The Okanagan Xeriscape Association is looking to hire a new garden manager/volunteer coordinator.
It’s a part-time position for the spring and summer gardening seasons, with an added emphasis in the spring to prepare for the association’s primary fundraising event, the annual plant sale.
There is also the physical demands of maintaining the UnH2O Demonstration Garden at the Mission sports complex on Gordon Drive which includes weeding, deadheading, pruning, mulching and propagating.
The successful candidate must also possess the communication and organizational skills to support and encourage volunteers.
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Sigrie Kendrick, executive director of the Okanagan Xeriscape Association and a Black Press xeriscape gardening columnist, said the job opportunity, which someone else had done for the past four years, reflects the association’s continued growth.
“This is a part-time position in that things pretty much slow down over winter but it does get crazy busy in the spring leading up to the plant sale,” Kendrick said.
Another new feature launching this week is the redesign of the association’s website, which has been given a face-lift for the first time in 11 years.
“We went live on Monday and the design looks shiny and new so I’m super happy to see that,” Kendrick noted.
She said the website now boasts a plant directory inventory of more than 400 xeriscape-friendly plants.
“I think there is a growing awareness among young people about gardening because they are very savvy about environmental issues,” she said.
Curbing gardeners’ enthusiasm for watering when it isn’t necessary remains an ongoing quest for the association, which continues to work in partnership with the Okanagan Basin Water Board on water conservation programs like the OkanaganWaterWise initiative.
“It’s always difficult when people look out at (Okanagan Lake) and think water supply isn’t really an issue. But there has been a growing awareness in recent years from educating people about the realities of excessive water use,” she said.
Resumes for the job opening with the association can be emailed to admin@okanaganxeriscape.org.