Behind the Scenes with Nursery Management magazine

Helping hands

For one day, I traded my keyboard for a shovel and did some real work.

On April 22, I joined several other volunteers from GIE Media to dig some holes, plant some trees, and rake some mulch at Valor Home, a rehabilitative home for previously homeless veterans.

The project was organized by the Ohio Landscape Association as part of PLANET’s Day of Service, and the volunteers were a mixture of green industry supporters like Project EverGreen, media members like me and professional landscapers to keep people like me from wrecking everything.

Plant materials were provided by several Northeast Ohio nurseries. We planted Buxus ‘Green Velvet’ from Willoway Nurseries, Spirea japonica ‘Goldmound’ from Davis Tree Farm and Nursery, Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’ from Gilson Gardens, hydrangea and Taxus ‘L.C. Bobbink’ from Lake County Nursery and two dwarf globe blue spruce trees from Herman Losely & Son.

Davey Tree also provided and installed 11 trees as part of the project.

The whole experience was great, even if it left me sore for a few days. It’s always good to reaffirm just how heavy those balled-and-burlapped trees are. And I’m sure the pros got a good laugh out of watching a few weakling writers wrestle one into a wheelbarrow.
 

We were part of a volunteer effort to spruce up a rehabilitative home in Akron, Ohio.

For more: www.valorhome.org