Gardening & Landscaping - Pot and Tray Washing Day

Pot & Tray Washing Day

Did you know the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department has a Free Native Plants to Schools and Community Projects program? Since the program began, we have distributed more than 37,000 plants. Many of these plants are grown by volunteers! In an effort to reduce plastic waste and lower program costs, we try to reuse plant pots and trays each year. To do this, we sanitize the pots to reduce the risk of spreading pathogens or plant diseases. These supplies will be used for the 2025 growing program.

Location: 

Dane County Parks, Operations Facility - 4212 Robertson Rd. Madison, WI 53714 

It is the western building on the lower lot. Meet at the front door.

 

How to Prepare: 

What to Know:

We will assign volunteer roles at the event. 

  • Scrubber – use a dry brush to remove any dirt, roots or debris from the pots/trays and put them into a laundry basket to prep for sanitizing. Volunteers can stand or be seated at a table.
  • Sanitizer – once a laundry basket is full of pots, dip it into a water rinse bath then into the sanitizer. Keep track of the time it is in the sanitizer and remove when done. Volunteers will work in teams to lift the baskets out of the sanitizer bath. This volunteer may get a little wet.
  • Dryer – remove the pots and lay them out on tables to dry overnight.
  • Floater – jump in and help out where needed in case one part of the process is getting backed up.

What to Wear: 

This event might be a little wet and messy so wear clothes you don’t mind getting wet! We will provide gloves, glasses, and an apron for volunteers working with the sanitizer. Boots or waterproof shoes are highly recommended.

Accessibility: 

We will be working in a heated building with bathroom access and a water fountain.

 

Questions?

 

Schedule Summary

This activity has the following schedule


Date Start Time End Time
Monday, February 24, 2025 9:00 AM 12:00 PM
Monday, February 24, 2025 1:00 PM 3:00 PM