Caroline Scanlan
URI Internship Year:
2017
Graduation Year:
2018
Degree:
MF
Caroline (Caro) is an urban forester and ISA certified arborist originally from the San Francisco, CA. She graduated from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 2018 and fell in love with New Haven while working for URI as a graduate student. Previous to receiving her Master of Forestry, Caro taught elementary school in the San Francisco Bay Area, ran a school garden program, worked on urban farms, and built large wooden structures with children at the San Francisco Tinkering School.
Before joining URI's team full-time, Caro was an apprentice forester with the Yale School Forests and later the Urban and Community Forestry Program Coordinator at Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. She is delighted to be back in the Elm City, working with so many wonderful partners to care for New Haven's urban forest.
Group
Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade)
Lower State - High School In The Community
Chatham Square Neighborhood Association
Greenspace Log
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08/05/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
For its final workday of the summer, the YOW Street Planting Brigade took on a big, front yard lead remediation project at Melanie's house on Whittlesey Street. They worked for nearly four hours to weed, remove contaminated soil, plant shrubs and perennials in the yard's "drip zone," cap the soil with a thick layer of pine mulch, and install a new maintenance path with blue stone pavers. The crew was even able to plant a Japanese tree lilac on the other side of the front steps with their remaining energy. At the end of the day, the group rested on Melanie's front steps, enjoying mint tea and snacks while admiring their handiwork and reflecting on a full summer! |
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08/05/2017 |
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This week, the youth crew from Common Ground braved the rain and finished the season off with a bang - planting thirteen native shrubs and clearing large amounts of Japanese knotweed from in-between trees and shrubs planted last season. Despite the morning rainstorm, the plants at Cherry Ann Park were still thirsty (sometimes the rainwater only soaks in a few inches, even in a good storm), so the youth crew diligently watered all of the season's new plantings as well! |
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08/04/2017 |
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This week, the Innovation Park crew celebrated its beautification efforts with lemonade and cookies under a cool tent. In addition to celebrating their work from this summer and recognizing those who supported them, they watered, dead-headed roses and catmint, and looked on to other parts of the park - thinking about what they may tackle next! |
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08/03/2017 |
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This week, the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association Greenspace group finished their summer off with a tree planting in Lewis Street Park! They put a beautiful multi-stem serviceberry tree into the ground just to the left of the park bench, where weedy trees and invasive bittersweet vines once grew. The group also planted yellow coneflowers and variegated hosta perennials around the base of the new tree, creating a lush and colorful corner for park visitors to come and enjoy the view. |
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08/03/2017 |
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This Thursday was our last official workday of the summer at Washington Avenue! We spread pine mulch over our second flower bed, weeded, watered, and finally removed a stubborn, invasive tree that had grown into the chain link fence. We kept cool with the hose, spraying each other and laughing lots the whole afternoon long. It's been a very satisfying summer - the garden is finally taking form, and neighbors are noticing! |
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08/02/2017 |
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Today was our last workday of the summer at Fort Hale Park. As the rain came down on us, we went out with a bang and planted two water-loving trees in the park's wetland area. The dawn redwood tree had such a large rootball that the hole we needed to dig was easily twice as big as any we had dug so far this summer. The white willow was, thankfully, a smaller tree and required a normal sized hole. As we dug, we encountered lots of phragmites roots - and we hope that these new trees, as they mature, will take well to the wet soil and eventually shade out this invasive wetland plant. |
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07/29/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This Saturday was a low-key workday over at Young-Osborne-Whittlesey. The group leaders and I watered and tended to perennial beds, planted a Japanese fern in the shade garden on Osborne, and sipped iced tea on Chris's porch, reflecting on our work from this summer. |
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07/29/2017 |
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This weekend, almost everyone who usually comes down to work in the park was out of town - but one hardworking volunteer came out to water the many thirsty trees, shrubs, and flowering perennials put in the ground over the course of the past few years! We gave the plants a good, deep soak. |
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07/28/2017 |
