Are you aiming to spend more time in nature or perhaps fulfill your New Year’s resolution of becoming more involved in your community?
If you resonate with any of these goals or simply wish to connect with like-minded individuals, we invite you to volunteer at one of our Arboretum events.
Work events are generally held on the third Saturday of the month, and commonly include activities such as tree planting, seed collecting or removing invasive plants. The Third Saturday get-togethers are a fun way to be active outdoors, meet people, and do something useful for the Arboretum. They also provide a chance to learn about the Arboretum from Arboretum staff, and the other volunteers.
To give you an idea of what our volunteers have been up to during one of these events, we would like to highlight last month’s Third Saturday volunteer event. Margie Oloughlin, an Arboretum volunteer, graciously shared her account and provided photos of the event which have been included throughout.
“Our multi-aged group of volunteers gathered at 9:00 AM on Saturday, March 16th to remove invasive tree lilac in the Arboretum. Since the group was working on the hillside above a beaver dam, Nancy talked with us about the Arboretum beaver population. She said the Arboretum will be planting young aspen trees near the creek, in an attempt to satisfy the beavers’ appetites without sacrificing so many of the more established trees. A volunteer recommended a book for anyone interested in learning more about beavers called, ‘Eager: The Surprising, Secret Lives of Beavers and Why They Matter’ by Ben Goldfarb. Volunteers lopped off the tree lilac trunks as close to the ground as possible. The vocabulary word for the day was “staub”. When cutting out tree lilac, you don’t want to leave much of a staub, which is the remaining portion of the trunk that’s left sticking up. Each cut trunk is dabbed with herbicide , to kill the shrub. Because of the careful method of application, there is no drift.”
If you’re passionate about exploring the wonders of the natural world while making a positive impact in your community, we encourage you to sign-up for our volunteer events in April or May. Our April event coincides with the Northfield Earth Day celebration, where you can look forward to activities like tree planting and setting up protective fences to safeguard them from beavers and deer.
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