Project EverGreen, partnering with Ruppert Nurseries, the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., and the National Park Service, came together to organize and support station partners and community volunteers in a large-scale effort to restore and renew the Columbus Plaza Garden landscape.

The restoration of Union Station Garden in Washington, D.C., included replanting more than 600 new junipers and ornamental grass plants. Photos courtesy of Ruppert Nurseries

In celebration of National Public Lands Day, Union Station's Columbus Plaza recently received a complete face lift. Project EverGreen, Ruppert Nurseries, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, and the National Park Service, organized and supported station partners and community volunteers as they enriched the garden at Union Station, located in Washington, D.C.

Restoration efforts included laying new grass seed, weeding, mulching, power washing the hardscape and more to provide Union Station with the grand entrance it deserves.

Union Station and the Columbus Plaza facing the station's main entrance are uniquely situated in one of the city's busiest and most historic addresses at the foot of Capitol Hill.

Union Station Redevelopment Corp. funded the plants' costs and coordinated the participation of more than 20 staff and community volunteers to install the plantings in collaboration with NPS, Project EverGreen and its contractor volunteer partner, DC area-based Ruppert Nurseries, which delivered the nursery stock and mulch, and donated onsite crew labor and project oversight of USRC volunteers. NPS National Mall staff provided the removal of dead plants, site preparation and tools needed by the nearly 30 combined donor volunteers at the Columbus Plaza Garden. The in-kind donations of nursery stock, organic materials, equipment, and labor preparation and planting from all of the participating contributors totaled more than $30,000 in value.

"Given the sheer scope of this landscaping enhancement, we're grateful to our volunteers, the NPS staff and Project EverGreen's partnership with Ruppert Nurseries, without whom this needed restoration of Union Station's Columbus Plaza Garden would not have been possible," said Corinne Schieffer, outreach and communications manager at USRC.

Project EverGreen also worked with Ruppert Nurseries, the German Embassy and the National Park Service earlier this year to revitalize the German-American Friendship Garden at the Washington Monument entry.

"Preserving and enhancing national green space treasures, like the Union Station's Columbus Plaza or the German-American Friendship Garden, is part of Project EverGreen's mission to promote the value of well-maintained green spaces," said Cindy Code, Project EverGreen's executive director.