Weekend Duty Greenhouse Blog November 1-3, 2019

Dylan K. , Hilary E. & Steven N.

Friday, November 1, 2019

We arrived to the greenhouse dark and with snow blasted Friday morning to receive a brief introduction from technician Jeff Rowley who was also able to answer any questions we may have had.  After completing our opening checklist, the three of us set out on our first task of repairing a few irrigation lines.  Some of the drip lines for the poinsettia crop had become squished under the bench. As a result, the plants effected showed signs of under watering.  In order to replace the damaged lines we had to carefully crawl underneath the benches, avoiding the heating pipes, and install the new lines.  Once we were finished, the stunted plants could be placed back on the benches with their drippers.

 Our next task was to mix some more stock solution to last us the weekend. Afterwards, we got to work on identifying a few trays of stock plants to be transferred into the greenhouse. We quickly identified one of them as Billie Jean Begonias.  Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in identifying the second plant. 

Upon completing our afternoon crop walk, we decided to do some deflowering of the stock plants as well as remove any dead plants from the benches to clear up some space.  Afterwards, we spent the rest of the afternoon propagating some Billie Jean Begonia stems that had rooted inside of the propagation chamber.  They were placed inside alone without soil and had developed roots from each node, so we were able to place the cuttings inside the greenhouse right away.  Our final task of 

the day was to prepare and store some Cannas from Clintar to be planted in the springtime. 

After completing our closing checklist and closing the shade curtains, we called it a day at 5:00 and headed home for the night.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

We got to the school early to grab the keys from the security desk at 7:40 am, it was cold and dark. We got to the greenhouse shortly after and then went through the checklist. We also at that time opened up the greenhouse and took off the shade curtains. After we completed the mandatory checklist. We made cuttings of Calio Plant ‘Purple Knight’ and Cobaea Scandens.

We then went through all the cuttings and potted plants to see which plant needed to be propagated or transferred into pots if they have established a root system.

That took us the whole morning. After lunch we tidied up the area, then fertilized the poinsettias. This took two different fertilizers. One fertilizer was just for Golden GLO which is 20-20-20 @ 300 ppm which we had to turn off all the bench drippers then the one bench that had the Golden GLO off. Then we had to change over the fertilizer to 20-20-20 @ 250ppm for the rest of the poinsettia crops and turn off the Golden GLO dripper and turn on all the other ones.

We then look down all the odd bench sticky traps. For each sticky card we counted the bugs and identified the bugs to log down. These wasn’t much bugs but the majority of the bugs were fungus gnats. This took us most of the afternoon to do this since we had to count them under a microscope. We then replaced the sticky cards and then tidied up. At this point it was time to close down for the day so we put up the shade curtains and then went through our closing checklist.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Clocks went back an hour. Arrive and open greenhouse at 7:40 am and it’s actually a bright morning for a change. We begun the checklist like a well-oiled machine at this point. Shade curtains pulled back and ready to rip into our last day with a vengeance.

We began to water the smaller poinsettias on the side bench by way of bottom watering using the flood table. From the bottom, water wicks up through the media and helps encourage roots to grow downward to the outsides. On to E.C. (electrical conductivity) and pH testing. We use this device with an electrode to measure the runoff of one of each of the cultivars of our poinsettia crop. This took better part of the morning and the measurements we took looked good and weren’t outside the ranges we wanted.

We continuously went to task throughout the day on surveying the benches and plants for anything we could notice that was out of place or needing attention without many surprises. We went ahead with composting some of the elephant ears that were not sold, as they get big, we needed space.

After a weekend of greenhouse activity, a thorough cleanup is in order in addition to the general tidying done throughout. Sanitation is next to godliness in a greenhouse and it pays to make sure any algae and debris are removed. This took up rest of the time, in addition to a final closing walk through and shutter closing time bringing our weekend to a close as the cipher continues on.

