
“Irwin Park’s 20th anniversary is the perfect time to invite the community to become a Friend of Irwin Park,” said Tori Frazer, co-chair of the effort. “We know the restoration project goes beyond what the town and the Garden Club can do alone — community involvement and funding are critical to its success.”
Over the past two decades, the Garden Club has used an endowment established by the Irwin family to fund projects that would have once seemed ambitious: the planting of more than 50,000 daffodil bulbs, nearly 100 specimen trees, the restoration of the historic apple orchard, and the installation of the Flexi-Pave loop among them. Yet the scale of the current restoration effort exceeds the annual funding the endowment can support, which is why the club is turning to the wider community.
Residents wishing to help may donate online via the Garden Club’s website, and follow the campaign on Instagram at @friends_of_irwinpark. According to the club, all proceeds will flow directly to the restoration project, ensuring the park remains a vibrant, welcoming, and ecologically healthy space for generations.
Founded in 1909, the Garden Club is the third-oldest such organization in the country and is dedicated to horticulture, conservation and civic beautification. In New Canaan it also maintains the Walled Garden and Peony Walk in Waveny Park and leads monthly horticultural-therapy programs at Waveny Care Center.
