Planting Your Congregation’s Native Plant Garden
This is a fun community building project!
- Watering the ground the day before or morning of can help with shoveling
- Generally, need no more than 10-15 people for a small plot of 200-400 square feet
- Appoint someone to explain process, make assignments so everyone has role, some jobs are hard work so be prepared to take turns
- Have garden tools on hand including shovels, trowels, wheelbarrow, garden gloves, water buckets, garden hose
- Place mulch near garden for easier access
- Consider how many volunteers you need for the size of the plot, rake ground flat, water plants in containers, dig holes with trowels or shovels depending on the size of the plants, wet the holes, release roots with a gardening knife or break apart with your hands, plant the plants and cover with ground and mulch, watering (if carrying buckets, you will need more people for a bucket brigade), cover the entire garden with mulch
- Refreshment table with plenty of water (volunteers will appreciate this)
- Monitor the rain and water within one week. In spring and summer, you will need to repeat watering weekly or more depending on the weather (rain and heat). Establishednative plants are resilient but new plants need to be watered throughout the first two years, especially in periods of drought.
For more info, reach out to beri.kravitz@gmail.com