Greenhouse Weekend Blog

Colby, Luke and William

October 25-27, 2019

Friday

On Friday we did not arrive to the greenhouse until approximately 1:30 in the afternoon because we had our C.L.T test that morning. Luke and Colby arrived first, and Jeff gave us a list of jobs to do for the rest of the day. We began by going through the greenhouse and making sure everything was in good condition. After that, we sorted the elephant ears (Colocasia) from the healthy to the unhealthy ones while winterizing variegated Pretoria Cannas.

Colby and Luke went to the compound to dispose of the unwanted foliage. When they returned, we took our quick break and then finished the Cannas. Jeff gave us a brief summary on the greenhouse expectations assigned for this weekend. He then proceeded to show us the plants we were going to propagate over the next two days. These plants included Plectranthus fosteri 'Green on Green' and Tradescantia sillamontana. We ended our shift at five as instructed.

Saturday

We arrived on Saturday morning at 8:00 am. Luke opened the shade curtains upon arrival while Colby inspected the greenhouse for any damage or debris that could have been caused overnight. Will checked the PRIVA conditions to make sure the greenhouse was at the appropriate standards. We then proceeded to remove the cuttings off the Plectranthus fosteri 'Green on Green' plants in the Woodland garden. Unfortunately there was a significant amount of damage to the mother plants due to frost overnight. We pruned off the best possible cuttings that were least damaged from the frost. Following the first two trays we exited the room to go to the propagation chamber. Luke switched and started to transplant the plants that were finished rooting from the propagation chamber into pots, as well as watering them before putting them onto the heat mats in the greenhouse.

We ended up having ninety-three Plectranthus in the propagation chamber and then started our hour lunch break. When we returned, Colby went and got the Tradscantia sillamontana while Will and Luke were preparing trays for the cuttings. When we finished filling all the trays, we put a clear dome on and placed the trays into the greenhouse on the heat mat. We printed tags and placed them into the trays and started to clean up. Will closed the shade curtains in the green house at 4:20 pm while Luke and Colby began cleaning the floors and tables. Colby then started to go over the PRIVA system making sure the greenhouse would be left in good condition for the rest of the night. We left at five at the end of our shift.

Sunday

Sunday morning prior to 8:00 am, Will opened up the greenhouse. He then opened the shade curtains at 8:00 am and checked PRIVA. During this time Colby went around and checked the greenhouse. Last night we decided that the plants did not need to be watered until today, so Colby went around and started making sure the lines were turned on properly. He left them on for approximately twenty minutes. Will was completing the blog, so Colby started putting Tradescantia cuttings into the trays while Luke watered them and then they put them onto heat mats. After our break, Will started doing the IMP Sticky Trap Report on each even numbered bench and counted how many bugs there were on each sticky trap. During this time, Colby and Luke started on the pH (parts hydrogen) and EC (electrical conductivity) testing making sure that there at the appropriate level after they flushed the plants. Luke and Colby finished the pH and E.C. ratings and Will finished the IMP Sticky Trap Report. Will closed the shade curtains at 4:20 pm and cleaned the grates while Luke washed the floor and checked around the building. Colby organized and put away the rest of the remaining pots and supplies. Another weekend completed.                     

Greenhouse Weekend Duty Blog

By Raven H. and Josh B.

Friday, October 18^th, 2019

Friday morning, we came into the greenhouse and went through orientation with Jeff. We then went over our checklist and began to open the blackout curtains to let the beautiful sun beat onto the poinsettias. After we got that handled, we began to pot a bunch of cuttings that had grown aerial roots and were ready to be transplanted into larger pots. This took us until lunch, and they look fantastic in their new homes for the time being!

All of the new transplanted cuttings (not all were ours, but all are beautiful)!

After lunch, we finished up the remaining cuttings and then cleaned up. At this time, we decided that the poinsettias needed watering as they started drooping when only in the morning, they looked healthy as can be (that’s why you check on plants constantly, they change their minds easily). The poinsettia crop has to be watered in 2 stages because of the different ppm needs of varieties in the greenhouse so it took a little bit of time. When this was done, we had a chat with our guru Jeff about EC and pH readings for the poinsettias and about IPM on the sticky cards. Not too long after that, it was time to begin cleaning up a bit and make the greenhouse look good for us to return in the morning. We did our checklist, closed the curtains and left until our return in the morning.

