Annli Nakayama
URI Internship Year:
2023
Graduation Year:
2023
Degree:
MESc
Annli is a lover of all things green and New Haven! She recently graduated with her Masters of Environmental Science from the Yale School of the Environment. She also attended Yale College as a double-major in English literature and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Her research interests include community plant ecology, native ecosystem restoration, invasion ecology, and grasses! She first became interested in restoration ecology while working on prairie and oak savanna restoration in her home state of Wisconsin — her favorite plants are bur oaks and big bluestem grass. Annli has previously worked in xxfield ecology research as well as planting street trees with the URI Greenskills program.
Group
Hemingway Butterfly Garden: Mariposas del Mundo
Greenspace Log
| Date | Category | Photos | Group | Summary | |
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08/05/2023 |
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Today we wrapped up our summer season with some stewardship activities. We weeded and mulched the garden bed around the commemorative stone at the top part of the park. Meanwhile, several volunteers cut back the overgrowth on the trails and cleared the paths for use. Sam also removed some more trash from the wooded areas between the upper and lower park. We have a lot to be proud of here! |
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08/04/2023 |
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For the grand finale of this URI season at the West River Peace Garden, we finally put in our bench! After much deliberation, we placed the bench just to the north of the Gingko tree, in between the tree and the main garden bed. We hope that people can sit to face the garden or the opposite direction facing the gingko tree and reflect on the Peace Garden and its rich meaning. We also planted a few more grasses and butterfly milkweed as a finishing touch. We were also joined by tree-planning expert Michael from the URI office, who consulted Aaron, Frank, and Paul about ways that tree-planting can supplement the garden. The garden has an exciting future ahead! We hope you can visit and enjoy our new bench and our new plantings. |
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08/04/2023 |
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Finishing up the work from last week, we laid log slabs along the edges of the garden beds to better outline the paths. We also spread more woodchips around the picnic tables to better define the boundary between the table area and the grass. We weeded and watered as usual, and tried our best to take photos of the flighty monarch butterflies. Kat taught us that swamp milkweed flowers smell like vanilla — no wonder the monarchs here are especially fond of it! |
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08/03/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — We finished up the front garden bed with a little more pine bark mulch and some log slabs we used to outline the bed. Witha few more log slabs, it will look very neat and defined! We weeded some more and watered the new plantings to set them up for success. |
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08/02/2023 |
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This week we finished up our planting in the large tree bed with the children at the playground. One of the key young leaders, Noah, returned this week and helped guide the younger kids as they helped plant. We planted big bluestem grasses, creeping phlox, black-eyed susans, and one bayberry. The children's garden is looking great! Though it will take the children some time to get used to the new plants occupying that space, we hope that these plants will create small chances for interaction with nature as they play. |
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08/01/2023 |
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On our last day of tree-planting and the last day with the Youth at Work team, we planted a final trio of trees north of the road past the duck pond, right before the bridge underpass. We planted two white cedars on either side of a beautiful magnolia tree — evergreen trees that will give color to the spot throughout the year. Another group of volunteers also cut back knotweed along the trails. |
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07/29/2023 |
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Though the volunteer group who had intended to attend did not ultimately come, a good group of volunteers came out to help tidy up the top part of the park! Volunteers pulled sassafras, mugwort, and multiflora rose from the slope between the commemorative stone and the forest edge just to the south. Meanwhile, Liz and Al planted butterfly milkweed, coneflowers, and coreopsis around the metal historical sign. We hope that the little garden bed below it will protect its legs from further lawnmower damage. Lastly, we planted two 'caramel' coral bells on either side of the commemorative stone, where the shady spot will benefit from its colorful foliage. |
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07/28/2023 |
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We had a successful day of planting this week — we put in 6 delicate yellow coreopsis on either end of the main garden bed as well as 4 striking switchgrasses behind some of the shrubs on either side of the cedars. We also planted a winterberry shrub to replace the dead juniper. We then weeded some more and added mulch around our new plantings! |
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07/28/2023 |
