The Gardens on Spring Creek is an 18 acre botanic garden in the city of Fort Collins, CO, whose mission is to foster environmental stewardship through horticulture. The Gardens offer education on sustainable ecology, and include a one-half acre Children's Garden with a focus on themes of community. The site also includes a 400 ft. parkway strip garden, community garden plots, and wildlife habitat. As funding becomes available through grants and donations, additional gardens will be established, including an extensive fruit and vegetable garden, a meditation garden, and a prairie garden.
On June 6th, I joined the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) in a cooperative urban restoration project to help build a demonstration garden that will showcase Colorado's diverse riparian and wetland plants, including golden currant, chokecherry, peachleaf willow, and porcupine sedge. This demonstration site will provide educational opportunities for adults and youth for years to come.
Our crew of about 3
0-40 volunteers planted approximately 200 shrubs and trees and helped remove invasive riparian vegetation along the creek during this one day project. This was a well-organized and fun event that was coordinated by WRV. They provided all the tools and instructions, breakfast, a phenomenal Caribbean style lunch, and, at the end of the day, they treated us all to beers and soda. It was a very gratifying and rewarding way to spend part of the weekend outside on a bright and sunny Colorado day.