Saturday, October 19^th, 2019

In the morning, we came in and did our normal checklist and opening of the curtains. After walking the crop and observing what the plants may need for the day, we decided that all the cuttings, succulents, and anything that wasn’t connected to the drip irrigation needed watering. Hand-watering was done with care making sure everything got enough water to get through until the next watering.

EC and pH readings were next on the agenda to do for the day. I spent most of the remainder of the morning doing this to get our readings for all 8 varieties to then be put in the culture chart for the poinsettia crop (that’s important so we know the fluctuation of readings and when the crop is fertilized).  When that was all done, documented, and cleaned up, we moved onto traying up cuttings provided to us to then be put in the propagation chamber. We did as many as we could fit in the chamber and then cleaned up for our lunch.

They seem to be loving the misting and humidity of the chamber!

After lunch, we began our afternoon of succulents. We reorganized all the succulents in the greenhouse to separate areas of what isn’t to be sold yet and what can be. When they were all organized, we needed to make decorative pots of succulents and repot the rest to larger pots. The decorative pots we made up were nice and easy (after lots of deliberating of what went together aesthetically) and we began giving the rest of the succulents larger pots for more space and root growth area.

Watch out for your chance to get your hand on these cute decorative pots!

When all succulents were happy in new pots and everything was cleaned up, we did some quick inventory for Jeff and moved onto our IPM sticky card counts. Sticky card counts are actually very important because it allows you to see what populations you have of what insects and also what areas may be hot spots for those insects. It was a very sticky job, but we got through it with a little bit of time left to clean the work room and do our checklist before closing the curtains and closing up.

Sunday, October 20^th, 2019

We arrived eagerly to finish our last day and make sure everything was fine for everyone to return on Monday. We began with our checklist and opened the blackout curtains. We made the executive decision that the poinsettias needed watering but not just yet; we wanted the sun to hit them first and dry them out a bit. While we waited for that to occur, we made more fertilizer in preparation for the watering and cleaned up. During this time, we spent part of our morning walking the crop for debris, dead leaves, and signs of insects and also cleaned any and all pots sitting in the sink from our transplanting on Saturday. Making sure everything was thoroughly cleaned was a big enough job just to make sure no previous soil is left for the next time the pots are used. This is for contamination reasons but also just hygiene.

Right before lunch, we decided it was time for the poinsettias to receive some water so that was done and made them the nutrients they needed like we were going to get our nutrients at our lunch following.

They’re so happy with their nutrients and beautiful sun radiating down!

After lunch, we took it slow by cleaning everything up, putting away all the dry pots from the morning, and working on the poinsettia sale poster that Jeff asked us to do. We may have been Martha and Marty Stewart with the succulents but we aren’t Picasso, so we tried our best with the poster!

Along with the poster, we walked the crop again to make sure all was good in the world of poinsettias before we came back in the work room to wash the floor and clean. We did our normal checklist and closing of the curtains and said farewell to the poinsettias until we see them again!

Greenhouse weekend blog

Patrick F., Jarrod G. and Nicole H.

October 4-6, 2019

FRIDAY

Our first year of the Horticulture Technician Program was mostly theoretical learning in the classroom. Our chance to shine by applying skills we have learned from theory was handed to us in the form of three days of weekend duty at Fanshawe’s one and only greenhouse. This is our first weekend duty of three to come, and we could not have been happier to work in the greenhouse.

We researched how to germinate the Quercus acorns, which we figured out were Quercus robur but were told they were the Cultivar of ‘Fastigiata’. We found that they need to be cold stratified for 30-60 days. However, we wondered whether the acorns would take since the ‘Fastigiata’ is a cultivar and we have learned that cultivars are generally sterile without human intervention.

Friday morning our stomachs were filled with figurative butterflies because our list of duties seemed daunting. With the guidance of greenhouse master Jeff Rowley, we started our day with the morning checklist. The checklist includes things such as walking the crop, inspecting the exterior of the greenhouse, and recording temperature trends via Priva graphs and an infrared thermometer.

