As Austin anticipates spring, the team at Waterloo Greenway works to ensure that the park flourishes. Their mid-February efforts of pruning, planting and preparing 11 acres near Meredith Heritage Tree Deck will pay off by October, when perennials fully bloom and butterflies grace the landscape.
On Feb. 17, Waterloo Greenway hosted Spring Park Prep — a series of hands-on gardening volunteer workshops — and collaborated with locals to impact Austin’s urban oasis. Originally planned as a five-day schedule, inclement weather led to the cancellation of the last session. Adriane Horne, horticulture supervisor for Waterloo Greenway, said she enjoys nurturing the plants and loves seeing recurring volunteers care for the park.
“I love having all the people out here,” Horne said. “We have some garden club members (and members of the public) come out and help us every other week with weeds.”
While the team and volunteers work to clean the park and support the ecosystem, Martin Nembhard, director of park operations, said the professional landscaping services complete any unfinished tasks.
“Once a year, when we do the annual cutback to allow for new growth to emerge in the spring and the summer, we do fold in a volunteer effort,” Nembhard said. “It’s just fantastic to see people come out having an interest in nature, having an interest in the project and just helping to keep something that everybody can enjoy.”
Waterloo Greenway’s efforts go beyond aesthetics, utilizing reclaimed water for irrigation and abstaining from pesticides and herbicides.
“Everybody should feel welcome within the (park),” Nembhard said. “They should be able to enjoy it, and at the same time, they should be inspired to take care of it as well.”
Austin resident Sharla Smith said the sense of community pushed her to volunteer. Smith attended monarch tagging events, the fundraising Pop-Up Picnics and concerts held at Waterloo before deciding to get her hands in the soil.
“I love gardening first and foremost,” Smith said. “It’s hard for a woman, when they’re not working full time, to meet new people. So, I thought I’d meet people like me.”
Horne said getting involved in gardening and immersing oneself in nature proves restoring and beneficial to mental health, especially living in downtown Austin.
“If you live in a high rise and you don’t have a yard, come down here,” Horne said. “Enjoy being outside, enjoy being in nature. You’ll see everything out here that you wouldn’t normally get to see.”
