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Capitol Hill Community Post | Spring Restoration Day Spruces Up Volunteer Park

2016-Spring-Restoration-Day-66Over 45 exceptional volunteers braved the rain and threatening thunderstorms Sunday to help out at Volunteer Park Trust’s Spring Restoration Day. The annual event manages large landscaping projects in Volunteer Park in a single day. This year crews cleared out two major garden beds west of the lily ponds by removing selected large, overgrown rhododendrons. Also, thanks to a generous donation from Wyman Youth Trust, a bare patch of ground was also planted with beautiful, rugosa roses.

“The rhododendrons are favorites for a lot of park visitors,” says Doug Bayley, Chair of the Trust’s Landscape Committee. “But they are not original to the park and they weren’t in the Olmsted Brothers’ plan. Removing these will bring some much needed light into the gardens and allow for multi-story plantings with ground covers and medium-sized flowering shrubs.”

Many of the rhododendrons were easily 20 years old and had massive root balls that presented weighty challenges to the volunteers. By the end of the day, strength and engineering won out. For their efforts, volunteers were rewarded with free coffee donated by Tully’s on 15th, and free Top Pot doughnuts donated by QFC.

The newly revealed beds are scheduled for further planting by the Trust this fall. Volunteer Park Trust’s mission is to “restore, protect and preserve this city and national landmark for today and for generations to come.” They work closely with Seattle Parks & Recreation to create lasting change for Volunteer Park.

More pictures of the event can be seen on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136748765@N04/

More information on Volunteer Park Trust can be found at their website: http://volunteerparktrust.org/2016-Spring-Restoration-Day-982016-Spring-Restoration-Day-97

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