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This week we planted three rose bushes in the circle beds adjacent to the dogwood trees! We also spent time weeding our previous plantings, in addition to cleaning up the stone pavers around them. We finished the day by giving all of our plants a deep soak, thanks to the the nice folks over at Angel Hair, who donate their water every week. |
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07/28/2017 |
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This week, volunteers worked on cleaning up some plantings along the Front Street fence. Community members pruned shrubs, weeded, replanted empty barrels, lay down mulch, and watered their everything that had been planted this season. |
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07/27/2017 |
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This Thursday evening was another super productive workday at Washington Ave Community Garden. We had two new volunteers, and we worked super hard to remove grass turf, lay down new soil and fresh compost, plant 15 shrubs and flowering perennials, top it all off with a thick layer of mulch, and water everything in with a deep soak! We were all exhausted and delighted by what we had a accomplished by the end of the evening. Now both sides of the front entrance are planted with long-lasting, flowering plants that will frame the garden for years to come. |
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07/26/2017 |
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This week's workday was a big planting night at Fort Hale Park. The group arranged nearly 50 drought-tolerant, (mostly) native shrubs and perennials in the beds they had prepared at the entrance to the park's boardwalk. The group created a gravel strip to allow for easy access to a neighboring handicap parking spot and then covered the rest of the bare soil with a thick layer of pine mulch. It was a busy night at the park, due to the clear skies and the nice weather, and the group had many friendly visitors over the course of the work session. |
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07/22/2017 |
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This week, our main focus was to water thirsty plants and also to clear invasives (primarily mugwort and Japanese knotweed), preventing them from taking over the park's planted areas. Miss Connie was not around this week to host us in her backyard after the park cleanup, but Mr. Mike picked up the torch and held a mean cookout outside of his home for tired volunteers after our workday! |
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07/22/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This week, we focused on maintaining the trees planted on Osborne Street as well as sprucing up the perennial planter beds. We cut back catmint, put new flowering plants into the ground, amended with compost, added fresh layers of pine mulch, and reinforced borders! |
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07/21/2017 |
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This week, a bustling and hard-working group of volunteers met to plant ground cover and mulch over the eroding hillside behind the bench swing in Lewis Street Park. Other exciting announcements from the week: the group's leader, Carlos, and his wife Kathleen welcomed a new son into their life. And group members Lauren and Philip became the official owners of a house across the street! |
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07/21/2017 |
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Today we focused on pruning up the existing dogwood trees and improving the bed in which they're planted. After thinning low branches and removing dead growth from the trees, we broke up the surrounding soil and amended their bed with compost. Finally, we planted a border of creeping phlox and added a tidy layer of mulch to top it all off. |
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07/20/2017 |
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Today we planted two trees at the Washington Ave Community Garden! A Japanese tree lilac went in alongside the fence next to Nicki's house, and a beautiful crabapple tree was planted in the front-south corner of the lot. We encountered a lot of rocks and rubble while digging holes for our trees in the hot hot sun, so we felt pretty accomplished when our job was complete! |
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07/19/2017 |
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This week, we prepared the second planting bed next to the boardwalk ramp. Our numbers were small but mighty, and we removed five full wheelbarrows of grass turf and used the debris to build "donuts" around young trees to protect them from lawn mower damage. Next week, we intend to plant and mulch the boardwalk ramp beds. |
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07/15/2017 |
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This week we worked hard to clear invasive Japanese knotweed from the park's edge, close to the Pond Street entrance. We had to drag a few massive loads of brush from one end the park to another, to make sure that the Parks Department would be able to reach our brush pile with their trucks! This required lots of strength and teamwork. Meanwhile, the Common Ground High School crew cleared mugwort from the park's Urban Oasis swales. Now, you can really see the native flowering plants peaking out and showing their summer colors! We ended our morning with the customary cookout in Miss Connie's backyard! |
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07/15/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This week, we added a rubber edge to one of the corner beds on Young and Osborne and then spread a nice thick layer of pine mulch over a few of the sidewalk beds tended to by the group. We finished our afternoon with ice tea and watermelon on Susan's front porch. |