Since the fertilizer was running low, we made up ten litres of 250 parts per million (ppm) along with a brand new mixture of 300 ppm. We watered the staple crop of Poinsettias two different ways. Bench 4 got a fertilizer mix of 300 ppm while the rest of the benches got the standard drink of 250 parts per million.

Poinsettias nice and perky after a delicious drink of fertilizer water!

We then moved onto transplanting cuttings from Cuddy Gardens. We, as Fanshawe students, are extremely fortunate to have access to such a facility. It is quite hard to find a school that has their own botanical garden, let alone a botanical garden we are able to utilize in a variety of ways. While on the topic of Cuddy Gardens, a few of the activities we are lucky to be able to participate in includes things like going on plant walks for Plant Identification, performing maintenance duties for Landscape Maintenance, performing greenhouse tasks in hoop houses for Greenhouse Plant Production, or even climbing trees for Arboriculture.

After we transplanted some cuttings, it was time for, in our opinion, the highlight of our weekend: leading a workshop for Fashion Design students. We were extremely fortunate to be put on weekend duty this particular weekend, as this was the only activity of the sort planned. We used succulents and cacti as teaching tools for the students; we spoke about the areas that such plants come from and how their environment impacts how they look and how they need to be cared for. Succulents have thick, fleshy leaves in order to retain moisture in the unforgiving environment of the dessert. Some succulents also have developed silver hairs to help them regulate temperatures from direct sunlight. Some cacti even have what looks to be beards or spider-webs covering them. Another interesting feature cacti have include spines that help protect them from thirsty dessert animals. Some succulents, we explained, were even in the same family (Euphorbiaceae) as the Poinsettias we have growing in the greenhouse! A common characteristic of this family is a sticky white sap that bleeds from cuts and can also be an irritant. Even after the story of Jeff accidentally rubbing leftover sap into his eyes, one of us was unfortunate and experienced the same thing that very night!

We showed the students how to properly pot the succulents and cacti, either as a single or a grouping of three. We explained that a “lip” should be left so that water has a chance to do its job and not spill all over the ground. We used tongs to protect our hands from the cacti. We got so caught up in the activities that all three of us forgot to take pictures. We spent the rest of our day transplanting cuttings and performing the end of day checklist.

SATURDAY

Bright and early Saturday morning we collectively decided to get all of the cuttings out of our hair. We powered through and worked late into the afternoon in order to finish off the cuttings. There were a couple cuttings we were unsure of the names, so we labelled them “Unknowns”.

Propagation Chamber – Empty of loose cuttings!

Transplanted existing cuttings on the heat bench!

Our chance for physical activity came at around 3 p.m. – we went outside to dig up and winterize the Canna Stuttgart and Elephant Ears. To our letdown, the Elephant Ears were indeed plugs as Jeff said they might be. We had to compost the Elephant Ears and the tops of the Canna. As students and others walked by, we wondered if anyone would have the curiosity to ask us what we were doing digging up such big, beautiful plants. No such luck! We dug undisturbed. We found what at first looked like an alarm clock in the garden, but it turned out to be some sort of broken light fixture. We hoped that it was a leftover light from a greenhouse activity and not some random person disposing of their garbage in our luxurious garden. We then put the remnants of the Stuttgart into media to make them dormant.

The front of the greenhouse, sans Canna Stuttgart and Elephant Ears!

Canna Stuttgart in its new home for the winter! Goodnight Stuttgart!

We finished our day with the closing checklist and a friendly smile to one another along with reassurance that we would indeed see each other the next day.

We knew that the “hard” tasks would need to be completed on Sunday. We delegated work to each other and worked on different tasks. While one person did IPM checks, another did EC and pH. While two people worked on transplanting the rest of the succulents, the third worked on the paperwork we needed to hand in.

Performing EC and pH checks on 8 different cultivars from 3 of each kind

Our goal was to get done everything on our list of things to accomplish, but as the end of the day neared we realized we needed to prioritize. We still had succulents to transplant but we also had Variegated Geraniums to dig up. Since we knew that transplanting cuttings was more of a priority, we sadly decided to leave the Geraniums.

