NATIVE PLANT EDUCATION GARDEN (NPEG)
920 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids
NPEG SEPTEMBER WORK SESSION
Wednesday, September 18 • 10 am–Noon
In case of heavy rain we will meet Thursday, September 19, 10 am–Noon
No registration necessary to volunteer at the NPEG—come when you can!
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!
Our chapter holds volunteer work days once per month, April–November. They are scheduled and guided by the Garden Chairs Karyn Detmer-Babitt and Amy Heilman. Generally, these garden learning shifts last about two hours. Duties may include pruning, weeding, seed collection, planting, or labeling plants.
Questions? Email: [email protected]
Above photo by member Michelle Cadarette
FALL SEED COLLECTION TIME IN THE GARDEN
The summer’s heat and rain levels resulted in numerous blooms to the various species in the Native Plant Education Garden (NPEG). Blooms evolve into seeds which then spread themselves around the garden resulting in new plants growing in unexpected places. These seeds are also a food source for birds, insects and mammals.
Seeds are a gift the garden gives to us, the volunteers who tend it. We spend September and October collecting the various seeds that are ripe and passing them on to others such as native growers, parks, churches and schools. Many are packaged and labeled and brought to the seed exchange for our chapter members each November. We think of the NPEG as a giving garden that offers education, social connection, blooms, and seeds.
Our monthly garden work sessions are a perfect place to learn about planting, identifying and caring for native plants. There are various jobs for every skill level and capability. 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.
The address is 920 Cherry Street SE, Grand Rapids in front of the Monarch Investment Building. 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, staking tall plants, transplanting some species and planting new species (we have over 90 different species now). Often there are small native volunteer plants that need a good home so bring containers to take some of these free plants back to your own gardens (another way the garden gives back to us)!
Many tools are provided but if you have them, please bring:
Garden Gloves • Hand pruners • Shovel or rake • Trowel • Kneeling Pad • Drinking Water
Please direct any questions you may have to [email protected].
See you in the garden!
Amy and Karyn, Garden Co-Chairs
Read the history of our Native Plant Education Garden.
August 2024 at the NPEG
July 2024 at the NPEG
June 2024 at the NPEG
May 2024 at the NPEG
April 2024 Volunteers
Front: Annabelle and her mom Lyndsey Hosack, Back L–R: Elise Roe, Marti MacArthur, Marcia Carrick, Veronica Jones, Amy Heilman, Chris Smith, Sandy Bergh, Theresa Hogerheide, Amy Werner, and Karyn Detmer-Babbitt. Photo by Linda Gary.