Amy Xu

Amy Xu's picture

URI Internship Year:

2019

Amy graduated from Yale College in December. She loves New Haven and is excited to be at URI this summer!

Group

Blake

Blake Street Pocket Park

Chatham Square Neighborhood Association

Watson And Bassett

Lenzi Park

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

Dover Beach Park

Winthrop Daylight Project

Greenspace Log

Date Category Photos Group Summary

08/03/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Volunteers at Watson and Bassett

Watson And Bassett

We seeded grass and mulched all of the planting beds for our final meeting. The group had a fantastic season. The new plantings are well watered (too well watered if anything... oops), and we have high hopes for the new grass. Latanya and new member Juan plan to water every other day until the seed germinates. The Watson and Bassett volunteers – especially Jannie, Latanya, Mr. Scott, and Catherine – have left the site looking many times better than two months ago. Big kudos.

08/03/2019

Planting
Planting
Three cleanup volunteers

Winthrop Daylight Project

Today was the Daylight Project's last meeting. We picked up trash, then planted coneflowers in barrels and hostas around a telephone pole.

08/03/2019

Planting
Planting
Planting pine tree
Volunteers with pine tree

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

The moms planted an Eastern White Pine, the Haudenosaunee "tree of peace," in the morning. In the evening, they headed over to the Dixwell Fire Station for a steak dinner. The Dixwell firefighters helped the moms plant a sweetgum tree last week.

08/03/2019

Planting
Planting

Blake Street Pocket Park

Blake Street transformed the center island into a planting bed and planted three shrubs and 16 perennials. With that, the group's work is done. Congratulations to Blake Street for another outstanding greenspace season! They will continue to meet to steward the site until October.

08/01/2019

Planting
Planting
Planting perennials
Planting perennials
Planting and watering ground cover

Lenzi Park

Today was Lenzi Park's last URI workday. We planted perennials across the park and weeded along the path. Lenzi Park will continue to work through the fall, excellent stewards they are.

07/31/2019

Planting
Planting
Group of Dover Beach volunteers

Dover Beach Park

The Dover Beach crew closed out the season with a planting day. We planted three native shrubs in the fenced in urban oasis and four perennials in the Front Street Butterfly garden. The greenspace has been completely transformed in the two months the group has been working. Kudos to the volunteers and the Common Ground kids for all of their hard work.

07/30/2019

Planning
Planning
Volunteer putting out signs

Winthrop Daylight Project

Allison went out and did outreach on Winthrop Avenue today. We also put up "Please Clean Up After Your Pet" signs.

07/27/2019

Planting
Planting
Watson and Bassett park

Watson And Bassett

We are done planting this season at Watson and Bassett! The back shady bed is wholly transformed. All we can do now is water, water, water, and hope the plants shoot up again next year. For our final week, we'll focus on maintenance.

07/27/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers smiling with firemen
Firemen helping with tree planting
Volunteers posing
Volunteers posing

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

The group planted a beautiful sweetgum tree on the river bank. Hopefully it will spread its shade wide and outcompete the japanese knotweed. Kudos to Truck 4 from the Goffe Street fire station for their very impressive tree maneuvering skills.

07/25/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Weeded tree bed

Lenzi Park

Lisa came out to weed the pea gravel path and tree beds. We noticed that parks has continued to do a superb job of mowing the grass this summer. The effects are noticeable: Jenny and Jerry report three picnics on the park lawn so far – a record high for Lenzi Park.

07/24/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers at Dover Beach park

Dover Beach Park

The group planted four shrubs, and a holly tree with the biggest root ball this intern has ever seen. Kudos to the Common Ground high schoolers for digging that hole.

07/24/2019

Planting
Planting
Tree planed in Chatham Square on a street

Chatham Square Neighborhood Association

This week, the Chatham Square neighbors planted a small maple with a big heart, and an even bigger mulch donut. For the uninitiated, a mulch donut refers to the ideal shape of the soil and mulch around a young tree: level with the bottom of the trunk, and gradually higher as you move away from the tree. Mulch donuts allow trees to take big sips when it rains.

07/20/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

We had a very hot, somewhat short maintenance meeting by the river.

07/20/2019

Planting
Planting

Blake Street Pocket Park

The season is wrapping up for Blake Street. The stone dust path is complete, the holly bush border is almost done, and perennials have been planted in all of the beds. We'll have one more planting day on August 3.

07/18/2019

Planting
Planting

Lenzi Park

The group weeded, pruned, and, at Jerry's bidding, snacked on some very zingy juniper berries.

07/17/2019

Planting
Planting
Mulching a garden

Chatham Square Neighborhood Association

Mulch madness at Lewis Street Park: the group laid a literal ton of mulch this week.

07/17/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers with new tree planted

Dover Beach Park

Joyce led the tree planting in the park space, while Christel helped a group of high schoolers mulch the fenced-in area.