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07/15/2017 |
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This weekend, the crew at Lewis Street Park worked in shifts to spread the 30+ cubic yards of playground-grade mulch (delivered by Parks & Rec earlier that week) around the park's playground equipment. The jungle gym is now much safer for children to run around, climb, and enjoy, thanks to a deeply mulched "fall zones." |
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07/14/2017 |
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This week, we spread one yard of pine mulch over the rose and catmint bed planted in prior weeks. With the URI truck parked across busy State Street, each load of mulch required a carefully timed crossing! The rose bed is now ready for some pruning to promote more summer blooms. |
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07/13/2017 |
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This small but mighty group worked through the rain for two hours to remove grass turf and buried asphalt. They planted roses, shrubs, and flowering perennials - adding a burst of color the front of the vacant lot! |
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07/12/2017 |
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This week, the Fort Hale Park group removed grass turf and lay down topsoil in preparation for creating another plant bed. The group's plan is to frame the entrance to the park's boardwalk with native shrubs and flowering perennial plants! The crew also lay plenty of wood chips down around newly-planted trees in order to keep them moist, ward off weeds, and protect them from accidental lawn-mower damage. |
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07/01/2017 |
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Colleen and Cindy led the workday this Saturday! Lots of Japanese knotweed and mugwort were removed from alongside the Urban Oasis site. |
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06/29/2017 |
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Today, Colleen stood in for me (Caro) and led the workday at Washington Ave. The group continued removing grass turf at the front edge of the lot and planted three new shrubs! |
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06/28/2017 |
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Today, I (Caro) was out sick, so Colleen pinch hit for me at Fort Hale Park. The group removed a dead crab apple tree and planted a beautiful white oak in its place. They did some rehab on another crab apple tree that wasn't looking so good, pruning off dead branches and adding extra mulch around the base to fend off lawn mowers. Finally, the group planted two eastern red cedar trees along the fence bordering the US Coast Guard Station. The current screen of Australian pine is in bad shape due to an infestation of pine park beetle. The native cedar trees, which are immune to the beetle, will hopefully some day grow to take the dying pine trees' place. |
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06/23/2017 |
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Today we planted a perennial border inside the wooden fence on Lewis Street. We also tucked a few shrubs and perennials into bare patches around the border of the park. A few volunteers continued to do good stewardship and maintenance of existing plantings - pruning overhanging branches, weeding, and picking up trash. |
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06/23/2017 |
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Today we finished planting the knockout roses and catmint in the sunny section of the park. The ground was tough, and it took a lot of effort just to dig holes in the rocky soil with our shovels and pickaxes - but now the median has been hit with a color bomb of pinks and purple! It will look awesome when everything is in bloom! At the end of the day, we even had a reporter from the New Haven Independent stop by who had heard about Innovation Park and was interested in the efforts to beautify and activate the greenspace! |
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06/22/2017 |
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Today we finally broke ground in the vacant lot on Washington Ave! Lots of people lent their hands in a short burst of energy that removed a few tarp loads of turf from where a front-edge flower garden will be planted in the coming weeks! |
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06/21/2017 |
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This week we removed a dead maple tree at the park and planted a hackberry in its place! We also filled in the freshly-prepared bed around the entrance sign with shrubs and flowering perennials and topped everything off with a layer of mulch. John transported 50 gallons of water in a huge tank (thanks to the generosity of the New Haven Land Trust!) on the back of his pick-up truck, and we were thus able to water all of this week's plantings despite no fresh water source at the site. |
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06/20/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This evening, Susan (group co-leader) and I knocked on doors and talked to neighbors about the Greenspace tree-planting and front yard lead remediation programs. |
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06/17/2017 |
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Today was the first workday for the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association! This early morning burst of activity was well-attended and super productive! Neighbors weeded like crazy, pulled out invasive plants, pruned overgrown trees and bushes, and picked up trash. The URI truck bed was full to the brim with plant debris and waste from the park by the end of the morning. Neighbors were pleasantly surprised by the impact of their work - Lewis Street Park is already looking more loved and better cared for! |
