2013-Native Planting at High Plains Environmental Center

Start Date-End Date: 05/04/2013-05/04/2013 Land Manager Office: High Plains Environmental Center Land Manager Contact: Jim Tolstrup Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Spend a day outdoors planting a native demonstration garden to promote environmentally-conscious horticulture. Description: STEWARDSHIP SITE Located just east of Loveland off of Interstate 25 in Centerra, the High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) is a unique place where natural and built habitats coexist in a sustainable fashion-a suburbitat, if you will. HPEC has long been a tranquil refuge for wildlife and area residents alike. HPEC also serves as a community learning center, a place for ecological restoration, and a natural reminder of the high plains ecosystem that once existed all along the Front Range. VOLUNTEER PROJECT - WHAT & WHY During this one-day project, volunteers will be planting native shrubs, forbs (a herbaceous flowering plant other than a grass), and grasses for a demonstration garden at the High Plains Environmental Center. The demonstration area will promote the use of native xeric plants (plants that require little moisture) in gardens and landscaping by educating the public on the benefits to urban wildlife and water conservation. Over the course of the day, volunteers will plant 100 five-gallon plants, 1,500 one-gallon or smaller plants and mulch the area to help ensure the survival of these plants. PARTNERS High Plains Environmental Center OTHER FUN STUFF Meals: A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Latitude/Longitude: 40.3977612, -105.749801 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 29 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 5 Total Volunteer Days: 34 Total Unique Volunteers: 34 Total Volunteer Hours: 276 Staff Hours: 11 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Provided by HPEC. Landscape Architecture/Design Map was good visual tool. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Emily, glad to participate. Your organization and support with all the background items made the job easy. The flexibility of the volunteers to shift jobs and the variety of tasks is a good fit. I think everyone likes to have at least a couple different tasks throughout the day. We had a couple of mixed messages from Jim and Erik, but once we pointed out the discrepancies, they quickly resolved the issues and moved forward quickly. A great group of volunteers! I look forward to working with you again on future projects. Thank you. Gordon (Crew Leader) Hi Emily, I have to agree with you -- the project went very smooth. I really don't have any feedback for improvement. It was a pleasure working with you and hope to work with you again soon. Lynn (Crew Leader) Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: 26 adults and 5 youth arrived at the High Plains Environmental Center on Saturday morning to help plant and construct the beginning stages of their amazing new native plant demonstration garden. Volunteers planted many juniper trees as well as a variety of low-lying shrubs throughout the garden space. A few volunteers also helped outline and prepare the trail that is to meander throughout the garden. Upon completion of the plantings and trail staging, volunteers installed the irrigation system that will help these new plants survive in their new homes at HPEC. Volunteers also had the opportunity to plant the wildflowers last year's VOC volunteers had transplanted into starter containers. Over 600 of those wildflowers from last year have now been planted into the earth. In the theme of continuing on VOC's work with HPEC in the past, volunteers also had the opportunity to trim, bundle, and haul willows (that were planted by VOC volunteers about 4 years ago) to the lake and set them into the water for new fish habitat. The volunteers were extremely hard working and enjoyed the sunny, and slightly cool weather throughout the day. They also enjoyed a hearty lunch from a donation from Loveland Chick-Fil-A.