Chris and Rob Maintenance Weekend Duty

            Our weekend duty started in Strathroy with our CLT testing for certification. The weather was great and allowed us to finish with sunny skies. We arrived at the college for our start of weekend duty at about 1:00 pm. We first met up with Jeff who told us to complete a circle check on the RTV, while he told the greenhouse students what their tasks were. After completing this we then went for a ride around the campus and had detailed explanations given to us for the tasks that are to be completed. We started at Saffrons restaurant patio around A building and started by thinning some Deutzias, some Spireas along with some Taxus that needed a little TLC. We removed some dead and dying foliage and cleaned up some stubs that had been left by previous students. This was an all-day task and our first half day of weekend duty was complete.

            We arrived on a gloomy Saturday morning with a major storm on the horizon J. In anticipation for this event we got right to it by removing two branches off the lilacs because we thought they were obstructing the light for night time security. After this we worked on the Euonymus fortunei 'Coloratus'. We pruned these by removing a lot of the dead undergrowth to help open up the plant. After this we decided to tackle the Berberis challenge….. this was fun. We decided to get this part of our weekend challenge done because of the upcoming weather. It paid off, after we pruned all of the Barberries at the front of the college we cleaned up the cuts because the shears are rough on the plants. We then raked up all of the debris and cleaned our work space and took a giant load of brush to the compost area. After this we drove back to the greenhouse and put the tools in the tractor bay so that we could take lunch. As we took lunch the storm came and covered everything in ice and a little bit of snow. After our lunch it was still storming a bit so we decided to let our stuff dry off a bit more and take some time and do some research into why the branches of barberries go flat, as told to by Jeff, we also took some time to work on our weekend blog. This concluded are Saturday of weekend duty.

            Our final day of weekend duty is here…..after a terrifying bike ride and a sketchy drive in we arrived alive. We started by checking the radar to see what was in store for us, and sadly more ice rain. But that didn’t stop us as we put on our smiles and got to work. We started where we left off just past the taxi zone by B building. We started by pruning Taxus and Sumac, to clear away from building where we could see evidence of rubbing and overhang on large rocks. We also cleared (elevate) Junipers from the turf line enabling clearance for string trimmers and lawnmowers. We tried to keep the shape of the plant and only giving clearance for the equipment causing less damage. As we worked our way to the far side of the building we removed dead debris from perennials and cut down some grasses, receiving compliments along the way. We dead headed Geraniums, Coneflowers, Hostas and yuccas. Then we moved onto clearing a tree from around a fire hydrant for easier access. At this time ice was falling from the roof and landing only feet away so we decided to put up the white flag because of the dangerous situation. We were also completely soaked.

What a weekend, we got a lot accomplished considering the weather and decided to use the remaining time to run back compost and work on our blog and research project. Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us and we had hoped to complete all assigned tasks. This concludes our final weekend duty and we are weeks away from completion of the program.