Greetings Michael,
I agree with Tori Mason and Elizabeth Walton.  As a former volunteer docent
at the LA Co. Arboretum (a public garden) I also volunteered in the plant
and disease identification department.  Many, many state universities used
to solicit our help, of which is offered at no cost.
~ Put your local universities on your list.
Our local water district has grants and partnership programs to assist with
the costs of irrigation.
~ Consult your water district.
When I was E. D. of a local USFS trail volunteer group.  Our group had our
own tools.  Luckily, I live 12-miles away from Corona Clippers.  They
loaded up my truck, right on the spot with $3,800. worth of shovels,
various pruners, pick axes, and rakes.  All, donated.  We were never asked
again to sterilize our home brought tools at a Tail Gate Safety Inspection
again.  (To prevent cross contamination of urban pests, seeds of invasive
species, and diseases.
~ Try contacting landscape supply companies such as A. M. Leonard,
www.amleo.com
and others for assistance when tools are necessary.
Do your local school districts require student community service hours?
~ Is your organization a member of the Chamber of Commerce?  Most tend to
have excellent relationships with the school districts and all the other
community non-profit service organizations.
~  Could part of the project develop an opportunity for an Eagle Scout
project?  Such as an arbor for a Heritage Rose vine?
~  My supplier for native wildflower seeds is American Meadows,
www.americanmeadows.com  (I'm sponsoring a children's native seed plant at
the end of Oct.)
~  Naturally locate your local chapters of native plant societies, and the
4-H.  They may be able to help you (also) with Press Releases.
~  Lastly, our Pachenga Band of Native American's automatically donated
$100,000 to assist our city with emergency Law Enforcement allocation to
relieve the burden on the Sheriff Dept. and CalTrans from the massive
influx of visitors caused by the 2019 Super Bloom.  Check to see how your
local Tribes may wish to participate?
Ms. C. J. "Sparkplug" Stewart
Lake Elsinore, Ca.
~


On Fri, Aug 2, 2019 at 4:17 PM Michael Rebman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I do not have a green thumb.  My fingers are rather pale from years of
> wearing gloves while hiding in collections storage at other museums.  With
> that said, my historic house museum is located in an agricultural area in
> New Mexico.  The lawn is mostly grass, with sections that have gravel
> around modern outbuildings and assorted old outbuildings relocated onto
> concrete pads.  Historically, the grass lawn went up directly to the
> house's foundation.  There are two flower beds the length of the front of
> the house that were installed at some point in the past fifty years, that
> are not particularly deep (ranging three to six feet in depth), that are
> bordered with rocks.  I had the idea that we can have a Spring Fair and a
> Harvest Fair each year (coinciding roughly with Easter and Homecoming).
> The Spring Fair would include various flowers or other vegetation that kids
> could plant in those flower beds while learning about planting and calving,
> to go with the existing plants and large sign.
>
> Here is my question: what should I do with those flower beds between now
> and next spring?  They were mostly exposed dirt, grass, and weeds when I
> started earlier this year.  I do not want to leave them in that present
> condition, and the custodian already self-assigned the task of removing
> those weeds and grass.  Would it make sense to put a barrier layer over the
> dirt and leave it until it can be pulled up the week before the Spring
> Fair?  If so, what would be the optimal material (for aesthetics, price,
> and labor hours)?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Michael R. <[log in to unmask]>
>
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