Windermere Plaza- A True Community Garden
It’s that time of year for the Community Garden at Windermere Plaza (and all of our gardens for that matter) to go through the transformation that the Winter pruning process provides in preparation for the upcoming growing season.
Yesterday, over 40 members of the community, which included: Charleston Park Angels, Charleston Horticulture Society members, and surrounding neighbors all came together on a bright and sunny, yet chilly morning to volunteer their time to care for the Community Garden at Windermere Plaza. The goal was to perform ALL of the necessary Winter pruning on ALL of the Roses, Ornamental Grasses and other perennials that so abundantly flourish in every garden space along the plaza. And if you are familiar with the garden, when I say ALL, I don’t mean 10 or 20 of each. I’m talking literally hundreds of plants that needed pruning!
Our day was scheduled from 9am to 2pm, but with the excellent amount of support, not just in the number of people, but in the ATTITUDES of the people who volunteered their time, we finished up by noon. You could feel it in the air- everyone there had a purpose and was proud to be adding to the beautification and enrichment of their community. Thanks to the cooperation with the City of Charleston’s Parks Department who provided us a trailer for all of the plant debris, our cleanup was fast and effective. What seemed to be an extremely daunting task at 8am, turned out to be a completed project a few hours later. Everyone involved should be very proud.
It was amazing to see what can be accomplished when people are informed about a project, educated on how to perform the task and willing to volunteer their time as a service to the community. The power of people is never to be underestimated.