Overall, we had a stellar weekend. Not only did we learn valuable hands on skills, we also had the chance to show Fanshawe that we can be independent and not need 24/7 supervision. The best part of our weekend was getting to know each other better. We went into this weekend being acquaintances and we like to believe that we left as friends.

Fanshawe Main Campus Blog

By: Meghan, Colby, and Brooke

Submitted: Sunday October 6th 2019

            As Autumn kicks off, maintenance duty is in its prime. Fall cleanup is a peak time for those who pursue landscape maintenance as a way to earn cash because of all the dropped leaves, pruning, planting, and harvesting that needs done before the frost does its damage. This weekend (October 4th, 5th, and 6th) our little ad hog group was assigned to perform various fall cleanup tasks on campus.

            Our adventure starts bright and early Friday morning at the greenhouse where we met with the all knowing overseer, Jeff Rowley, to discuss what our weekend will consist of. He gave us a list to complete in no particular order and also accompanied us around campus to explain his list in further detail. We finished our walk at Louise Weekes garden where Jeff asked us what we would suggest to a paying customer if she wanted to clean the garden up’ and how much we would quote labour at. He told us to think about it and start our work day, so that we did.

            We began working on the north east corner of R1 where there was a damaged bed due to a solar panel installation. The group was asked to plant 3 different species of plant in the bed with intention and finish the job off with mulch. We were not given an exact map of the layout that much was up to us. We weeded, edged, and cultivated the bed in preparation for new plantings. We decided on using the Hydrangea as the centerpiece as it has the most pop versus the The following pictures are the before and after of the bed we worked on.

             The self proclaimed beautiful bed took a good chunk of our day, so we filled the rest of the day with smaller tasks that we knew we would be able to finish. The first was to plant a Prunus laurocerasus TIITAN@ ‘Rentan’ that happened to be missed by other students when they were redoing a bed by H1033. This was immediately followed by us explaining the plan we had created for the Louise Weekes garden to Jeff Rowley. As a group we discussed the following points need to be addressed:

-edging

-weeding

-deadheading daylilies

-removing dead branches and foliage

-cutting back Wisteria and Sneezeweed

-filling in groundhog holes

-removing thistles

-replanting daylilies

-pruning branches obstructing bench

-removing old wooden stake

-removing leaf debris 

-gathering ginger for Cuddy’s

We decided that all these items would take about 7.5 hours each to complete which came out to about $450 for labour. Jeff Rowley was fairly pleased with our list and asked us to then complete all those items on the list we created by the end of the weekend.

We then finished the day off by planting an Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel’ beside the entrance of R2. We made sure to always stake our trees with the stakes perpendicular to the prevailing winds to allow for reactionary growth on the tree. Once both these specimens were in the ground, it was time to clean up and head home for the day.

Meghan digging for the Prunus laurocerasus TIITAN@ ‘Rentan’ R: The Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel’

            Saturday began just as early as Friday, except this time Rowley wasn’t there to greet us. The team got right to work in the Louise Weekes Garden and spent from 8 AM until 4 PM completing everything on our list above. The garden ended up looking much cleaner after our elbow grease and love went into the cleanup. There were a few challenges along the way such as a need to share the RTV with those who work on campus, but it all worked out in the end. Here are some before and afters of the most hectic spots:

After this we cleaned up and put all the tools away. Then we returned to the greenhouse to do a bit of paperwork before hometime.

            Finally the Sabbath arrived. Sunday was filled with similar tasks to Friday. We began at the entrance of R3 where a few Hypericum frondosum ‘Sunburst’ and a couple other yet to be identified, used to be shrubs needed to be removed so we could make room for some Thuja occindentalis ‘Fire Chief’ ‘Congabe’  and Miscanthus sinensis. We prepped the bed in the same way as we did on Friday and mulched afterwards also. Again, design was left up to the crew, so we went with a staggered look. We made sure to always research the plants we were putting in the ground to ensure that the distance between them was appropriate for how large each species would become. The final look was a nice pop of green against a brown mulch and a huge improvement from what was there before. 

