Volunteers prune bushes at Dunne Park
Volunteers prune bushes at Dunne Park
Fairview 4-H Club members gathered Feb. 25 at Dunne Park to prune back the rose bushes that fill the corner at Seventh and West streets.
Christina Bless, the treasurer for the Fairview 4-H Club, helped to coordinate the annual event.
“I had to call and talk to the city (employees) to get it set up with them,” Bless said. “I sent emails out to our club to make sure everybody showed up.”
Her mother, Dena Bless, said the 18 or so volunteers had to fill out waiver forms to do the volunteer work with the city. Two city employees showed up to supervise the effort. Dena said in the past the city workers had a trailer of equipment, but with budget cuts there were fewer tools available. Bless had to tell her fellow 4-Hers what types of equipment they would need and how to dress for the day. She said with all the volunteers, they were finished in about four hours.
The pruning of the rose garden is scheduled in February most years, when the bushes are dormant for the winter. Trimming back the branches leads to healthy blooms in the spring and summer. Bless encountered a little trouble when rain delayed the original day scheduled for the pruning.
“We had to cancel so close to it and it was pretty hard to change the date,” she said. “We had to make sure everybody got the news.”
Bless said she has been helping with the rose garden pruning since she joined 4-H five years ago. She looked up information online about pruning techniques and shared it with the other club members. Her mother said some of the parents also were able to offer guidance as the students worked on the garden. The students also weeded the garden and added mulch around the rose bushes.
Bless said she did most of the work of coordinating the project herself, though her mother helped to make sure she was organized and edited her emails before she sent them out. Bless coordinated with Marcelo Orta, a Hollister public works department official.
“It was great to work with Marcelo,” Dena said. “He is great with helping. I think they really appreciate the help because the staff has gotten so small with (budget) cuts.”
Orta said the 4-H group has been maintaining the garden for nine years. They pruned the rose bushes, cleaned up weeds and installed wood chips produced by the city’s tree trimming low limb program.
Though the plants are dormant right now, Bless said she always stops by once the roses are in bloom.
“We always go back and see how it looks,” Bless said.
