A subgroup of the Garden Ministry (Nancy Bell, Dean Fischer, Jill Foucré and Jennifer Umlauf), in coordination with Property & Grounds, have completed an analysis of what it will take to eradicate a very severe invasive weed issue in almost all of the church gardens. We have attempted unsuccessfully for several years to combat this by hand with volunteers and after significant research, have reached the conclusion that the only effective method that will be successful is to take the following steps:
- completely remove and discard* all existing plant material throughout all of the gardens (except those just outside the chapel doors)
- remove and discard 12″ of soil
- replace the soil with landscape fabric and new, clean soil and a 6″ layer of mulch
- let the areas sit dormant for 12 months to ensure that no weeds will re-emerge in those areas
*The plants need to be discarded because their roots are entwined with invasive weeds and their seeds.
In the late spring of 2027, the entire property will be replanted with new plants and a new landscape design that will be more conducive to ongoing maintenance, which will be handled professionally. This “dig and smother” approach has been tested on the gardens outside the chapel and has been successful and we believe will have the best chance of success for the rest of the property.
In the coming days, we will have visuals in the Welcome Area that will show more detail about this project, which is scheduled to begin on May 18th. The two Peace poles will be carefully removed during the process. The pole on the south lawn that needs to be restored will be worked on and the one in the west garden will be reset while the garden is dormant.
While it will create a dramatic change to the look of the property while we are in the dormant phase, we will be moving towards a final result that is much more in keeping with the beauty and condition of our building. As a part of this, we have also begun organic treatment of the lawn for weed control and will be placing the maintenance of the trees on the property under a regular professional maintenance schedule. All portions of this project were presented to and approved by the Church Council at the April 16th meeting.
As we get closer to the replanting phase of the project, we will share more detailed information about what that will look like. If there are any questions, please feel free to talk to any member of the project team. Thanks in advance for your support of this exciting project!
