Before the frigid weather moved into Montgomery in January, a motivated group of volunteers from AmeriCorps assisted with necessary tasks in the Montgomery Botanical Gardens at Oak Park. This group was part of the numerous volunteer projects being done recently in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Britney Li, Jack Stewart-Rukeyser, Julis Howard, Andrew Miller, and Kat Reading arrived on time prepared to work.
Coordinated by founding MBG board member, Ethel Boykin, and MBG Horticulturist, Diane Vanella, these five committed young people helped to correct an erosion problem on the edge of the outdoor stage. They loaded historic ballast stones and moved them by wheelbarrow from near the entrance to Southern Garden to the stage. They filled in the eroded space by raking crushed stone, then lined the edge of the stage with the ballast stones to prevent future erosion.
This energetic group also helped to dig up and remove a number of very old, deteriorated boxwood shrubs from the entrance to the Wisdom Wood Outdoor Classroom to make room for more suitable plants. As with other MBG volunteers, the group learned as they worked with their MBG Coordinators about why the tasks were necessary and how to perform them. They also learn about the respective plants they deal with and the hardscape uses, issues and how to address them.
Additional volunteers are welcome at MBG. There are numerous and varied garden tasks with which volunteers can be very helpful. Some require only a short time.Some require a full day, and others may require repeated work times. The regular monthly MBG Volunteer Work Day is the third Tuesday of each month. But there are additional days and one-time needs that can involve volunteers also.
If you would like to become a MBG Volunteer, you may print and complete the Volunteer Registration Application and mail it to the address at the top of the form.
