Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens has a broad range of volunteer opportunities for gardeners of all experience and ability levels. There's a place for everybody!
We are always looking for volunteer leaders, help with outreach, tour guides and event planners. Most garden-related volunteer opportunities begin in April and end in November.
To sign up or learn more, please e-mail Julia Wilson, Program Coordinator, at Wilson.4615@osu.edu. Monthly virutal orientations are held on the 4th Thursday of the month from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. RSVP for an upcoming webinar here!
Weekly Garden Maintenance Volunteer Sessions (April - November):
- The Hosta & Lane Avenue Gardens: Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Volunteers provide garden maintenance, seasonal color changeouts, and curation of our Van Wade Hosta Collection; Forget Me Not Garden, Labyrinth Garden, Lane Avenue and Fyffe Road corner, and trellis entrance gardens. - The Cancer Survivors Plaza: 1st and 3rd Wednesdays 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Many people’s lives have been affected by cancer, which is why Chadwick Arboretum is proud to be providing maintenance of this plaza filled with inspirational messages. Volunteers are needed to provide time and energy to keep this important garden beautiful and thriving. - Learning Gardens: Thursdays 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Volunteers maintain the herbaceous and woody collections in our highly visited Learning Gardens. - Pollinator Habitat Restoration: Fridays, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Volunteers assist horticulture staff with invasive removal, laying paths, planning and planting pollinator habitat at our expansive and beautiful Arboretum North site. - Tree Mapping and Inventory: Fridays 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Volunteers assist horticulture staff to identify, tag, and inventory the trees and woody shrubs in the arboretum. This is a great opportunity to learn tree identification! - Biodiversity monitoring: Anytime
Help Chadwick Arboretum document the diversity of living (or previously living) organisms at the Arboretum North site. Upload your photos to a phone-based app called iNaturalist to submit photographs of plants, animals, fish, insects, birds or other living organisms found, to help our Arboretum understand our pollinator habitat, and give us clues on how to make improvements. No staff contact needed!
**For more information on volunteer opportunities, sign up for our mailing list by filling out our Volunteer Application!**