Hi All,
We had a beautiful day to complete LOTS of chores at the PGG! It was 58 degrees when we started working at 9 a.m. and 67 degrees when our time together ended at 11 a.m. I’m not sure of the air quality, but today’s is 30 (September 29) which is described as “good.” Let’s go with that. There had been zero rain since last week. There was a blue sky overhead and little wind.
We had 15 Project GREEN volunteers in attendance: Monica Hoherz, Mary Laughlin, Evelyn Frey, Sue Terveer-Mullins, Linda Bergquist, Susan Ahrens, Pat Yeggy, Chris Ostrander, Kate Ebinger, Hetty Hall, Dhyana Kaufman, Lisa Haverkamp, Jim Peters, Larry Allen, and moi. Many volunteers are returning from various places around the world & other reasons and it’s wonderful to have so many back! All volunteers worked two hours with 4 volunteers working 1 extra hour each.
We accomplished everything on our “To-do” list: Dash work continued, containers were fertilized and watered, flowerbeds were watered, Nancy Seiberling peony bed was cut down and weeded, Little Free Library was filled (We still need books. Anyone with books to donate, please drop off at the Ashton House garage.), cut back ‘Blue Muffin’ Arrowroot Viburnum and put debris in piles to remove to landfill, & flowerbeds were tidied. This is such an admirable list of chores for a two hour work session. Project GREEN volunteers are able, willing, and up to any task! Many thanks to each of you.
Thanks again to Iowa City Parks and Recreation’s Steve Erickson + crew for clearing very large and heavy piles of debris. A huge thank you to Ed Rinderspacher and Larry Allen for using chain saws to return the viburnum to waist high shrubs. Also an extra thank you to Ed, for explaining how to trim & prune the viburnum. It was fun to use a reciprocal saw again. Oh, we so enjoy power tools!
Enjoy the 2024 viburnum work pictures!
After volunteers finished our Monday work at the PGG , Ed returned to mulch the viburnum, west oval 3, catalpa bed, and many trees around the 8+ acres. Everything looks great and so welcoming to the Gardens! Also, trees have been protected from deer with fencing. Thanks to Ed!
Enjoy these pictures of newly mulched beds. Pictures 1 & 2 are of the west oval 3, picture 3 shows the catalpa bed, pictures 4 & 5 show off the viburnum bed.
Here are the numbers after 21 weeks of working at the Project GREEN Gardens. Weeks 1 – 20 + Week 21 = 809 hours + 34 hours = 843 hours for Project GREEN’s 2024 volunteers!
We have made a difference in our Iowa City by beautifying the Project GREEN Gardens. Congratulations upon a job well done!
Here is our “Picture of the Week!”. Larry Allen is posing next to the Ned Ashton Herkey. This Herkey is on-loan to the Project GREEN Gardens. Please drop by to take a “Self-y with Herkey” to include with your holiday newsletter.
Our week 22 begins Monday, September 30. We will continue to water, weed, and deadhead flowers. Also Project GREEN friends, Ron and Susan Haffner, have donated cone flowers and iris from their beautiful yard to the PGG. Let’s find some sunny spots to give these donated plants a new home.
Happy Gardening! Diane