Weekend Maintenance Blog, written by Josh (Eros) Medeiros and Eric Patterson

On Friday, October 2, Eric Patterson and Josh (Eros) Medeiros began their first weekend as partners in the midst of their maintenance course for the Horticulture Technician program at Fanshawe College. They knew they had much responsibility as they were in charge of the Gardens of Fanshawe and much preparation would be needed for the Veterans Memorial Tree plantings.

The two men united at 8 am on Friday and made haste with emptying the Program trailer from its recent trip to Woodstock. All kinds of power tools from backpack blowers to chainsaws where returned to their proper place. While removing the tools from the trailer many things needed to be cleaned. The rototiller especially needed to be cleared of stones and ensnared roots and then washed to remove the rest of the compacted soil. Once what needed to be removed was, Eric and Eros prepared the trailer with the equipment needed for Veteran’s Memorial Parkway tree planting taking place Saturday. Many rounded shovels and rakes where loaded onto the trailer for the volunteers at the tree planting along with some sledge hammers and spades as well. After the trailer was prepped for the big day Eros and Eric began edging tree wells with half-moons, prepping for mulch, to end their first day.

Saturday arrived and due to some very unfortunate health circumstances only one of the two arrived with it. Eric, met with the rest of the Horticulture classmates for the annual tree planting at 3M. Hundreds of trees were planted of all kinds of varieties all picked specifically for the locations they were planted in. This will ensure a larger survival rate along the road. Once every tree had been properly tamped in, insulated, and staked Eric headed back to Fanshawe to resume maintenance of the grounds. Once the trailer had been unpacked and the dozens of shovels put away and cleaned Eric continued making tree wells until rain washed him out. He then turned this loss of time into an opportunity and assisted the greenhouse team with hand watering the poinsettia crop until the weather cleared up.

The last day brought the opportunity for the pair to finish their arboreal task. Fresh mulch was applied to the tree wells to help retain moisture around the drip line of the tree and reduce weed growth in that area as well. During a brief break Eric and Eros helped the greenhouse team pull up Chrysanthemums since they were quite established. After that more mulch and more edging until the rain became too much and the team had to retreat to the greenhouse. Luckily they were able to help once more by aiding in the packing of the Antheriums, making the process go smoothly with extra hands. Once the rain subsided Eric and Eros made the last few trips picking up mulch and neatly filling in their wells. These tree wells will help keep the crown of the trunk healthy on these trees.

Through it all much was learned and much valuable experience was gained on important things like teamwork, leadership, communication and problem solving. Many challenging situations arose and the experience gained from that was great!