Volunteers LOVE VA at Canoe Run Park

Volunteers install native plants in the pollinator garden at Canoe Run ParkNovember 15th wrapped up our LOVE VA Fall cleanup campaign!  And we had the perfect project to complete before the campaign ended.

We spent a gorgeous Autumn Saturday at Canoe Run Park implementing the next phase of a plan that we had started last Fall.  Volunteers from CoStar, Capital Trees, the Richmond Chapter of Young Men’s Service League, as well as staff from Keep Virginia Beautiful and Richmond Parks and Rec got to work once again with shovels, mulch, and native trees and plants.

Canoe Run Park is a 300-acre park located near West 22nd Street in South Richmond that opened in 1990.  There’s a large, open grass area for football and other games that’s surrounded by a large, oval jogging trail.  During hot, humid Summer days, it was too sunny and hot to comfortably enjoy the park.

Men building wooden park benchesThat began to change in October, 2023, when CoStar’s sponsorship supported an effort to partner with Capital Trees, the City of Richmond’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities (PRCF) and volunteers planted 50 mature native trees!  A Spring maintenance workday provided inspection of the trees, the addition of mulch where needed, and planning for the next steps to make Canoe Run Park even more green and inviting.

The group of partners gathered again in November with forty volunteers to put this year’s plans into action.  Even though the trees were outfitted with Tree Diapers, with the drought our area had at the end of the growing season, some of the trees did not survive – but only five native plants needed to be replaced.  Mountains of mulch were spread, and eight park benches were built and set in place (in concrete) near the children’s playground for visitors to enjoy.

New too was a large area that was prepped and planted to be no mow pollinator garden! Native plants, 160 of them, were planted to invite pollinator butterflies and other insect wildlife to the area.  If you’d like to learn more about the value of native plants, visit the Virginia Native Plant Society.  And here’s a list of the native plants that were installed at Canoe Run Park if you’re interested in planting some in your yard or community garden.  Maybe you’ll get a chance to visit the pollinator garden in Springtime to see what’s blooming:

Eupatorium fistulosumSmall native plant with roots being installed in a pollinator garden
Eupatorium maculatum
Solidago Graminfolia
Hibiscus mochutoes
Amsonia hubrichtii
Baptisia tinctoria
Chelone glabra
Rudbeckia fulgida v. dreamii
Pycnanthemum muticum
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Veronia noveboracensis
Aster laevis
Aster o. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’
Helenium autumnale
Helenium flexuosum
Penstemon digitalis

It’s helpful to know the Latin plant names so that you can be sure you’re getting the correct variety when ordering or purchasing the plants, to be certain the native variety is being purchased.

It won’t be long before those 50 trees will provide shade to those visiting the park and sitting on the new benches.  Thanks to all for the great partnerships, support, and volunteer effort!