Balboa Park Garden Stewards

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 City of San Diego and other horticultural organizations in Balboa Park 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 volunteer in the gardens at least 2 times a month and complete up to 8 hours of training. Garden Stewards can select from volunteer shifts on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays in the morning; each volunteer day is typically from 8 am-11am. 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
• Mulching
• Planting container stock
• Perennial & annual flower care and deadheading
• 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 Forever Balboa Park staff of need for supplies and tools.
• Other Gardening duties as assigned