Amy Xu
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
Chatham Square Neighborhood Association
New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence
Greenspace Log
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08/03/2019 |
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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. |
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08/03/2019 |
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Today was the Daylight Project's last meeting. We picked up trash, then planted coneflowers in barrels and hostas around a telephone pole. |
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08/03/2019 |
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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. |
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08/03/2019 |
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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. |
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08/01/2019 |
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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. |
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07/31/2019 |
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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. |
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07/30/2019 |
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Allison went out and did outreach on Winthrop Avenue today. We also put up "Please Clean Up After Your Pet" signs. |
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07/27/2019 |
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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. |
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07/27/2019 |
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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. |
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07/25/2019 |
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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. |
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07/24/2019 |
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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. |
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07/24/2019 |
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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. |
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07/20/2019 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
We had a very hot, somewhat short maintenance meeting by the river. |
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07/20/2019 |
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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. |
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07/18/2019 |
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The group weeded, pruned, and, at Jerry's bidding, snacked on some very zingy juniper berries. |
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07/17/2019 |
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Mulch madness at Lewis Street Park: the group laid a literal ton of mulch this week. |
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07/17/2019 |
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Joyce led the tree planting in the park space, while Christel helped a group of high schoolers mulch the fenced-in area. |
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07/13/2019 |
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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. |
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07/13/2019 |
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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. |
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07/13/2019 |
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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. |
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07/13/2019 |
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The daylight gardeners cleared trash, watered plants, and planted perennials all along Winthrop Avenue. |
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07/11/2019 |
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Lenzi Park's workday was cut short by the rain, but we managed to weed half a bed and pick raspberries to go. |
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07/10/2019 |
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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. |
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07/10/2019 |
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The group planted five more phlox to complement the previous plantings. We weeded and mulched as well. |
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07/03/2019 |
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With the help of this summer's Common Ground high schoolers, Dover Beach greenspace weeded the fenced-in urban oasis. |
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06/29/2019 |
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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. |
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06/29/2019 |
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The adults planted groundcover in the shady back corner of the lot, while the kids watered the beds and decorated the signboard. |
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06/29/2019 |
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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. |
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06/27/2019 |
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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. |
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06/26/2019 |
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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. |
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06/22/2019 |
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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. |
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06/22/2019 |
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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. |
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06/22/2019 |
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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. |
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06/22/2019 |
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We established a new planting bed along the stone dust path. William, a new member and former landscaper, helped us rehabilitate our grass. |
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06/19/2019 |
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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. |
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06/19/2019 |
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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. |
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06/15/2019 |
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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!). |
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06/15/2019 |
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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! |
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06/15/2019 |
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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. |
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06/14/2019 |
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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. |
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06/12/2019 |
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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. |
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06/08/2019 |
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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. |
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06/08/2019 |
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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. |
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06/08/2019 |
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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. |
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06/07/2019 |
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Mr. Scott and I prepped for Watson and Bassett's first workday. We cleaned up trash, raked leaves, and made outreach plans. |
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06/06/2019 |
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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. |
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06/05/2019 |
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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. |
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06/01/2019 |
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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! |
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05/31/2019 |
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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. |
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05/31/2019 |
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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. |
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05/30/2019 |
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For Lenzi Park's first official workday, we weeded the planting beds in the park and along Jefferson Street. |
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05/29/2019 |
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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. |
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05/29/2019 |
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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. |
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05/18/2019 |
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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. |