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06/17/2017 |
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Today the Cherry Ann Greenspace group welcomed new members from Pond St. and Dorman St. - very exciting as these blocks come right up to the east boarder of the park! Volunteers raked brush, cleared Japanese knotweed, planted the new perennials and shrubs, and watered dozens of plants. The morning ended with the traditional cookout in Ms. Connie's backyard. |
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06/16/2017 |
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Today we had planned to expand the rose bed in the sunny part of the park, but due to rainy weather and low numbers, we took refuge from the wet weather inside MakeHaven (a community maker-space across the street) and exchanged ideas for Innovation Park instead! |
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06/15/2017 |
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Today we planted a goldenrain tree on the sidewalk in front of the vacant lot! This tree, along with the seven flowering perennials planted around it, now fits into a nice row of newly planted trees on this side of Washington Avenue. As Nicki (Washington Ave. group leader) pointed out - where there was once bare sidewalk, there is now beautiful greenery and life on the block! We finished with workday with a community planning session. Community participants shared their hopes for the garden-to-be as well as initial design ideas and plant choices. With enough support, we could be breaking ground in the coming weeks. |
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06/15/2017 |
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Tonight was the first meeting of the summer for the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association (CSNA) Greenspace group. We met in Lewis Street Park, a heavily utilized neighborhood playground and a former Greenspace site from year's past. Meeting attendees included both new and longtime neighborhood residents, young and old. Lee Cruz and Chris Ozyck contributed to sharing the history of volunteerism in the park, telling stories of what the lot looked like before it was transformed into a public playground years ago. This year's group was able to capture dozen's of ideas for the short and longterm, and they're excited to get to work! |
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06/14/2017 |
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Today, the Fort Hale Greenspace group removed turf around the park entrance sign and prepped the bed with fresh topsoil and a mounded mulch border. At the end of the day, we planted two tall zebra grass to frame the sign. Next week we'll fill in the rest of the bed with shrubs and flowering perennials! |
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06/10/2017 |
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Today was an exciting day at Cherry Ann Park! Nearly 100 people showed up for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Gro1000 dedication ceremony of the Cherry Ann Park Project. Volunteers were joined by Mayor Toni Harp, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, and many other local non-profit partners for a day of beautifying the park entrances, planting community raised bed garden plots, participating in environmental education activities, and celebrating the accomplishments of all who have made Cherry Ann Park possible! |
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06/10/2017 |
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Today was a big day at Cherry Ann Park! Many local and national partners came together for the GRO1000 dedication ceremony of The Cherry Ann Park Project. The event, hosted by Scott's Miracle Gro and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, drew more than 50 New Haven youth and volunteers to beautify the park entrances and dedicate the new community garden. |
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06/10/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
Today, we worked hard through the heat and planted a serviceberry tree on the curb strip in front of Susan and Henry's front yard. The serviceberry tree is sandwiched between a nicely growing young Linden and a crab apple tree planted by the YOW! greenspace group a few years ago. We made great time digging our tree hole in such sandy soil, but waited forever to let the clay-packed root ball soak up it's water at the end of the day! We finished our afternoon with iced tea and cool fruit on Susan and Henry's front porch. |
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06/09/2017 |
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Today was our first workday with the Lower State Greenspace group at Innovation Park. It was a hot afternoon, and the soil was rocky and tough - but with the help of a little elbow grease and a few pick axes, we were able to expand the sunny flower bed in the middle of the park. It's now exploding with pinks and purples from knock-out roses and flowering catmint! |
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06/08/2017 |
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This week at Washington Ave, a small group of hardworking volunteers worked in the vacant lot, pruning and weeding invasive plants, and getting the fence line ready for a garden installation in the coming weeks. We finished the workday by maintaining the tree pit gardens planted last year - after a little weeding, watering, and fresh mulch, the tree pits are looking good! |
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06/07/2017 |