07/13/2019

Planting
Planting
Person petting dog

Watson And Bassett

It was a fun but sad day at Watson and Bassett. We planted 25 groundcover plants, then met a loveable stray puppy, who we ultimately had to leave at the New Haven Animal Shelter.

07/13/2019

Planting
Planting

Blake Street Pocket Park

Saturday was another planting day at Blake Street Pocket Park. Chris led the meeting, making good use of his planting knowledge from YOW, another greenspace group he is involved with.

07/13/2019

Planting
Planting
Group of volunteers

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

Saturday's workday was a greenspace classic: 25 volunteers, 2 planted trees, and endless stories. We were joined by public radio journalist Ryan, who recorded the moms between shovelfuls of dirt as they talked about loss, remembrance, and rebuilding.

07/13/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteer watering tree

Winthrop Daylight Project

The daylight gardeners cleared trash, watered plants, and planted perennials all along Winthrop Avenue.

07/11/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Lenzi Park

Lenzi Park's workday was cut short by the rain, but we managed to weed half a bed and pick raspberries to go.

07/10/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Working on Lewis Street park

Chatham Square Neighborhood Association

CSNA did maintenance work under Lewis Street Park's creaky old pear trees. The kids dominated the bench swing while the adults caught up with each other at the mulch pile.

07/10/2019

Planting
Planting

Dover Beach Park

The group planted five more phlox to complement the previous plantings. We weeded and mulched as well.

07/03/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Dover Beach Park

With the help of this summer's Common Ground high schoolers, Dover Beach greenspace weeded the fenced-in urban oasis.

06/29/2019

Planting
Planting
Newly planted plants

Blake Street Pocket Park

The Blake Street crew had a prodigious planting day: 3 yucca shrubs, 2 holly shrubs, and 14 assorted perennials for shade and sun. We continue planting next week.

06/29/2019

Planting
Planting
Child watering new plants in the garden bed

Watson And Bassett

The adults planted groundcover in the shady back corner of the lot, while the kids watered the beds and decorated the signboard.

06/29/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers planting a tree

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

Neighbor Tom joined the moms to plant a thuja along the border of the site. In the accompanying picture, you can see Celeste and Amy demonstrating proper safety measures for staking a tree.

06/27/2019

Planting
Planting

Lenzi Park

The Lenzi gardeners continued weeding and mulching around the park. We planted 6 red "pardon me" daylilies near St. John Street. Next week, group leader Jenny will plant 5 more daylilies during the off week.

06/26/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteer smiling with shovel

Dover Beach Park

Building off last week's weeding effort, we planted phlox to ward off invasive regrowth. Our two new volunteers cleared vines and weeds off of the Front Street fence. The garden is now visible from the street, which is a major success for the group.

06/22/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Group of volunteers
Volunteers clearing out park

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

The group cut vines, knocked down knotweed, and removed other invasives from the forested area. The river is now clearly visible from the sidewalk.

06/22/2019

Planting
Planting
Potted plants

Winthrop Daylight Project

The Daylight Planters began their first workday with the unpleasant stuff: picking up trash on the sidewalk and street from Goffe Terrace to Whalley Ave. We then planted daylilies, hostas, and purple sage in decorative whiskey barrels and underneath telephone poles, where they won't be at risk of trampling.

06/22/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers doing several projects in park

Watson And Bassett

We established a new planting bed along the stone dust path. William, a new member and former landscaper, helped us rehabilitate our grass, and the Watson Street kids painted the community greenspace signboard.

06/22/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers working on multiple projects in park

Watson And Bassett

We established a new planting bed along the stone dust path. William, a new member and former landscaper, helped us rehabilitate our grass.

06/19/2019

Planning
Planning

Chatham Square Neighborhood Association

The Chatham Square Neighborhood Association had its initial planning meeting. The group is interested in a wide range of activities this summer: planting perennials, painting concrete barriers at Lewis St. park, advocating for infrastructural repairs, and planting trees at Chatham Square park. After the planning meeting, we went out into the neighborhood for a short outreach session, which was led by group leader Drew's three-year old daughter.

06/19/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Cleaning Dover Beach park

Dover Beach Park

After last week's work in the corner urban oasis, we turned to the fenced-in oasis garden. Stickyweed and mugwart remain a challenge this year. We were able to clear a perimeter around all previous plantings. To prevent weeds from recurring, we will employ native groundcover Phlox stolonifera and create an edge around the bed.

06/15/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers cleaning park

Blake Street Pocket Park

We planted daylilies, coral bells, phlox, purple sage on the hillside this Saturday. The group hopes to finish planting halfway down the lot this summer, so this was a strong start to a sure-to-be-busy season. More planting to come on June 29 (no meeting next week!).

06/15/2019

Planting
Planting
New plants at Watson and Bassett

Watson And Bassett

We started filling out the back corner with hostas and shade-resilient plantings. This season, we're trying to establish a groundcover in that area. It's a difficult spot for plants to flourish, but liriope has done well in the past. So that's the plan: more liriope, more hostas, more coral bells. Plant what works!

