Digging in the Dirt: April Planting and Chapter Projects
April planting and chapter highlights
North Carolina Wildlife Federation staff and Community Wildlife Chapter volunteers did a whole lot of dirt-digging, planting, community education and litter collecting in April to promote healthy wildlife habitat and get people outside. Director of Conservation Partnerships Tara Moore shares updates below.
Bridges Elementary School Planting (South Wake Conservationists): Volunteers from the South Wake Conservationists worked with students at Bridges Elementary School on April 1 to re-plant a shade garden outside of the school. The garden was filled with 80 shade-tolerant native plants.
Carolina Beach Pollinator Re-planting and Cleanup (Island Wildlife Chapter): The Island Wildlife Chapter organized a fun planting day on April 8 with students from Carolina Beach Elementary school as well as a simultaneous cleanup with Island Women. Their collected efforts aided in 570 pollinator plugs getting planted as well as the removal of 35 pounds of trash.
Bull City Trailblazers Cleanup and Planting at Merrick-Moore Community Garden: The Bull City Trailblazers partnered up with the Merrick-Moore Community and Keep Durham Beautiful on April 9 to plant some blackberry shrubs at the Merrick-Moore Community garden and cleaned up approximately 125 pounds of trash.
South Wake Conservationists Lillington Cleanup: Five South Wake volunteers and NCWF staff walked along a road in Lillington on April 9 and cleaned up approximately 430 pounds of trash and recycling! This weight contributed to the Neighborhood Cleanup Challenge goal.
Earthshare Planting (Yates Mill County Park): Earthshare volunteers from The Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice, Jr. joined the South Wake Conservationists on April 14 for a day of service at Yates Mill County Park, adding 170 perennial plants and 45 native shrubs to the park to increase pollinator habitat.
Earthshare Cleanup (Future Beech Bluffs County Park): Forty volunteers with Murphy’s Natural joined the NCWF and Wake County Big Sweep coordinators for a major cleanup on April 14 at the site of the future Beech Bluffs County Park. A total of 208 tires were removed as well as scrap metal and other debris. A total of 7,620 pounds of trash in total was collected and removed and the tires were taken by Wake County for recycling. These efforts were added to this year’s Neighborhood Cleanup Challenge total.
Merrick-Moore Pollinator Garden Planting (Bull City Trailblazers): NCWF’s Bull City Trailblazers chapter partnered with Durham Parks and Rec on April 22 to plant a total of 632 native perennials and grasses in the future Merrick-Moore Park in Durham. This habitat work was funded by Burt’s Bees to create and restore habitat for pollinators in the Durham area.
Island Wildlife Chapter Flytrap Brewing Blooms Event: The Island Wildlife Chapter hosted a Carnivorous Plant Workshop at a festival on April 24 to teach about carnivorous plants in the Cape Fear Region and to educate about the importance of preserving habitat and wildlife.
Optimal Equity Headquarters Planting (Neuse River Hawks): The Neuse River Hawks planted a total of 53 additional plants to Optimal Equity Headquarters on April 25 to finish out their proof of concept for the use of native plants to enhance the beauty and habitat of urban spaces. The NRH pollinator program aims to educate and partner with developers in order to establish the use of native plants in future landscape designs.
3 ways to support wildlife habitat
- Download our Habitat Restoration Volunteer Toolkit to learn how you can organize trash clean-up and planting events in your community.
- Sign up for our weekly Butterfly Highway newsletter, which has everything you need to know about pollinators and native plants for your yard and where to buy them.
- Explore our Events Calendar to find out where NCWF and our Wildlife Community Chapters are hosting habitat restoration activities near you.