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Today was the first planning meeting of the Fort Hale Park Greenspace group. All of the volunteers who came to the meeting had worked together on other East Shore Greenspace projects in prior years. John Cox, the group leader, presented five potential work priorities for the summer. The group deliberated and decided to start by revamping the park entrance sign. |
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06/03/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This week, we maintained trees and sidewalk beds on Young and Whittlesey - pruning suckers on linden trees and revamping a corner bed on Young and Osborne. Our corner bed project turned a little more ambitious than we had originally planned. The perennial beds on that corner were looking a little lack-luster, so on one side of the street we decided to pull out all of the existing plants, brake up the soil and amend with compost, replant the original plants with a little boost from some perennials donated from Susan's yard, and finally top the whole thing off with wood chips. The bed is looking good with its new makeover. |
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06/03/2017 |
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This week, we cleared invasive plants and brush from around the Cherry Ann Street entrance to the park and then covered the ground with compost and mulch. A group of strong and ambitious youth also hauled large piles of Japanese knotweed across the park so that the New Haven Parks Department could pick it up in a more convenient location! Next week, we will be ready to plant around the Urban Oasis sign with native shrubs and perennials. |
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06/02/2017 |
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This week we had our first meeting of the summer for the Lower State "Innovation Park" volunteer group. A small group of employees from The Grove and SeeClickFix walked with the site, checked on previous years' work, and dreamed for what could be. Innovation Park is a large median on State Street, in between Chapel and Crown. For many people walking in from Union Station, it's the first welcome that people experience when they cross into downtown New Haven. The Greenspace volunteers from this week's meeting want passersby to visual see that they're entering "Innovation Park!" Collectively, they spoke of wanting the park to feel like: an invitation, a place of refuge, a place of beauty, a creative space, and an outdoor space to sit and eat. They hope that someday there will be: bikes, picnic tables, chairs, benches, creative signage, and opportunities for community events! |
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06/01/2017 |
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This year, the Washington Ave. Greenspace group will have permission to work in the vacant lot at Washington and King - building off a great first year of tree-planting and streetscape work. This week, group leader Nicki Little and I looked at last year's plantings and walked the vacant lot to get inspired for this summer. Nicki shared dream designs and plant lists for the garden-to-be and defined a set of goals for the next two months. As we chatted, a handful of neighbors walked by and expressed excitement for joining the effort. Next week, we'll have our first workday - clearing weeds and debris and getting ready for workdays to come. |
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05/31/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This evening, Chris helped load the truck up with two giant brush piles of bittersweet vines left over from last weekend's workday. This was followed by iced tea on Chris's porch and some planning for upcoming stewardship activities. |
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05/27/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
This Saturday we had our first day of streetscape stewardship and maintenance for the summer! We slowly worked our way up Osborne, weeding the three boxes of perennials along the cemetery fence line, replanting catmint below young trees, and removing invasive bittersweet vines from the cemetery fence. We ended up with a huge truck full of plant debris at the end of the day - proof of our hard work! |
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05/27/2017 |
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This week we began maintenance on last year's plantings around the Cherry Ann Street entrance. We pulled weeds, picked up trash, and began taking out the Japanese knotweed that had grown back all along the fence. |
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05/25/2017 |
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Yow Street Plant Brigade (Formerly: Young Street Plant Brigade) |
The leadership team met over tea and snacks to discuss plans for the summer season. After sharing favorite projects from year's past (tree plantings, front yard lead remediations, and flower bed plantings), the group identified some goals for the coming weeks. We finished with a tour of Chris's backyard garden and a plant giveaway! |
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05/20/2017 |
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The Cherry Ann Greenspace group gathered for their first meeting of the summer this Saturday! Adults, youth, and children from Cherry Ann Street shared their goals in preparing for the June 10th 2nd Park Ribbon Cutting as well as their summer planting and stewardship priorities. Lastly, we did a walking tour around the park pathway and finished with a (surprise) cookout at Miss Connie’s house! Mr. Mike managed the grill, and the “Cherry Ann Junior Block Watch” was in charge of organizing the rest. It was a joyful and celebratory event with music and good company. |