Four volunteers from the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program’s Matteson office, two James Hart School students and Homewood Public Library Director Colleen Waltman removed weeds and added new flowers and prairie grass to Homewood Public Library’s landscape on the afternoon of Thursday, May 8.
The Master Gardeners have maintained the Homewood Public Library’s landscape every spring for three or four years, Waltman said. In addition to hosting events that educate the public about horticulture and environmental conservation, Master Gardener volunteers maintain landscapes with an emphasis on increasing Illinois’ biodiversity.
Master Gardener horticulture educator Nancy Kreith, center, points to a task for James Hart School student Johnny Graves, left, and James Hart student Josh Cox, right. (Nick Ulanowski/H-F Chronicle)
The Master Gardener volunteers and James Hart students removed weeds and other plants using shovels and gardening tools. They carefully transplanted flowers from small pots into the soil.
Nancy Kreith, a horticulture educator for the Master Gardener program, led the group, instructing them on which plants to remove and what flowers to plant.
“Right now, we’re planting zinnias. These are annuals, but they’re beneficial for pollinators. So, they provide a nectar source for butterflies and bees,” Kreith said, describing one of the flowers volunteers planted. “And they add beauty. So, we usually do this as a border.”
Kreith said the volunteers and students also planted purpleconeflowers, blue false indigo, pussytoes, rattlesnake master and milkweed, a flower that’s essential to the life of Illinois’ state insect, the Monarch Butterfly.
The volunteers and students spent most of the afternoon adding flowers and prairie grass to the Tranquility Center, an enclosed garden by Homewood Public Library’s front entrance. The focus of the Tranquility Center is a statue of a figure sitting and reading a book while another figure lies down with their head on the first figure’s lap.
After planting flowers in the Tranquility Center, the volunteers and students touched up other landscapes near the Homewood Public Library’s front entrance and the parking lot. They removed dandelions and other weeds, adding them to a yard waste bag.
“We just wanted to clean up the drive-up,” Kreith said, explaining the second task.
Johnny Graves and Josh Cox, James Hart students and National Junior Honor Society members, were recruited by the Homewood Public Library to participate.
“This is really a joyful experience – to have a study of plants, learn about how things grow and what’s around them,” Graves said.
Cox said that he also learned about plants from this experience.
Master Gardener volunteer Annette Pletcher, who traveled to the spring planting from Orland Park, described gardening as “meditative.”
“I just love gardening. I love getting my hands dirty,” Pletcher said. “They found that when you work the soil, there are microorganisms that release chemicals that make you feel better. So, gardening helps elevate your mood.”
“I’m very grateful and fortunate to have all these great people helping us and very grateful that the weather has complied every year so far,” Waltman said.