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Stone dust round 2! We spread one more 1/2 cubic yard of stone dust on the paths, this time focusing on the very long path along the south side of the garden parallel to the creek. We raked out the stone dust, careful to keep to the edges of the garden bed, which will soon (hopefully) be defined by log slivers. We weeded and watered as usual, and admired the butterflies that have started to spend more and more time among the beautiful flowers of the garden. Fingers crossed we will see eggs and caterpillars soon! |
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07/27/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — Continuing our work from last week, we planted a few more black-eyed susans that we didn't get to last week. We spread mulch around the new plantings. The pine bark mulch makes a huge difference visually — the flowers stand out and it looks like a real garden! Lastly, we repaired the deer fence in one spot where it had started to curl downward. Today we also met the new U.S. Fish & Wildlife intern, Ashley, who was instrumental in helping distribute the mulch and fix the fence! Welcome to Beaver Ponds, Ashley! |
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07/26/2023 |
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The first FOGSP Planting Party was a great success! Though no new adult volunteers attended, many children — a few who had seen the flyers we had distributed, a few who were invited by their friends just moments before, and a few who were intrigued by our bags of planting snacks — came to help plant in the large tree bed. With mini-shovels, hand trowels, too-big gardening gloves, and watering cans filled at the splash pad, over 15 children helped plant 22 perennials in the bed! With ages ranging from 3 to 11, every child found something to do. Several older boys helped guide the littler ones and, once they learned how to plant from Nadine and Taneha, they started teaching the others, too. The gravel in the tree bed soil made it tricky and the heat of the sun added to the challenge, but with hard work and determination all 22 plants made it in! We enjoyed popsicles and treats in the shade as we admired the start of the Goffe Street Park Playground Children's Garden! |
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07/25/2023 |
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We planted three more trees along the trail between the Midbridge and the Archery Field — a blackgum, a sweetgum, and a river birch. The Youth at Work team dug the holes in advance, which was a huge help! These trees were a bit larger so they presented more of a challenge to transport to the holes, but with some great teamwork we got all three trees in! Meanwhile, another group of volunteers planted in the Sundial Sprinkler garden — some coneflowers, black-eyed susans, and shasta daisies from the Pardee Greenhouses. Many new plants were planted today, who are lucky enough to call Edgewood their new home! |
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07/25/2023 |
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We planted three more trees along the trail between the Midbridge and the Archery Field — a blackgum, a sweetgum, and a river birch. The Youth at Work team dug the holes in advance, which was a huge help! These trees were a bit larger so they presented more of a challenge to transport to the holes, but with some great teamwork we got all three trees in! Meanwhile, another group of volunteers planted in the Sundial Sprinkler garden — some coneflowers, black-eyed susans, and shasta daisies from the Pardee Greenhouses. Many new plants were planted today, who are lucky enough to call Edgewood their new home! |
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07/21/2023 |
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After missing last week's workday due to thunderstorms, we had a quiet day at the Peace Garden. We weeded, mulched, and watered — our classic combo — and Frank weed-whacked around the edges of the garden beds. Aaron pulled out most of a dead mulberry stump and a dead juniper. We are considering different possible evergreen shrubs to plant in place of the juniper. We discussed plans for a bench — lots of good possibilities! We hope that the bench will invite rest and contemplation in this meaningful space. |
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07/21/2023 |
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Stone dust round 1! We hauled & spread 1/2 cubic yard of stone dust along the main internal paths of the garden. Thanks to the dedication of the volunteers last week, most of the paths were clear of larger weeds. We weeded a bit as we spread the stone dust. We did not have enough stone dust to cover the long path parallel to the creek and a few of the shorter branching paths toward the west side of the garden, so we will pick up on our stone dust journey next week! For the last hour or so, we cut back the knotweed and did some light watering. Onward! |
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07/20/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — This week, we started our little front yard! We prepared the spot for the garden bed by removing as much of the multiflora rose, mugwort, and other plants as we could. We cut everything back, then planted a number of native flowering perennials from Urbanscapes and the Pardee Greenhouses, including New England asters, black-eyed susans, and coneflowers. We also planted a groundsel tree, ironwood, and blue vervain in the ditch to the left of the bridge, a great place for these wetland species to thrive. |
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07/19/2023 |