06/15/2019

Planting
Planting
Volunteers at park

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

The mothers and neighbors started planting this week. We started by filling out the area between the parking lot and site with assorted hostas. Then, we made plans to begin working in the forest: cutting vines, marking natives, removing invasives. The group will steward a return path along the river to complement the memorial's built design.

06/14/2019

Planning
Planning

Winthrop Daylight Project

The Winthrop Daylight Project met at Dunkins for a highly caffeinated planning session. The group is primarily interested in cleaning up trash and planting perennials. We'll be planting daylilies and purple sage to start, 7am on Saturday.

06/12/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Dover Beach Park

We started the workday by clearing trash underneath the I-91 overpass. On the corner of Front Street and Middletown Avenue, we trimmed the invasive bittersweet vine and weeded the planting bed. Last year's plantings have filled out the space nicely. Next week we'll continue weeding and start mulching.

06/08/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance
Dog in park
Volunteers in pocket park

Blake Street Pocket Park

Patrice led the group's maintenance efforts during Saturday's workday. We spread one ton of stone dust to elongate the path towards the back end of the park, weeded towards the front of the park, mowed the grass, and pruned dead branches off of the black locust trees. Our efforts were greatly aided by Fred the basset hound, whose friendly demeanor set the tone for the meeting. Next week, we start planting.

06/08/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Watson And Bassett

For our first official workday, we focused on raking leaves and mulching the park's perimeter beds. We also brainstormed potential locations for a new bench, which will link the park to the Farmington Canal Trail. Although outnumbered by kid gardeners, the adults of the group made sure to that the site was ready for the planting season by the end of the day. We begin hostafying the back corner of the lot next week.

06/08/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

The mothers were joined by two neighbors, returning greenspace member Tom and new member Randy, for Saturday's workday. Together, the group edged and mulched the second planting bed and extended the third planting bed towards the parking lot. After work was complete, Tom led everyone on a tour of the forested area behind the site, where the group made plans for the coming summer. The maintenance stage of this season is almost complete. Next week, the group begins planting hostas between the parking lot and the future construction site.

06/07/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Watson And Bassett

Mr. Scott and I prepped for Watson and Bassett's first workday. We cleaned up trash, raked leaves, and made outreach plans.

06/06/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Lenzi Park

With the help of two new community members, Friends of Lenzi Park had a fun and productive work day. We mulched the two beds closest to Grand Avenue and weeded the curbside plantings along Jefferson Street. Jerry, one of the group's key members, heroically transferred half a truckload of mulch to locations across the site. More maintenance to come next week.

06/05/2019

Planning
Planning

Dover Beach Park

Dover Beach had its planning meeting on Wednesday! We walked the park and visited the three urban oasis sites. Last year's plantings have done well thanks to the group's off-season stewardship. This summer, we'll start by weeding and mulching, before moving onto planting projects, such as laying a hearty groundcover in the butterfly garden (perhaps Ajuga?) and planting a line of oaks in the park. Dover Beach begins work next week in the corner urban oasis on Front St. and Middletown Ave.

06/01/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

On the group's first day of work, we focused on the area between the parking lot and the future botanical garden. We raked up to the forest's edge, weeded two of the three planting beds, and laid down new mulch in the first bed. Next week, we'll continue weeding and mulching, and if we have time, cut vines and knock down knotweed as well. All in preparation for a beautiful hosta garden!

05/31/2019

Planning
Planning

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

Group leader Marlene and I met to plan for the group's first workday. Maintenance will be the first order of business this summer: raking, weeding, and mulching.

05/31/2019

Planning
Planning

Watson And Bassett

In this follow-up planning meeting, Mr. Scott and I brainstormed trash and grass maintenance solutions. We will get together again to door knock on Friday.

05/30/2019

Maintenance
Maintenance

Lenzi Park

For Lenzi Park's first official workday, we weeded the planting beds in the park and along Jefferson Street.

05/29/2019

Planning
Planning

Watson And Bassett

Watson and Bassett had its first planning meeting today. We talked about planting another row of hostas in the shaded area, undertaking some street tree planting, and potentially adding another bench to the park in order to connect the space with the Farmington Canal Trail. We ended with trash picking throughout the park and light shearing on the streetside bushes.

05/29/2019

Planning
Planning

Lenzi Park

Lenzi Park was looking better than ever during our first meeting of the season, thanks to the rain this spring. Group leaders Jenny and Jerry set goals for the summer and handed out flyers across the neighborhood.

05/18/2019

Social
Social

New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence

After two years of hard work and planning, the mothers and their many collaborators broke ground on the Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence. The mood was hopeful. "We can look at butterflies and say that’s my child over there," said group leader Marlene Pratt during the ceremony. Construction on the site begins this summer.