It’s back for 2024! Rutgers Gardens invites you to a series of outdoor learning experiences on select Saturdays throughout the year, beginning April 20th. As the official botanic garden of Rutgers University, Rutgers Gardens has a rich horticultural history and is home to many fascinating plant cultivars. During these approximately two-hour excursions, you’ll be introduced to native plants and unique specimens not typically found outside the botanic garden setting, all while having a staff member with years of experience as an arborist and/or horticulturist available to answer your questions. New for this year: we’re bringing you to the Rutgers Gardens Student Farm fields so you can learn how to maintain your backyard vegetable garden.
Each month will offer a new subject, with the beauty of Rutgers Gardens on full display and nature as your classroom!
The full schedule of events through December is below, with a ticket link provided on this webpage one month before each event. Reminders will also be sent in the monthly “Friends of Rutgers Gardens” e-newsletter. Sign up here if you haven’t already subscribed! Rutgers Gardens Members enjoy early registration privileges and $5 off per member ticket. These events will proceed rain or shine, though Rutgers Gardens reserves the right to reschedule an event due to severe weather.
Next Event:
Saturday, April 20th at 10:00am
Earth Day is almost here! Celebrate the beauty and resilience of nature with a walking tour throughout Rutgers Gardens. Bulbs that were planted in the winter have survived the elements to delight you on April 20th. Assistant Director Maxine Marvosa will show guests where all the bulb blooming “hot spots” are during the tour and will introduce other early-flowering plants along the way. Drawing from her years of experience as a horticulturist, Maxine can answer your burning bulb questions along the walk.
Please wear comfortable shoes. The group will be traveling on both established pathways and through natural settings.
Tickets for April 20th are just $25 per person. All attendees must be ages 12 and up. The April tour is a walk only, but subsequent events will include the guided walk and an item from the tour topic that guests will take home with them.
PURCHASE TICKETS FOR THE APRIL 20, 2024 TOUR HERE.
Tickets are nonrefundable. Advanced reservations are required – no tickets may be purchased on the day of the event.
Meet your Experts for 2024:
Maxine Marvosa is a New Jersey Licensed Tree Expert and ISA Certified Arborist with a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. She is newly elected to the board of the New Jersey Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (NJISA). Maxine is a Rutgers alum, earning her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at SEBS before earning a master’s degree from Clemson University. Prior to joining Rutgers Gardens as the Assistant Director in February 2023, Maxine worked at the Robert A. Winters Arboretum at Meadow Lakes in Hightstown, New Jersey as well as Moore Farms Botanical Garden in South Carolina. Maxine’s years of experience in the horticulture industry include positions as Horticulturist, IPM Coordinator, and Plant Recorder. Maxine is also a current PhD student in the Rutgers Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources.
Alex Sawatzky has a master’s degree in sustainable food systems and specializes in small-scale organic farming. He began his farming career as an intern at Living Hope Farm in Pennsylvania in 2010. He then went on to start Sandbrook Meadow Farm in Stockton, NJ—a certified organic farm and CSA, where he was farm manager and co-owner for eight years. He joined Rutgers University in 2019 as the Rutgers Gardens Student Farm Manager. In this role, Alex has mentored undergraduate and graduate students in learning and implementing principles and practices of small-scale farming. He has also coached aspiring farmers—working professionals from a variety of sectors interested in starting careers in agriculture as a farm coach for the RU Beginner Farmer Training Program, and taught undergraduates as part-time instructor in the Agriculture and Food Systems Program.
Dr. Lauren Errickson has served as the Director of Rutgers Gardens since January 2022. In a previous university role, she worked with Rutgers Cooperative Extension in the development, management, and evaluation of multifaceted nutrition, agriculture, and food access programs, including the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market and Community Gardens, Rutgers Against Hunger, and RU Ready to Farm: Getting Rooted in the Garden State. Prior to coming to Rutgers, Lauren co-owned and operated a small-scale, diversified organic farm and worked for a number of years in the environmental and agricultural education non-profit sector. She completed her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers, after earning a M.S. in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Stockton University. She has taught ecology, environmental studies, water resources, and health-focused courses at Rutgers and other universities. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed publications such as the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development; Journal of Extension; and the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.