Investigate the Master Gardener program in your area.  At Ten Chimneys, we have a team of certified Master Gardeners (trained through the University of Wisconsin – Horticultural Extension branches in each county in the state) who works with me and our facility manager to research, restore and maintain historic beds throughout the 60 acre property.  The MG team directly manages a host of Master Gardener volunteers (who by the way are required to do a number of volunteer hours of work at approved sites each year).  This program has worked great for us.  If you’d like to know more about the scope of work, feel free to contact me directly.  

 

- Cait

 

 

 

Another possibility would be to see if any local garden clubs or plant societies might be willing to assume responsibility for all or part of the garden sites you have in mind. At the Missouri Botanical Garden in Sat. Louis, the local Herb Society maintains a very attractive herb garden.

 

 

With 13 acres and limited staff, we’re looking at piloting an adopt-a-garden program next spring.  We’re planning on targeting our existing homeschool audience and seeing if any of the local homeschool co-ops might be interested.  Staff would work with them in picking plants and planning the garden, and they would be responsible for weeding etc.  We also see some opportunities for little (almost informal) lessons throughout the year on botany, art, history, etc.  Before we attempt to create the wheel, has anyone instituted a similar program?  Did you have the groups sign a contract of any type?  Did certain aspects work really well?  Any cautionary tales? 

Also, though they would certainly have free admission on the days that they volunteered, did you give them comp tickets or a membership or anything like that as a perk?  If we wind up working with a co-op, I was thinking of giving them a family membership or two that can be checked out by various families within the co-op.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Melissa

 

Melissa Prycer

Director of Education

214-413-3671

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