How to become a Volunteer
The generous support of our volunteers and members is invaluable in helping us create and maintain this beautiful garden, which has been a mainstay of the community for over 40 years.

Volunteers are very welcome at all levels of gardening ability (including none!). By volunteering and/or becoming a member, you help the garden flourish.

Volunteering includes pruning and shaping plants, weeding, mowing, trimming the paths and borders, deadheading spent blossoms, and so much more. We work with volunteers throughout the season in supervised weekend sessions.

About guided volunteer sessions in the garden:
When: Saturday mornings from 10:00 to noon, weather permitting (with select Sunday sessions), from early spring into November

Where: Riverside Park Promenade @ 91st Street. Meet by the gate of the Octagon garden.

To sign up as a volunteer, please click this link:
 The Garden People New Volunteer Sign Up Form

Or, for more information before signing up, please email by clicking this link:
  [email protected]

The annual Garden People volunteer work calendar:
April through May: Spring cleaning: Clearing plots of debris, transplanting, and preparing plots for the spring and summer ahead. Also weeding, pruning, composting, planting summer annuals, and basic maintenance including mowing, trimming edges, and clearing the paths.
June-September: Continued maintenance, weeding, etc. Planting seeds and summer annuals.
September-mid-November: Winterizing the garden: pruning, cutting, clearing plots, planting spring bulbs, and more.

We also have at least two full membership Work Days each year—one in Spring and one in Fall—when we take care of larger-scale garden maintenance such as turning our compost, cleaning our tools, clearing our paths, painting our fences, and more.