This took just over half the day, so the rest we filled with jobs we could confidently finish before the end of the last day. We may collectively refer to this as the final countdown. The team started after break with planting a couple Cornus alternafolia in the Woodland garden near the outdoor storage area. Followed by ripping out two dead Cornus chinensis ‘kousa’ directly across from them. Then immediately after we headed just a few meters East where we planted 3 Spiraea japonica 'NCSX1’. We then moved just a few yards north to K building where a couple plants in a bed needed rearranged to complete that small task. By the time those tasks were completed, it was time to clean up, put everything away and return to the greenhouse to finish off paperwork and head home. 

This weekend was packed full of learning opportunities and hard work. Our group found it very rewarding to be able to put all of the knowledge we have gained over the last year and a bit to the test and see where we stand in terms of being able to lead a crew in landscape maintenance. 

Fanshawe College Greenhouse Weekend Duty Blog

By: Jared T, Jed H, Julia R.

It is always refreshing to walk in from the crisp - and rather cool - late September air into
the beautiful Fanshawe greenhouse, the poinsettia crop is looking refreshed having just been woken up from their 16 hour photoperiod (simulated 16 hour nights) and eagerly waiting for the sun to grace our beautiful campus. We, started this weekend off strong and dove right into the work we were given, completing the usual list of essential tasks to do when you first enter the greenhouse we noticed that the crop was looking a little dim, some bench’s seemed the be drooping and others weren’t looking as tip top as they could, we decided to give the plants an hour or so and see if
they would require watering that day, or the following, when we returned the sun was shining and the fans were running, it was time to water them, we took to the Dosatron, making sure it was set to the
right fertilizer (20-20-20 @ 250 ppm) and opened the flood gates, we let the water run for approximately 26 minutes, during this process we filtered in and out of benches to check on both dripper locations (within the pots) and overall saturation, we figured it best to let it run for a few extra minutes as assurance that everything was properly watered. Over the course of our first day we found endless opportunities to entertain ourselves, from collecting begonia cuttings and propagating them to potting up cuttings from the previous greenhouse weekend duty crews to make room for our own and then we had a quick meeting with Jeff R about an integrated pest management project he wanted us to do beyond just the usual. This rounded up our first day in the greenhouse.

Saturday the 28th was a special day in the greenhouse since we could just tell that there was some
sort of party going on, people were walking around drinking when we were just getting to campus at
around 7:30, we came to find upwards of 10 beer cans in the garden beds and strewn upon the grass
around the greenhouse, while Fanshawe and Western students alike were partying, we were spot watering some poinsettias that needed it and taking care of the succulents that also looked like they could use some water, we mutually decided we were in the right place after hearing in on various conversations from people passing the greenhouse, where ever they were going was brimming with police, unsurprisingly. Our second day went by just as fast as the first one, after some extra
cleaning in the tractor bay and outdoor greenhouse nursery marked that we had finished up all the tasks on our general list of things to do and went on to a couple tasks given to us by Jeff R., this involved taking to the sidewalk and hunting for acorns from a specific Oak tree, and when we came back we started our IPM research assignment, this involved a lot of counting tiny bugs under a microscope and recording there populations! At least we only had to do half the greenhouse, each time we took one down we put a fresh sticky sheet up, and then we started up our closing checklist and headed home ready for our next day in the greenhouse.

                                       One of the sticky sheets we were counting insects on


Our last day in the greenhouse, Sunday September 29th, started out a little choppy, a few more beer cans, and we seemed to have lost a member of our crew to what we can only assume was the
aforementioned party, but we wont know till we see her again, she was out of reach. So we just took to the day hoping she would appear and started with what we had planned on the day prior and hopped right into the PH and EC readings. unaware of what the readings were supposed to be, about halfway through we found the sheet indicating what it should be and discovered our readings to fall quite a bit short of the specifications EC-wise, unsure of whether it’s a problem on our part or not we made note of it and moved on the next task, break. Once we got back we hopped into cleaning, we took another look at the tractor bay and moved some plants around and made sure everything had plenty of water and moved inside to clean the greenhouse floor. A sweep and a quick weed to the outdoor garden beds had the place shining when we started our closing checklist and headed on home, bringing a nice close to our weekend at the Fanshawe Greenhouse.

