The Jersey Shore Chapter was formed in 2012, in response to Superstorm Sandy that destroyed many natural areas and home landscapes along the Jersey Shore. Residents were looking to replace and augment their property with natives and reached out to the NPSNJ for suggestions. Our chapter is supported by the Barnegat Bay Partnership and embraces the Jersey-Friendly Yards initiative as a way to create healthy landscapes for a healthy environment.
Four native plant enthusiasts co-lead the Jersey Shore Chapter. We offer a calendar of monthly activities that include in-person plant walks & talks, workshops and garden tours, as well as online webinars. We can be reached at and our dedicated Facebook group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/373949136910154
Karen Walzer
A long-time gardener and nature enthusiast, Karen enjoys the native plant and animal wildlife in her home state of New Jersey and especially in her own yard. While working as the Public Outreach Coordinator for the Barnegat Bay Partnership, she developed and managed content for Jersey-Friendly Yards, a website that provides resources and tools to guide New Jersey property owners in landscaping for a healthy environment. She is also an Ocean County Master Gardener and member of a trail preservation group in Jackson, NJ. Karen is a founding member of the Jersey Shore Chapter.
Lisa Mazzuca
Lisa Mazzuca is the owner of On Your Mark Designs, providing website design and search engine optimization for small businesses across NJ and beyond. Born and raised at the Jersey Shore, she lives with her husband, Jasper, two children, Giovanni and Abigail, and her mother, Patricia, in Bayville, NJ. As an obsessive gardener and a fan of permaculture, she transformed her blank, new construction, suburban lot into a productive, perennial system by planting an abundant food forest filled with fruit trees, berry bushes and perennial herbs, vegetables and flowers. In 2018 Lisa became an Ocean County Master Naturalist through the Barnegat Bay Partnership and the Ocean County Soil Conservation District and quickly discovered the importance of growing native plants to support our local ecology. She has done educational presentations for local groups and schools about native edible plants and how to use them in the landsca