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Nadine and Taneha started the workday with trash pickup as usual. We watered and weeded the tree beds and discussed plans for the planting party — only one week away! We distributed flyers to the neighbors on County Street and Nadine publicized the event to the Friends of Goffe Street Park email list. We also spoke to parents in the park whose children were playing in the playground, encouraging them to join us in stewarding the playground for, and with, the children. Lastly, we installed several rocks in the large tree bed to outline the garden's cut-through path. |
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07/15/2023 |
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We focused this week on beautifying the stone monument in the lower park — the monument remembers the Quinnipiac people and their struggles at the hands of European colonists who came to modern-day Connecticut. The monument had a small garden bed with square pavers between the monuments and the flowers and a wire fence around the edge. To neaten up the garden bed, we pulled out the small pavers, shifted the annuals closer to the stone, and lined the outside of the rectangular bed with jumbo cobbles / Belgium blocks to protect the bed from mowing. We mulched the newly-reformed bed as well as the shrubs lining the back of the stone monument. |
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07/13/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — The BPP Greenspace group had a sedum and a yarrow leftover from their big planting day this week, so we planted them in front of the deer fence on either side of the footpath. The group wants to make the space more inviting and intentional, so we are working towards creating a small garden bed, with the sedum and yarrow as the first members. As always, we continued our long, good fight against the invasive species in the Oasis. Joan and Kim in particular harvested a massive haul of bittersweet, pictured here — freeing up our precious plants! |
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07/13/2023 |
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With the summer heat getting to us, we had a shorter day at the Sea Street Circle. We watered the circle bed and did some light weeding, then planted several phlox in the planters. With some more plants next week, the planters will soon be complete! |
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07/12/2023 |
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This week, we began preparing for our big Planting Party event on the 26th. We started with trash pickup as usual, then moved toward planting three larger shrubs — ninebark — and three smaller flowering coreopsis plants in the small tree bed. We then weeded and watered both tree beds, with the help of some neighborhood children with squirt-guns! |
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07/11/2023 |
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Today was our first tree-planting day with the Youth at Work team at Edgewood Park this summer! We met Ahmari, Aliah, Caleb, Roger, and Timothy, who work with their coordinator Sierra. The Youth at Work team and several other volunteers joined forces to plant two trees. The first was a black walnut memorial tree in memory of Semi Semi-Dikoko, former president of Friends of Edgewood Park and beloved community leader. The second was a Constellation dogwood, which replaced the flowering dogwood that was knocked down by an ATV earlier this summer. Meanwhile, another group of volunteers weeded and groomed the Midbridge garden nearby. For the Youth at Work team and many of the volunteers, this was their first time planting trees! It was hard work, but they persevered — now Edgewood Park is two beautiful trees richer. |
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07/01/2023 |
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Today was our last full day on the Grove project. We spread the last of the mulch delivered this week and moved the picnic tables back into the shade. We discussed plans for the following weeks and even took a break sitting at one of our picnic tables. |
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06/30/2023 |
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At the butterfly garden this week, we welcomed 6 more plants! These included a red osier dogwood, witch hazels, and turtle heads. While the plants were planted, we also watered the entire garden. The milkweed is growing rapidly to great height, and we are looking forward to butterflies in the near future! This is the place to watch. |
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06/30/2023 |
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The large garden bed had been lined with bricks, but previously there had not been enough bricks to complete the back side. We finished the job this season, with the perfect amount of bricks to complete the back and make a clear boundary between the garden and the grass. Previously, without anything to define the back side, the edge was ragged — to neaten things up, we pulled some of the grass at the edges to place the pavers in a straight line. Just that added touch makes the garden look well cared-for! We love the way it looks. After laying the pavers, we distributed flyers for the Friends of West River Peace Garden as well as the West River Water Fest in the neighborhood to the north. Pictured here is Frank laying the last of the bricks — thanks, Frank! |
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06/29/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — This week, we continued to remove invasive plants within the deer fence, especially vining bittersweet and multiflora rose. Frank weed-whacked and widened the wooded trail to the north while Chris helped remove poison ivy. The trail is looking clearer and clearer! We hope that people will be able to safely walk the trails and enjoy the sights and sounds of Beaver Ponds. |
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06/28/2023 |
