For nearly three decades, volunteers in the City of Annapolis have worked side-by-side with City staff to plant trees and plants, mulch city public spaces and pick up trash during the last week of April.
Horticulturist Marisa Wittlinger in the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks manages the program and said that this year, 60 projects are on the docket.
“I start early in the year to train volunteers and plan the projects,” Wittlinger said. “We call it ‘GreenScape,’ and it is something Ellen Moyer started even before she was Mayor. We are now in our 28th year.”
Wittlinger said that the City only has eight full-time crew to work on parks and that the GreenScape program gets the community involved by having residents volunteer to help out. These volunteers agree to not only work on their projects in April, but to maintain the spaces throughout the year as well.
Wittlinger added that the volunteers who have been doing it a long time know what to do. They put in the order for plants and trees and mulch so that everything is ready by the time Greenscape day rolls around.
“This keeps people connected to the outdoors, our parks and our community. It’s good to see people working together at a city sponsored event,” Mayor Gavin Buckley said. “It’s a great spring tradition.”
Wittlinger said that volunteers are always welcome. Residents who want to exercise their green thumbs can work on an existing project on Saturday, April 27 by emailing: [email protected].
