Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust Native Plant Nursery Work

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust’s native plant nursery at Lake Sammamish State Park needed some extra weeding after a dearth of volunteer attention during the pandemic pause. Young plants get started in the nursery and then find long lives out in nature on restoration planting sites throughout the Greenway.

The record setting 100+ temps didn’t do the potted plants any favors and some needed to be tossed on the compost pile, so carts were loaded up and happily driven back and forth. It was lovely to see the nursery busy with volunteers again! We’ll be back in the winter to enjoy the covered potting area.

Back at it! Potting up Douglas Firs With King County Parks.

Squad was blessed with incredible weather for our first event after the one-year COVID break! The original first event was cancelled do to the lovely Valentine’s snow event LOL. We potted over 250 douglas fir trees at King County Parks’ native plant nursery. It was wonderful to be back, we hope to see you soon.

Native Plant Potting with the King Conservation District

Squad potted up Pacific ninebark / Physocarpus capitatus for growing on in King Conservation District’s wetland plant cooperative nursery. The plant cooperative is a resource for home and landowners who can trade volunteer time in the nursery for native plants to take home. Additionally, KCD has a wonderful annual bare root native plant sale and community festival, it is coming up on Saturday March 14 at the Tukwila Community Center both indoors and out plus food trucks!

We all enjoyed working alongside the Department of Ecology’s Washington Conservation Corps members. The WCC program hires young people to perform a variety of stewardship tasks around the state, at the end of their term they receive an education grant to spend on tuition or trainings.

Potting-Up with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust.

Squad always loves working with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and their seasonal AmeriCorps crews from across the US & Territories. AmeriCorps programs are diverse and offer interesting ways for young people to engage in various public service tasks while gaining both work and travel experience. The kids gravitate towards working closely with them, usually with a big smile and extensive chatting.

We potted up native Douglas fir / Pseudotsuga menziesii trees that will mature awhile in the nursery at Lake Sammamish State Park until they are developed enough to be planted out on restoration sites in the Greenway corridor. In addition to learning high-quality potting techniques, we were instructed on how to inspect and sort pots for quality and, ever-popular with the littles, the fine art of cart driving. We look forward to more work with the Greenway this summer when we partner for our annual swimming stewardship events.