Garden Steward

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The goal of the Garden Steward Position is to help the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation and Forever Balboa Park staff by assisting in routine garden maintenance of more than 20 magnificent gardens within Balboa Park. This volunteer position helps restore and maintain gardens to their historical and botanical glory.

Forever Balboa Park proudly partners with The San Diego Floral Association, the Friends of Balboa Park, and The Waterwise Gardener to provide botanical, horticultural, and landscape design experts to lead teams of volunteer Garden Stewards who work together to tend, host and enhance each public garden in the Park. Garden Stewards are asked to make a one-year minimum commitment to work in their assigned area once each week or in some cases once every other week and complete up to 8 hours of training. In efforts to track the return on investment, Garden Stewards are required to track their donated time through Volgistics software. Garden Stewards help with weeding, mulching, planting, dead-heading, and other routine garden maintenance. In some instances, Garden Stewards also serve as garden hosts, greeting visitors and answering their questions, providing a positive presence in the gardens where they are working.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitoring the garden regularly
• Weed identification and removal/control and mulching
• Planting container stock and deadheading
• Perennial & annual flower and grass care
• Additional garden maintenance deemed appropriate by Parks and Recreation
• Acting as the eyes and ears for the Park and alerting staff of any maintenance or repairs required, irrigation issues, vandalism, etc.,
• Notifying conservancy staff of need for supplies and tools.
• Other Gardening duties as assigned