Margaret Witkofsky
URI Internship Year:
2025
Graduation Year:
2026
Degree:
MAR
Margaret is a 2025 Community Greenspace intern from Ridgely, Maryland. She earned her undergraduate degree at Washington and Lee University and is now studying religion and ecology at Yale Divinity School. She is passionate about how communities are connected to place and since this is her first summer in New Haven, she is excited to learn from the New Haven community! During her free time, Margaret loves writing poetry, hiking East Rock, and kayaking the Mill River!
Group
New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence
Hemingway Butterfly Garden: Mariposas del Mundo
Greenspace Log
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07/18/2025 |
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This week, East Edge Gardeners planted 2 abelias and 1 spirea in the East Blvd bed. We also added wood edgers around the corners of the bed to protect our newly planted shrubs! |
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07/18/2025 |
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This week, the group cleaned up the 219 garden! Lots of trash had been dumped but they cleared this away and cut down a tree of heaven that was growing into the holly bush. |
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07/18/2025 |
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The group was busy weeding and watering today! Marty even got to tests out his new waders and walk straight into the creek to get water. |
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07/16/2025 |
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This week, Beaver Ponds had a really successful workday despite the heat! The volunteers broke up into groups, some tackling the front garden, others pulled mugwort from the wildflower gardens and another group planted three American Hazelnuts in the pond side garden and continued to create a path through the bed. |
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07/12/2025 |
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The group had a very productive day! As Susan and Maria weeded, John, Patrice, and I created a habitat brush pile in the back of the park. Once this was completed, Nia and I mulched the garden as John and Patrice placed pavers to define the path around the teardrop garden. |
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07/12/2025 |
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07/12/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
Celeste and I watered and weeded the entire garden since it's been so hot! |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/11/2025 |
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We had so many visitors in the garden as we weeded and watered! We saw monarchs, bees, and a large bullfrog who did not seem to mind when we took water from his creek. |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/11/2025 |
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We finished mulching Betty's median and we found a wasp nest! One person did get stung but he shook it off and after the workday went home to take a benadryl. After all of the excitement, we also mulched the memorial garden. |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/11/2025 |
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This week, we planted 2 spireas and 1 male winterberry in the East Blvd bed and 2 leucothoes and 1 variegated euonymus in the East Hobart bed. At the end of the workday, we learned how to make bracelets out of dead daffodil leaves! |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/11/2025 |
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07/09/2025 |
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This week we planted 3 coreopsis in the pond side garden. Claire and Eileen's path was also cleared as Frank sawed at invasive species that were overhanging the path and the pond. Other volunteers weeded and mulched both the pond side garden and the berm garden. Cecelia also found a birds nest in the invasives! |
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06/28/2025 |
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Blake St had a very successful workday finishing bringing pavers to the path and weeding the path so that it's ready for the pavers! |
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06/28/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
Members of Marlene's family joined us in the garden to weed, mulch, and water all of the flower beds. We also planted 6 purple ice plants and 10 sunsparkler dazzleberries! |
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06/27/2025 |
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We began working at Betty's Median this week! We weeded, picked up trash, and added mulch to the bed. Even Ms. Betty joined us and made sure that traffic was moving slowly around the working group. |
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06/27/2025 |
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This week we weeded and watered the entire garden after the really hot weather! |
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06/27/2025 |
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This week, the gardeners weeded and mulched both of the beds along Hobart St! |
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06/25/2025 |
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During the hottest day in the garden this year, Beaver Ponds still had a great turnout and got a lot of work done! We planted 3 coreopsis in the pond-side garden and mulched. We began planning for a new path to wind through this space, before taking a break for freeze pops! We continued weeding, and at the end of the night, Frank drove away on his electric bicycle made by his son! |
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06/21/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
This week, we planted a tree to honor Dr. Michael Norko's retirement, a professor who has conducted research on gun violence. We planted a tulip tree towards the front of the garden and Dr. Norko named his tree "hope blooms." |
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06/21/2025 |
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This week, Blake St continued weeding the pocket park and started completing a path with pavers around one of the garden beds. Towards the end of the workday, Chris stopped by to cut a cherry tree that was growing into a redwood. |
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06/20/2025 |
