It has been almost two years now since Hawley Pond, at the south end of Ram Pasture, has been dredged. The pond today is not only deeper, but wider. There are, however, still some trimmings to be added to give the pond a softer and more finished look.

To remedy this situation, the Board of Directors of The Newtown Cemetery Association, owner of the property, has endorsed a landscaping plan that is already in the first stages of its implementation.

Local landscape designer Kim Proctor was asked to create a design for several gardens around the pond and to select a plant list. The major part of that plan is pictured here.

With gardens outlined in white paint, last Sunday a crew of three workers and a rototiller turned patches of sod into loose soil, making the area ready for the plants.

Plant material selected includes two weeping willows, placed to continue the line of willows now in the Ram Pasture, nine winterberry, six shadblow multistem, 15 redtwig dogwood, 21 summersweet, three peegee hydrangea, 15 switch grass, 67 blue and yellow flag iris, 12 cardinal flower, and nine flats of forget-me-nots. A Japanese cutleaf maple will be added, along with three dawn redwood, if available. All this material will come from Planters’ Choice, a wholesale nursery on Huntington Road.

In addition to the plants, a number of rocks will be placed about the gardens and at the pond’s edge. The stones are expected to be installed at a later date when the ground is not so soft.

The gardens received a second round from the rototiller on Tuesday, and, weather permitting, the plants will start being dug-in early Saturday morning. Fortunately, the work crew now numbers five and plans call for the project, including mulching, to be completed by sundown. Volunteer workers will be welcome; additional hands will make the work go faster.