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Not all gardeners are used to changing their gardens with the seasons, but the city of Lincoln has a routine for prepping its gardens for winter weather.

Every fall, employees remove all the plants at the Sunken Gardens and host an event called “Put the Beds to Bed.”

This year, the annual event was on Nov. 4. Every year, Lincoln Parks and Recreation invites volunteers to dump compost into the beds and turn over the soil. Parks employees remove all flowers and plants before this volunteer event.

“Specifically, we try to get everything in there before the hard freeze,” said Zac Halley, public gardens district supervisor for the City of Lincoln.

According to data, Lincoln had its first freeze on Oct. 27 with 20 degrees, about two weeks later than the average first freeze date, according to data from Plant Maps.

Halley said the purpose of turning over the soil is to avoid compaction. Overly compact soil makes it difficult for water to infiltrate the ground, which is harmful to any plants in the soil.

“Every foot of soil will be turned as deep as a shovel so that exposes everything to the air,” Halley said.

Turning the soil also exposes unwanted creatures like nematodes (worms) to the cold air, which helps rid them from the soil before the spring planting.

Employees turn some plants and flowers into compost, which can be added to the soil in the spring. They keep a lot of the tropical flowers in greenhouses over the winter.

“Pineapple lilies, elephant ears, a lot of other things – over winter we will save them for the next season and reuse them again. It saves the city a ton of money,” Halley said.

There are two ponds with koi fish at the Sunken Gardens. Halley said park employees drop heaters into both ends of the ponds to keep the ice off the top over the winter so the fish can stay.

Halley said around 40 or 50 volunteers usually attend the “Put the Beds to Bed” event. It starts with a short training, but Halley said most volunteers won’t need it.

“A lot of the volunteers have done this several times in the past, but if you have not, we’ll show everybody what we’re expecting and go from there,” Halley said.

He said volunteers are the ones who make the event possible.

“Our crew is very small, and trying to get everything turned and the soil prepped before freezing is a challenge. So, we appreciate all the community and volunteers and their help on this,” Halley said.

Veteran volunteer Cheryl Rourke decided to take on gardening following her retirement in 2015.

“I wanted to be active because I had been all my working life, and I liked the idea of being outdoors,” Rourke said. “And I wanted to meet new people, and I’ve met all those goals by any stretch of the imagination.”

Growing up in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, Rourke spent much of her time inside her grandmother’s garden. Watching and learning from both her paternal grandmother and mother, Rourke developed a green thumb.

“It just seemed that everyone should have a garden,” Rourke said.

Rourke carried this notion throughout her life, always tending to her small personal garden, and eventually joined the Master Gardener program with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Although you don’t need to be one of UNL’s master gardeners to work at the Sunken Gardens, Rourke spoke about the immense efforts needed in executing the garden’s intrinsic designs, especially with the start of the gardening season.

“When this growing season is over, we have to start getting ready for the next season right away,” Rourke said.

According to Rourke, UNL does a lot of the garden’s landscape architecture, helping to bring the garden artists’ visions to life.

“I think it’s pretty fascinating to just watch how they do that and to get to be a part of putting that all together,” Rourke said. “And then, lo and behold, it turns out pretty much just like they thought it would because they know what they’re doing.”

Volunteering now for close to a decade, Rourke has seen the creation of many different botanical designs at the garden but can’t pick a favorite.

“Every year is better than the last,” Rourke said.

Also a docent for the garden, Rourke said she enjoys engaging with the community and answering any questions they might have about the design and the flowers implemented.

Each year, Rourke is eager to learn what the design will be, often left waiting for the reveal with the rest of the community.

“I have a hint about it, but they don’t tell us anything about it,” Rourke said. “They like it to be a community surprise.”

Halley said supporting spaces like the Sunken Gardens is a great way for people to invest in their local community.

“Their help is key in this garden’s success and gives them ownership of the garden. It helps Lincoln be a better community,” Halley said.