Planting is done for now

Thanks to Darlene (parent of 5th grader) joining me Nov. 5th, we finished planting the last bunch of ferns. To date we have planted around two dozen ferns, about ten ajugas, and a few black grass clumps. We removed many dead tree parts and weeds. We'll attempt one more session in early December (if it hasn't snowed yet) to remove more dead tree parts and invasive vines. Thank you to the many volunteers for making this work! We're already starting to think about indoor projects for the winter, so share some ideas you have. Principal Mary has some ideas for us.

Next clean-up/planting Nov. 5th

I still have the last batch of ferns needing planting, so let's shoot for Nov. 5th at 11 am. I'll bring supplies for raking leaves and pine needles to make a compost pile. We should also remove some invasive vines. Please bring any tools you have. Hope to see you there!

Rain and snow!

Looks like Saturday will be a drenching day, so let's reschedule the garden work for next weekend. Thank you for your support.

Post-Harry Potter and Next Clean-up 10/29

The visit by Harry Potter fans this past weekend was tremendous, with the Jenks playground transformed into a large chessboard! Thankfully, the work we've done in the woods didn't appear to be affected. Saturday morning I managed to get a few more ferns planted and I apologize for not reminding everyone I would be there. I think the work we've done by the playground entrance looks great, but we are looking for more stones and other barrier material to minimize trampling of the new plants. I think we should also focus more on the other end. There is a lot of weed and branch removal to do, as well as sprucing up the corner. If you are able to spend a few minutes during the week days doing some clean-up, you are welcome to - just drop me a message when you do it.

As for the next clean-up/planting, I am not able to schedule myself for early Saturday mornings for a while. I plan to be present at 11am on Sat. Oct 29. If you want to come earlier that Saturday, let me know and I can give you some ideas of what to do. Thank you for your support.

Planting and clean-up Oct. 10

We planted many donated ferns on the south end of the forest, as well as removed many weeds and emptied the overflowing trash can. Four families, including a potential Jenks parent, helped. A couple of hose connections were finally found, plus some hose in good condition. One of us will bring a tool to turn on the water this week and finish watering the plants. We'll have another session Sat. Oct 15 at 9 am to rake up fallen leaves, plant more shade plants, and whatever else we can get done. Grant applications are underway to get more tools, border stones, and shade plants.

Work done to date.

Ferns are perfect for the shade, so we've planted a bunch donated by friends and relatives of Adam Eyring. We also planted mondo black grass and ajuga (bugleweed) from Adam's garden. Although the latter two are not native, they love the shade and spread too slow to be considered invasive. They should help with controlling erosion on the slopes.
The first picture shows a large fern with black grass in front.

Ajuga (dark green/purple leaves) on one of the slopes. Spreading will be evident next year and eventually this slope will have good erosion control.

Ferns, hostas, and ajuga along the curve in the path going to the playground.

When these ferns fill in some day, this spot along the fence should be pretty!

A good look at the crew at work on the Saturday just before school started. Current, former, and potential Jenks parents helped out! In the picture: Hardesty family, Adam Eyring, Davis family, Julie Sneeringer, Goldman/Lattanzi family, Dhondt family, and Katie Eyer.

Some views of the grounds needing improvement.

Three groups of plants growing on old stumps and maintained by neighbor Brian Rudnick. The middle group could use some more plants, but it needs to be determined if this is a sunny or shady spot.

Middle of mosaic needs tiles reapplied.

Along the edge of the toddler playground. A good spot for sunny plants, but the dirt is full of sand and needs to be replaced.

Notice the clumps of hostas along the walkway. Good evidence of prior garden work.

One of the darkest spots along the path. Not sure what should be planted here - any ideas?

An interesting enclosure for probably outdoor classroom events. Trimming of the vegetation should make it nicer.

In what apparently was a garden of sorts set up by a garden club in the early 1990s. Other than repairing the benches, we need some ideas of what students could do with the space.

A wild idea - construct a bridge to connect the corner with the playground over the building service entrance!

The Start of the Outdoor Work

The committee started its work in mid-summer by focusing on some clean-up of the plants near the playground and putting perennials in the shade of the "forest" along Southampton Ave. The goal was to start cleaning up the grounds and beautifying with plants. Ultimately, students will be involved as part of a class or extracurricular activity. The forest is overgrown with weeds and ivy, but there was evidence that prior work had been done. Regularly-spaced clumps of hostas (small-leaved, so we don't know if that's the type or the plants were weak from lack of attention) existed from prior garden projects, plus a hose and bird feeders could be found. If you know when this work was done, please contact us.