2008 Report for Peace Garden At West River

Year

2008

Number of volunteers

19

Total volunteer hours

81

Number of events

7

Number of trees planted

5

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5 Eastern Red Cedars

Number of shrubs planted

27

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18 Andorra Juniper, 3 Purple-leaf Sandcherries, 6 Cytisus

Number of perennials planted

32

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22 Black-eyed Susans, 5 Russian Sage, 5 yucca

Yards mulch spread

6.00

Summary

As a new group this year, the Peace Garden Greenspace group entered the program with the clear goal of replanting the garden to be neat and colorful for this fall's International Day of Peace (September 21). Although the garden already existed, it was completely overgrown with weeds. After developing a new, more manageable design for the garden, the group spent the first four work meetings doing intensive weeding, with about four community members typically participating. The last three meetings were spent planting the garden with a variety of evergreen shrubs, small cedars, and bright perennials. The group received help from about ten young men from a halfway home to finish these larger plantings quickly and efficiently.<br> In addition to achieving their goal of carefully replanting the garden, the Peace Garden Group exhibited a terrific sense of community. Although the core group was small, work meetings were spent telling stories, discussing current events in the neighborhood, and eating hot dogs grilled by Stacey's wife Virginia. When the halfway home men came to help, they were included in this socializing, and every week, despite the drudgery of standing in the sun and pulling out weeds, there was an incredibly upbeat and fun atmosphere at the work meetings.