NATIVE PLANT EDUCATION GARDEN (NPEG)
920 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids
NPEG work sessions will begin again in April 2024.
Do you enjoy creating or maintaining inspirational outdoor spaces? Would you like to improve our urban and suburban environments? Come join us for any or all of these important hands-on garden work sessions. Learn about some of the important tasks in maintaining an urban prairie or install new native plants in our Native Plant Education Garden (NPEG) 920 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids. These garden work sessions are a perfect place to learn about planting, identifying and caring for native plants. Whether you are an experienced gardener or just beginning your education, this is the place to learn, laugh and get to know other Wild Ones members. We need your help in keeping this important native plant demonstration site active and inviting!
Many tools are provided, but if you have them, please bring:
Garden Gloves • Hand pruners • Shovel or rake
Trowel • Kneeling Pad • Drinking Water • Containers to bring home free plants!
There is a restroom on site, benches in the shade for resting and free parking adjacent to the large building, behind The Green Well Gastro Pub.
Tasks may include pruning back old growth, weed removal, spreading mulch on pathways, adding plant labels, staking tall plants, transplanting some species and planting new species (we have over 87 different species now). Often there are small native volunteer plants that need a good home so bring containers to take some of these back to your own gardens!
The sessions are led by Garden Chair Amy Heilman and Karyn Detmer-Babbitt who are always happy to answer your questions or provide advice. There are various jobs for every skill level and capability so don’t be shy, plan to lend a hand when you can and join in the fun!
Questions? Email: [email protected]
Read the history of our Native Plant Education Garden.
OUTREACH EVENTS
Wild Ones River City Chapter often hosts a booth at community events. You can help! The Education Committee has displays and printed educational handouts that we use to educate the public on the importance of native plants. If this interests you, check our OUTREACH EVENTS PAGE regularly for upcoming events. Also listed are our own events such as our Native Plant Sale/Fundraiser and Farmers Market days that we need volunteers.