                                            Just a nice picture of our amazing greenhouse

We all had a good time at the greenhouse and were looking forward to our next weekend duties around campus and at Fanshawe’s satellite campus, The Cuddy Gardens, until next time!

Weekend Maintenance Blog

September 27-29, 2019

William, Hayden and Robert

Day 1:

An important part of college is the hands on aspect, especially when it comes to greenhouse and landscape work. Luckily for us, we have an amazing program that gives us the first hand experience of work, while also learning new skills on our beautiful college campus.

The start of the work weekend starts off with a small refresher on how to work the radios and how to properly sign in and out of work duties. Afterwards the jobs began; William on the tractor, Robert on the RTV and I on plant duty. Since Fanshawe College is a registered botanical garden, I was to write information on the plants before we planted them as to keep proper records. Once the proper plants had been found, we got to work.

 We dug up and transplanted Irises in the proper garden. Once done, we transplanted hydrangeas into the proper garden bed. Then we moved outside of K building and began planting some more. Robert was able to prune the Norway maple shading the area we wished to plant. Another garden done leads to another in desperate need of weeding and new plants.

  We began planting different trees like the Eastern Redbud, Cedar and Spruce. Then near the end of the day we helped Matt unload some school uniforms into the main classroom in H1033. It was not a part of the weekend duty, but it was still a nice thing to do. Especially for our program coordinator! From there, we ended our first day of weekend duty and cleaned up.

Day 2:

This day we were more prepared as we used the knowledge we learned the previous day and got straight to work: circle checks on equipment and vehicles, plant checks, and off to the gardens. It was a relatively nice morning, despite the spitting rain. Even if the plants were not completely watered the day before, they were on Saturday as it continued to rain throughout the day.

   We did some work in the front of the school planting  and staking three Catalpa trees. With the skills we learned from Arboriculture and from the assistance of google we put our skills to the test. There was plenty of sun and space for the Catalpa to grow, and I have high hopes for them in the future.

With that out of the way, we got started on the garden beds in the front of the school. Here we planted some Berberis and some Echinacea. The soil was incredibly compacted as it was mostly made from clay, and was used as a walkway for quite some time. We hope the garden beds will stay nice out in front with all the smokers, but we have our doubts. We are not entirely sure that the plants will be okay with growing in such harsh soil conditions, but the Berberis will sure keep students from stepping on the garden with its incredible pointed spines on each branch.

 We got them planted and ventured across the road to the other garden. It was mostly finished, and only  needed help with mulching. We headed over to the other side to help the school employees finishing raking the mulch. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish the other side.

Day 3:

          On the third day we started it off as the previous two days but without the assistance of Jeff. We started the day by doing the circle checks to the machines we were going to use through the day. It was a cold morning, but it helped us get moving. We started finishing the mulching that we didn't get to finish the day before. After we finished the mulching for the garden, we put mulch mountain in the back if the trailer. The day before, we asked Jeff why he had so much of it and he replied with “because it was free”. The mulch was especially heavy from the rain the day before. Eventually after a few minutes of using the forks to start lifting the mulch into the back of the trailer Robert came up with the great idea to take the trailer off the tractor and use the tractor to lift the mulch into the trailer which saved us a lot of time. After successfully filling the trailer to the top with mulch we took our lunch. Right when we got done our lunch, we started the plantings of the Russian peonies around some ornamental grass in front of F building. While we were planting the peonies, Robert went around cleaning up the extra mulch and soil left with a backpack blower. Making sure nothing is a mess while also putting away tools and staying organized are essential parts of landscaping. Robert came back 20 minutes later with the Dublin peonies. Hayden and I started planting the newly dropped of peonies as Robert headed over to R2 building to weed eastern garden bed. Before we knew it, the day was over and we started to get everything p

cleaned up and all the equipment checked back in. We actually stayed a little extra time to make sure everything was in its proper place before we left.