By Hannah Rodehaver, Native Landscape Apprentice

In the fall, I transitioned to working at the native plant nursery to help grow, propagate, and care for our native plants. I have now gotten to experience the whole process of collecting seeds out in the field, processing the seeds, stratifying them, sowing them in the greenhouse, and then watching them grow. I also get to help customers find the right plants for their garden by considering soil type, and sun and water availability. I get to talk to many people who are new to planting native plants in their yard and talk about the importance of native plants on our landscape!

Another big part of my job is working with volunteers. We have many volunteers that are here on a weekly basis and have been coming since before I was born! They are a huge part of our day to day operations. We have others who come in groups less frequently and are able to take on big projects like removing privet. I have taken people ages 7 through 60 to work on pulling privet out all over the property.