Fanshawe College Weekend Maintenance Practical

Julia E. and Greg J.

March 27-29, 2015

Well we got to the Greenhouse on Friday and had the run-down of the rules from Jeff. We then got to work on the list that Time Elliot had delegated us on Wednesday. So, we were working in the Woodland Garden, while doing so we saw a field mouse run under a cut off mound of grasses. In addition to that, we saw a mouse den that was picked up and shipped off to the compost pile. We were trying to get ready for the Open House event. That was a lot of work.

Today during our weekend practical at Fanshawe College, it was a very exciting and busy Saturday. The Woodland Garden was combed through very precisely, while on the hunt for trash that has been hibernating over the winter months. The duties of the day were to finish cleaning up the grasses and the perennials of the one flower bed that we were working in on Friday. We also, encouraged to movement of the ill-used tractors from the far off land of C Building.

Over the day it has been very busy. The garden has many plants that have persisted over the winter. These plants were left for winter appeal. At this time we also have other plants making their way through the soil and autumn debris. They are so small and so hard to see, there are so many of them that it is pleasing to know that they will soon make the garden decorative and beautiful.

The school was having its Open House event this weekend as well. So, there were a lot of people that we saw and were talking to about our program, while doing our jobs that we were assigned to do. A lot of time was spent assisting the open house by fetching the tractors, water tanker and utility trailer for display during the open house while trying to return to the Woodland Garden as often as possible.

On Sunday, we continued on with our assigned tasks of with one of us focusing on the Woodland Garden and the other cutting back the perennials at the front of F building. In the woodland garden, power shears were used to cut back the large amount of Sedums and other perennials close to ground level. All the debris and cuttings were raked into a pile to the best of our ability despite the high winds. After dumping the compost we returned the RTV to the tractor bay to clean it and all the other tools we used throughout the day.