Volunteers plant flowers at Birch Grove and Tolland Intermediate School

A small, but dedicated group of about 10 parents, students and faculty gathered at the Birch Grove Primary and Tolland Intermediate schools Saturday afternoon to plant some new gardens.

Hosted by the Tolland Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization’s Beautification Committee, the spring clean up day was a chance to invest some time and add color and vibrancy to the school’s grounds.

Victoria Nicholas, 11, a student at Tolland Middle School, struggled to cut through a patch of pesky roots with her shovel as she dug a trench where a line of flowers would be planted at the primary school. Just a plot or two away Birch Grove Assistant Principal Michael Moynihan and Karen Kies, one of the school's secretaries, worked on their own projects.

Kies said that different organizations like the PTO have taken it upon themselves to help maintain the garden plots. Committee Chairwoman Cheryl Nicholas had hoped for more volunteers, but that those interested will have another opportunity to get their hand dirty in the soil at the schools within the next couple of weeks. 

The Beautification Committee had done some planting at TIS in the fall, and the committee is planning to adopt the patch of land they were working today, Nicholas said, making it responsible for its upkeep.

The group’s long-term goal is to plant a variety of perennials in each plot and surround them with small stone river rock to create a self-sustaining garden with minimal weeds.

"We're trying to spruce it up a little bit," Nicholas said. "These are very hardy plants, and they will keep growing back year after year."

Two students from Tolland High School Vision Club, Beatrice White-Amirez and Nike Oyelola, joined the group and were attentive as Nicholas helped teach the pair how to plant, instructing them to make small dirt mounds around each newly-planted flower for support. 

Both girls said that they enjoyed gardening and would return to volunteer the next time the PTO needs help.

"My grandfather had a garden so I knew a little about it," White-Amirez said. 

Both said they thought the experience they were gaining would be useful in the future. 

"My sister and I have been trying to do more gardening this year," Oyelola said. "So I've been researching it a little bit."

To make the initiative possible, area businesses donated everything from the plants to landscaping materials, and volunteers brought their own gardening tools and set aside a couple hours to get the work done.

Area greenhouses gave the PTO a discount on the azaleas and sedums that were put in a plot near the entrance of Birch Grove.

Creative Exteriors of Tolland supplied the organization with the river rock that volunteers will help spread some time during the next two weeks.

Some mature flowers were uprooted from the former Parker Memorial School and transplanted at TIS.

Volunteers also helped plant ornamental grass patches that Nicholas said were donated by a parent last fall.

The town donated the dirt and mulch the volunteers were using. 

Nicholas said that the Beautification Committee will focus on weeding and laying down the river rock at both plots in the future. For more details contact Nicholas 860-870-9722.