Summer Green Team 101: Summer Site Maintenance
It’s been three months since Green Team Cohort Two finished implementing our green infrastructure project on the west side of the park. Since then, a small summer team has been carefully maintaining the project site to ensure its well-being over these hot summer months.
What defines green infrastructure? Well, green infrastructure is the utilization of natural resources to create a physical structure, providing a wide range of ecosystem services, whilst maintaining biodiversity. One great example of green infrastructure, our rain garden! Rain gardens are intended to absorb water to prevent flooding and erosion. This erosion prevention is the main purpose of our rain garden, as we try to keep soil from spilling onto the neighboring pathway.
A way that we prevent erosion, due to the incline of our site, is by using terraces. Dating back 12,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, terraces, originally called “ziggurats”, have helped with tasks like decreasing runoff and making irrigation easier. These terraces help to combat erosion as they delay the paths in which the soil can run down the slope. Therefore, it was a no brainer for us to include these in our project.
So, how can you all help us keep our garden in tip-top shape? Here are a few easy things to keep in mind:
Don’t litter! Please keep the plants clean, they are not trash cans. Litter clean-up takes away from the time spent weeding, watering, and taking closer care of the plants.
Take photos! If you find yourself by the site, and see anything interesting, whether a bird in the birdhouse or a squirrel eating a fern, please snap a photo and send it over to our Instagram, @fortgreenepark!
Volunteer! If there is one better way to help us than taking photos, it would be in person. Sign up to volunteer; one day you might end up pitching in. Refer to fortgreenepark.org/volunteer. We’d always appreciate a helping hand.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and see you all in two weeks.
With kind regards,
Jasper, Miles, Monica
Senior Green Team Members