Preparing for Winter

As winter approaches the Greenway’s Horticulture and Maintenance staff have been busily preparing for the coming months of cold weather and snow. There is a large amount of behind the scenes planning and work that goes into putting the Greenway’s lawns and garden beds to rest for the winter and the Green & Grow Apprentices are learning all about it.  For the past month, the apprentices have been hard at work weeding, planting bulbs, and pruning shrubs.

The Greenway is managed organically and we never use chemicals to get rid of unwanted weeds. Demonstrating their commitment to sustainable landscape practices, the horticulture staff and the apprentices managed to remove all of the plantains and dandelions from the lawns this fall by hand!  Removing these plants ensures that they won’t be back in the spring and that our lawns will be even healthier and happier next year!

Diana and Asha removing broad-leaf weeds from the lawns in the Fort Point Channel Parks

The Green & Grow apprentices have also taken on the fall task of pruning and are fast to mastering the methods used by our own horticulturalists.  One Apprentice, Noelia, reflected on the task: “When we got to Chinatown it was clear that the plants were getting in people’s way.  When we were finished, I felt as though people will walk by and say, ‘Wow, what a really nice job they did.’  I feel good about the work we did today, it looks so much better!”

Hughes employing the skills he learned in the classroom to the garden beds in Chinatown

Thanks to the apprentices, there will be another huge splash of color on the Greenway this spring! The Apprentices planted over 700 crocus bulbs in the lawns of Fort Point Channel that will be ready to pop up and show their colors in approximately 110 days!

Planting bulbs in Fort Point Channel Parks