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With the thunderstorms, we had a much smaller turnout — nevertheless, we forged ahead with trash-pickup and some more weeding of the tree beds! The showers let us off the hook for watering but made for a soggy workday. Next week we will return, we hope, in sunshine! |
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06/27/2023 |
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A delightful planting day in the Sundial Shade Garden! Sandy and several volunteers finished clearing the shade-garden bed of its weeds, mixed in compost, and planted a lovely variety of perennials and shrubs! We planted 3 mountain laurels in the center, 3 bleeding hearts along the shady southwest side of the bed, 2 coneflowers on the east side of the mountain laurels, and 5 daylilies along the eastern edge of the bed. We also pruned back some of the overhead branches to reduce the shade on the garden-bed. Meanwhile, other groups of volunteers cut off the overgrowth near the Chapel St. stairs, weeded the garden at Whalley & West Rock Ave, and whacked knotweed near the Midbridge. With many hands, we made quick work of planting and maintaining our beautiful park! |
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06/24/2023 |
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This week, we continued our grove cleanup project with laying cardboard down to stop the weeds and pine bark mulch over the top. Moving mulch is not easy! Once we finished spreading the mulch we had, we moved the two wooden picnic tables from the top part of the park down to the grove, where they can provide a nice spot to rest and spend time with loved ones in the park. |
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06/23/2023 |
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This week, we continued our stewardship of the garden with weeding, mulching, and watering! We re-mulched the Gingko tree garden bed, which has made it look much neater. Frank also weed-whacked to tidy up the edges around the bricks lining the edges of the garden beds. We also distributed flyers to the neighborhood just south of the garden. |
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06/23/2023 |
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With several regular volunteers out on vacation, today it was just Peter and I on watering duty. We brought buckets of water around to all the trees, shrubs, milkweed, and more. Though it was slow going, we made it happen! We also picked up some trash that had been left near the creek. |
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06/22/2023 |
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Big Planting Day! We set up four planters — two each on the west and east sidewalk islands on either side of the traffic circle. We laid down gravel for drainage, filled the planters up with topsoil and compost, and planted a central shrub in each with periwinkle lining the perimeter! We will be adding to the planters later on in the season when time permits. A great group came out to plant and we made quick work out of a hefty task! |
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06/22/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — We shifted our efforts for the week toward the trail to the north of the oasis, which was quite overgrown. Joan and Frank weed-wacked while Nan (and Annli!) removed multiflora rose, bittersweet, and Japanese knotweed. The trail is much more walkable now, though there is quite a bit of poison ivy to contend with... |
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06/21/2023 |
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For the very first meeting of the Friends of Goffe Street Park as a URI Greenspace, we met on the playground on County Street to pick up trash, water the two playground trees, and weed & mulch the tree beds. With several volunteers, all the litter scattered around the playground and the surrounding areas by the baseball diamond and basketball field were quickly picked up. The tree beds were neatened up with weeding and a fresh layer of pine bark mulch. Pictured is our fearless leader Nadine and the smaller of the two tree beds. We are off to a great start! |
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06/20/2023 |
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Today was the first day of work on the Sundial Shade Garden, the small oval garden to the west of the Sundial splash pad. The project was spearheaded by Sandy, veteran gardener and longtime Friend of Edgewood. Sandy and a small group of volunteers worked to clear about 3/4 of the garden bed of its weedy tangle and mix compost into the bed's topsoil. We will finish clearing it and begin planting next week! Meanwhile, another group cut back the overgrowth at the Chapel Street bridge while another group weeded and raked the bocce courts, another group painted over the graffiti at the West Park stairs and still another group removed invasive plants from the oak nursery. As always, a busy and productive day at Edgewood Park! |
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06/17/2023 |
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The Friends of Fort Wooster Park finished clearing the grove of debris! We gathered up the dead leaves and brush, and finished weeding the overgrown outer part of the grove to the southeast, where many weeds — including some multiflora rose — were taking advantage of the sunlight. The grove is looking tidy and ready for some picnic tables, which we will bring down next week! |
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06/16/2023 |