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This week, we saw our first monarch butterfly in the garden! We spent an hour watering (lots of hot dry weather is arriving) and another hour weeding. And of course, we took a break to see our butterfly visitors! |
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06/20/2025 |
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This week, I had my first meeting with the East Edge Gardeners! While Sandy was away on a bike trip, Cathy, David, and I weeded and picked up trash in the bed along Norton St before adding wood edgers to the Blvd. bed. |
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06/18/2025 |
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After an instance of plant theft over the weekend, volunteers wanted to prevent more stolen plants. We covered the gardens in cow manure and put up signs around the park to try and discourage theft. Millie wrote a very nice card for the children's garden to make up for the theft of their plants. The group was not discouraged and even planted 6 more cone flowers in the gardens! We also spread wood chips around the front kiosk and trashcans to beautify the front of the park and prevent large trash dumping. The group continues the difficult work of removing invasive along the pond as well. Towards the end of the evening, a few baby geese joined us in the pond! |
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06/14/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
On the second Saturday of June, the Botanical Garden of Healing holds their Annual Day of Remembrance. New bricks for 2025 were installed along the path then all of the names along the bricks were read. Family members of the victims, Senator Blumenthal, and Mayor Elicker are just some of the people who read the names of victims. Over 100 members of the community attended this day of remembrance, even though it was raining on and off all morning. |
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06/14/2025 |
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This week Patrice's mom joined us in the garden because her daughter Nia graduated high school! We weeded around the path and Patrice finished installing bricks in the front path. The group decided to just fill the sinkhole at the front of the park with concrete since the area is so close to the food pantry. |
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06/13/2025 |
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We had another dry week so we began by watering the garden before we spent most of our time weeding. We divided and conquered to try and remove as much knot weed as possible! Marty focused along the river while cat, Diana, and Joan focused along the paths to clear walkways in the garden. Tracy from Quarry Park joined us at the end and collected some milkweed for the UrbanScapes pollinator day. The milkweed was just starting to bloom and it's already attracting a variety of pollinators! |
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06/11/2025 |
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This week Beaver Ponds had visitors from the New Haven Garden Club, who just recently awarded Beaver Ponds Park with a grant! Nan gave a quick tour to the visitors then we got to work clearing the beds, mulching, and planting some coreopsis and echinacea. The children's garden also did a lot of work arranging their new wood slabs, adding soil to their garden, and planting some flowers. |
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06/07/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
Bridges of Hope came by the garden for the annual I Love NH Day. They weeded, mulched, and planted in the front gardens to prepare for the upcoming Annual Day of Remembrance. They even got to see a few chipmunks running around and a snake hiding in the gardens! |
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06/07/2025 |
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We had our first workday of the season! We cleaned up leaves and trash and began weeding in the park. We also are testing some different brick options for the path around the park. |
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06/06/2025 |
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Kat got out the water pump for the first time this season so we could fill buckets from the creek and water the perennials that she planted last fall. We also spend time removing invasive species from around the creek. |
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06/05/2025 |
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Beatrice and I handed out flyers to the Cherry Ann neighborhood to gain interest for our first workday next week! |
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06/04/2025 |
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Friends of Beaver Ponds met for their first workday of the summer. We focused on weeding the front gardens and mulching the seating area. We also moved some wood planks for the children's garden that the children helped to move and decide where in their garden they wanted each plank. At the end of the workday, Chris Ozyck stopped by to test out the new tether ball! |
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06/03/2025 |
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I met with Kat to discuss her upcoming plans for the summer! |
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05/31/2025 |
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We started planning for the summer! |
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05/31/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
We planted 9 winterberry bushes around the park and weeded around trees. |
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05/31/2025 |
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We began planning for the summer and weeding the front of the pocket park! |
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05/30/2025 |
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I met with Nan to discuss her plans for the summer! |
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05/30/2025 |
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We began planning for the upcoming summer! |
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05/29/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |
20 students from Hopkins toured the garden and got to speak with two of the moms that founded the garden. They also weeded and prepared the garden to be mulched. |
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05/24/2025 |
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New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence |