Park maintenance is never dull. One day our staff may be repairing a broken toilet and the next we’re laying sod at the dog park. Then there are days when Mother Nature decides what we will be doing. This was definitely the case this spring. Everyone expects a little bit of rain in the spring, […]

When you hear a barred owl calling “whooo, who cooks for you?” in the woods, chances are it’s calling from a nest cavity in the limb of a dying tree. When you see the bright red head of a woodpecker as it streaks through the forest, chances are it’s flying from the home it excavated […]

While visiting the Tech Centre at Glenwood Gardens the other day, something shimmering in the sunshine caught my eye outside the lunch room window. Flying insects were swarming thickly above the boxwood shrubs in the landscape bed next to the building. Upon closer inspection, I saw a spider web thickly covered with insects, which I […]

Recently I had the opportunity to walk The Vineyard Golf Course with Great Parks’ landscape manager Jerry Frankenhoff and Woodland Mound’s assistant park manager Jason Rahe. Jerry made our mission clear before we even stepped foot on the first hole: we were to assess each one of the treated ash trees on the course – […]

One of the things that makes Great Parks such an amazing organization to work for is the dedication to its mission statement: To preserve and protect natural resources and to provide outdoor reaction and education in order to enhance the quality of life for present and future generations. Every day I go to work, I […]

Winter is a wonderful time for getting all caught up on all the small things that seem to not get done during the peak season in the parks. After keeping up with all the regular routines, there is now time for major cleaning, painting, tree care, stripping and waxing floors and organizing lots of small […]

Great Parks’ mission is to “preserve and protect natural resources” as well as “provide outdoor recreation.” While some might think those ideals would be at odds on a golf course, the truth is that it’s possible to blend environmentally responsible maintenance practices in our day-to-day operations. To help ensure that we hit the mark, Great […]

One of the best things about being a part of Great Parks’ operations department is knowing that we help provide a space for people to connect with nature. A place to relax, reflect and refresh. A place to get away from the daily grind. So where do WE go when we want to get away […]