Martinsville’s makes good on their 30 in 30

Southwest Piedmont VA Master Naturalist Chapter Reports in on their 30 in 30 Grant

Thanks to the KVB grant and a community volunteers, tremendous improvements have been made in J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park.  Once considered an unsafe place for families, the stigma is slowly beginning to change as the park is restored to its natural beauty.

Over the past year, the primary focus of volunteer efforts were implementing natural and structural erosion control and the beautification of several areas that were very noticeable as visitors entered the park.  Before control measures and beautification efforts began, we gathered a group of children from a local afterschool program to test the soil quality. 

After several meetings with the local 4H extension officer, we drafted a landscape design for the layout of the bank, selected native shrubs and trees, and ordered 37.5 cubic yards of mulch to stabilize the bank.  Next, we met with the Martinsville Director of Parks and Recreation and identified where each shrub and plant would be planted.

Planting was completed in two stages: during a summer camp for high school students in July and at a cleanup event in partnership with the International Coastal Cleanup event in September.

The first planting was completed during a summer camp for high school students.  Approximately 15 students planted barberry shrubs and knockout roses, painted sign posts, removed graffiti, planted additional plants and spread mulch in a butterfly garden.  The second stage of planting was held in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup event.  Several of our partnering organizations (Rotary Club of Martinsville, Uptown Rotary Club, Bassett High School Interact Club, Friends of Wilson Park, and the Southwestern Piedmont Master Naturalists) came together to plant dogwood trees, barberry shrubs, spread mulch and remove trash.   Forty-eight volunteers contributed to the endeavor and 270 pounds of debris was collected.