Category: Work Days

Compost your Christmas tree at MulchFest 2016

By

mulchfest-treecycle-2014

Once again, Prospect Heights Community will be serving as a drop off location for MuchFest. Bringing your Christmas tree to the garden will guarantee its continued use in the form of mulch which will be used in the garden and around the neighbourhood. Don’t let your tree end up in the trash!

TreeCycle/Mulch Fest 2016 is part of an annual, city wide program organised by New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the New York City Department of Sanitation, and GreeNYC to recycle your Christmas trees into wood chips. For more info on the program, go to the MulchFest site.

Prospect Heights Community Farm will be one of the many places to drop off your Christmas tree throughout the city. We’ll be collecting trees and chipping them into mulch on Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of January from 10 am to 2 pm. That gives you a few days from twelfth night on the 5th of January to lug your tree over to the garden.

(more…)

Time to prune

By

A few hardy souls gathered in the garden on the last day of February to get a start on pruning some of the trees and larger shrubs.

2015-winter-pruning-3- branches-sky

It was only 25°F when we started, but at least the sun was shining.

2015-winter-pruning-2-plum-trunks

2015-winter-pruning-5-sign-in-sheet

About 10 people came to help; not bad for February!

2015-winter-pruning-6-Euonymus-kiautschovicus-Manahattan-brians-mum

2015-winter-pruning-10-steuartia-pruning-catherine

Brian’s mum and Catherine display weather appropriate layering of head-wear while tending to Euonymus kiautschovicus ‘Manhattan’ and Stuartia pseudocamellia, respectively.

2015-winter-pruning-8-rose-pruning-william2015-winter-pruning-9-campsis-radicans-virginia

Two brutes, a Doctor Huey rose and Campsis radicans (trumpet vine), getting a good cut by yours truly and Virginia.

2015-winter-pruning-7-pile-of-cornus-and-pruners

We have a good deal of Cornus sericea (red-twigged dogwood) which is pruned every winter. After some trimming we end up with enough branches to make a decent stock of pea sticks/bean poles.

2015-winter-pruning-11-pole-saw-jeremy1

2015-winter-pruning-12-pole-saw-jeremy2

Jeremy uses the pole saw to reach some high up branches.

2015-winter-pruning-4-brush-collection-aaron

Smaller prunings being taken to the brush pile by Aaron.

2015-winter-pruning-13-snowy-panorama

We also cut back the raspberries and blackberries and removed some larger limbs of the Euonymous alatus (burning bush). Sprirea japonica was cut back, and some suckers on the apple tree were removed.

Thanks to all who braved the cold! Everyone is welcome to come to our next group gardening day on the 21st of March at 1pm; hope to see you there!

All photos by Brian Thompson.

Spring bulb planting recap

By

We had a successful bulb planting day earlier this month. Big thanks to everyone who braved the cool weather!

Many daffodils, anemones, muscari, alliums, hyacinths, crocus, and tulips were planted. The dark winter days will certainly be getting brighter come March and April!

We recorded our notes and instructions so that those planting bulbs in the future can use them as a guide. They are available in the gardening guides section of the website.

[Show thumbnails]

Photos by Brian Thompson.