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This week, we continued to weed and mulch the beds. We also watered the garden beds and the gingko tree. We printed out flyers to promote the group to neighbors in the West River area — we ran out of time to door-knock during the workday, but will begin distributing the flyers throughout the week! Next week, we will distribute more flyers! |
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06/16/2023 |
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With the rain watering the garden for us, we went straight into planting! We planted 11 perennials, many of which were species not yet represented in the diverse array of native species in this garden. Kat labeled the new plants with flags labeled with each species' common name. Auspicious weather for the new plants! |
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06/15/2023 |
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Continuing our work from last week, we finished up weeding the bed! We tidied up the circle and pruned back the dead branches of the cedars in the center. We planted two spiraea in empty spots in the bed — pretty little pink flowers for a great day in City Point! We watered the plants and discussed plans for the coming weeks — we are hoping to set up some planters on either side of the traffic circle. Looking forward to a big planting day next week! |
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06/15/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — Our small group of volunteers worked on clearing more invasive species from the front of the deer fence as well as from the shrubs within the Oasis! Mugwort, bittersweet, multiflora rose, and honeysuckle were our primary targets for the day. We made a sizeable pile of brush and the Oasis plants have a little more room to grow and thrive now! |
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06/13/2023 |
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Another productive day with the Friends of Edgewood Park! One group of volunteers collected trash along the Chapel St. side of the park while another group pruned dead branches of the shrubs by the Stanley St. entrance. A third group of volunteers cut back knotweed along the trails, de-vined some young trees, and pulled infected leaves off some ninebark. The Stanley St. group did uncover a hornets' nest, but neither volunteers nor hornets were harmed! |
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06/10/2023 |
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Friends of Fort Wooster Park kicked off the 2023 season with a big park clean-up event. Many community members came out to help clear the grove of debris and weeds, including Alderman Sal Punzo and State Representative Al Paolillo! Sam Sigg and Al Santini pruned back many of the trees and cut some dangerous tree roots and stumps sticking out of the ground within the grove. Many hands made light work, and now the grove is a shady oasis for park-goers! |
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06/09/2023 |
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A new season begins at the West River Peace Garden with veteran volunteers Aaron and Frank. We weeded the garden beds and began spreading pine bark mulch to help keep the weeds at bay. We are excited to get to work this summer! We hope to add to the garden and bring in new volunteers from the West River neighborhood. |
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06/09/2023 |
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Today was another big weeding and watering day! Several volunteers watered the garden thoroughly while others pulled knotweed, mugwort, and other unwanted plants from the garden paths and beds. We also spread some wood chips around the picnic table areas. Two neighborhood children in particular helped water many of the newer plants in the garden, and had a fun time adding mulch around some trees. |
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06/08/2023 |
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We started the season with some classic weeding and watering. Stephane had planted some rhododendrons in the innermost circle of plants by the cedars a few weeks ago, so we watered them as well as the perennials that were looking a little dry. Stephane trimmed the hedges and the rest of us thoroughly weeded the circular garden bed — mainly mugworts & other small herbaceous plants. The circle is already looking much more tidy! We are excited to get to planting soon. |
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06/08/2023 |
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BPP Urban Oasis — Nan and I tackled the phragmites creeping into the ditch in front of the Oasis. We also cut down the thick vines of bittersweet that were tangling up the bayberries in the Oasis. Even with just the two of us, we made good progress in freeing up the valuable plants we have in the Oasis area of the park! |
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06/06/2023 |
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Today we focused on three Ws: Watering new plants, Weeding the Midbridge garden, and Whacking knotweed growing into the trails. We watered the young saplings planted on the hillside by the oak nursery last year as well as the rhododendrons and ferns planted by the city last month. A group of volunteers focused on weeding the paths through the Midbridge garden while another group fought off the encroaching Japanese knotweed growing all over the trails. Looking forward to a bright and productive season! |
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06/02/2023 |
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Today we focused on the two big Ws: watering and weeding! Marty and Pete spearheaded the watering operation while Kat, Sonia, Diana, and Joan focused on weeding the paths around the garden as well as some of the garden beds. The plants are healthy and well-fed, and our weed pile is growing! |