Nursery

  • Garry Oak Nursery work party update – August 11, 2018

    At this work party we had 8 volunteers and we contributed 24 hours of work between us.

    We saw potter bee clay pots (their houses) on the site of a 1-gallon pot, which was super neat and you can see this in the photos below.

    What we accomplished:

    • 270 4″ seedlings weeded
    • 775 2″ seedlings weeded
    • 110 4″ seedlings mulched and fertilized
    • 148 1-gallon pots weeded, mulched and fertilized
    • 48 1-gallon pots had weed seed heads removed
    • all new mulched plants were watered
  • Dates for upcoming Garry Oak Nursery work parties

    Hello all!

    We’re not letting up at the Nursery as summer rolls along, so I’m here to share our schedule for upcoming work parties. We’re keeping the biweekly schedule for the foreseeable future and the start and end times are 2pm to 5pm. All events are held on Saturdays.

    Upcoming Garry Oak Nursery work parties August 2018

    Here’s a short list of dates for upcoming volunteer events:

    • August 11
    • August 25
    • September 8
    • September 22
    • October 6

  • Garry Oak Nursery work party update – July 28, 2018

    At this work party we had 9 volunteers and we contributed 26.5 hours between us.

    We had three new volunteers today, sisters from Taiwan who got their hands in the soil for the first time. Thank you for your amazing work, Cathy, Ruby and Rebecca!

    What we accomplished:

    • we weeded the remaining seedlings in 4″ styroblocks
    • we mulched 195 4″ seedlings
    • we fertilized 450 4″ seedlings
    • we weeded 675 of our 2″ seedlings
    • we weeded 150 1-gallon seedlings
  • Garry Oak Nursery work party update – July 14, 2018

    At this work party we had 3 volunteers contribute a total of 9 volunteer hours.

    We are pleased to announce that even more of our acorns have sprouted! Hopefully all will be sprouted soon.

    What we accomplished:

    • we weeded, mulched and fertilized 300 of the 4″ seedlings
    • we weeded, mulched and fertilized 45 of the most overgrown 1-gallon pots
  • Garry Oak Nursery work party update – June 30, 2018

    At this work party we had 8 volunteers contribute a total of 22.5 hours.

    As you’ll see our nursery area has now doubled in size: we now have a second strip of landscaping cloth with a separate irrigation system!

    As always we kept a watchful eye on the spring planted acorns for new growth.

    What we accomplished:

    • 64 of the 5-gallon and 10-gallon seedlings were moved up onto pallets in the new irrigation area
    • 20 of these pots were mulched with sawdust and fertilized with a new summer fertilizer
    • 630 of the 2″ seedlings were weeded and fertilized
    • 540 of the 4″ seedlings were weeded
  • Garry Oak Nursery work party summary – June 16, 2018

    At this work party we had 4 volunteers and contributed 12 hours of work between us.

    More and more of the acorns planted this spring were sprouting!

    What we accomplished:

    • we weeded approximately 440 of the 1-gallon pots
    • we moved the remaining 1-gallon pots up onto pallets (1000+ in total)
  • Nursery operations update from the May 2018 AGM

    The following comments were presented at the AGM by Peter Woodward, GOMPS Director and Nursery Project Manager. 

    Our oaks overwintered successfully; in the fall of 2017 we took them off the pallets and placed them directly on the landscaping fabric to prevent frost damage. At this point we have put them back on pallets for the summer. Being up off the ground accomplishes air pruning of the roots.

    The GOMPS volunteer Garry Oak nursery is now in its second full year of operation.

    Oaks in 1-gallon pots up on pallets
    Oaks in 1-gallon pots up on pallets

    With the seedlings potted up from 4″ styroblocks into 1-gallon pots, all the available space on our irrigation strip has been taken up and work has started on a second irrigation strip. This will double our irrigated area.

    Expansion area in foreground
    Expansion area in foreground

    We have now planted all the acorns collected last autumn and stored over winter in a fridge on site. Some 2,400 acorns were planted this spring and if 2,000 of them are viable, it will raise our total stock to about 6,000.

    Acorns planted in 2" styroblocks
    Acorns planted in 2″ styroblocks

    About 40 to 50 plants inherited from the City’s former nursery operation have all been repotted in larger, generally 5-gallon pots. These plants are five years old or more. In addition, a few field grown oaks in the range of 10 to 15 years were root pruned in the fall of 2017

    Oaks inherited from the City of Victoria in 5-gallon pots
    Oaks inherited from the City of Victoria in 5-gallon pots

    We officially tested the backflow device in April and submitted our report to the CRD as part of our obligation with respect to our linkage to Victoria’s water supply system.

    In March we delivered our second annual report to the city of Victoria.

    Photos were taken by Jenny Hebb, GOMPS Director-At-Large & Nursery Volunteer Coordinator.

  • Garry Oak Nursery work party summary – June 2, 2018

    At this work party we had 8 volunteers contribute a total of 21.5 hours of work.

    We were very excited to see that acorns planted on the May 5th work party were already spouting!

    What we accomplished:

    • we weeded between 500 and 600 of the 1-gallon pots and moved them from the landscaping cloth up onto pallets
    • we added 6 more pallets onto the landscaping cloth to support pots (this allows for air pruning of the seedling roots)
    • we watered the newly sprouted seedlings and the acorns by hand to encourage their growth
  • Garry Oak Nursery work party summary – May 19, 2018

    At this work party we had 4 volunteers contribute 13.5 hours of work.

    We were very excited to see that acorns planted in April had already begun to sprout! We are also pleased to share that an expansion to the nursery is underway. An area has already been cleared in preparation for another strip of landscaping cloth and new irrigation system to be installed.

    What we accomplished:

    • we planted the remaining 180 acorns in 2″ styroblocks
    • we weeded between 500 and 600 of the 1-gallon pots
    • we weeded all of our 5-gallon and 10-gallon seedlings, approximately 90 in total
  • Garry Oak Nursery work party update – May 5, 2018

    At this work party we had 7 volunteers contribute a total of 19.5 hours between us.

    What we accomplished:

    • we planted 1567 acorns in the 2″ styroblocks
    • we moved 216 of the 1-gallon seedlings from the landscaping cloth up onto pallets

Categories

Archives