UW native plant nursery hopes new hoop house is just the beginning

Photo of a hoop-style greenhouse with an open door.

At 15 feet tall, the new hoop house for the Society for Ecological Restoration's UW Chapter (SER-UW) serves as a reminder of all the hard work 50 student volunteers put in over the course of six days.

Working eight to ten hour shifts, students from UW’s Construction Management department, Sigma Lambda Chi and volunteers from SER-UW set out to construct a 30 foot by 48 foot hoop house at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Now, the student run native plant nursery has room for about 5,000 plants in the hoop house.

Native Plant Sale on May 1

The UW Society for Ecological Restoration's Native Plant Nursery is hosting a Native Plant Sale this weekend. On Sunday, May 1, come out to the Douglas Research Conservatory at the Center for Urban Horticulture from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and support your local, student-run nursery. They will be selling a variety of native plants, including Douglas Fir, Vanilla Leaf, Salmonberry and many more!

Native plant nursery internships

The UW student chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration’s (SER-UW) native plant nursery is located on campus at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH). It is a student run operation that provides plants to the on-campus restoration projects that SER-UW manages. This year, with the support of a Campus Sustainability Fund grant, the nursery is expanding by building a new hoop house, growing more plants from seed and cuttings, and increasing its opportunities for volunteer involvement.

Native Plant Nursery intern wanted

The UW Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration has two open student internship positions for the winter quarter. The interns will work with SER-UW's native plant nursery and could fill a variety of roles, depending on the applicants.  The nursery is located on campus at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH). It is a student run operation that provides plants to the on-campus restoration projects that SER-UW manages.

UW group encourages restoration projects on campus

You may not have noticed, but as you walk around the UW campus more of those plants and flowers at your feet are species native to Puget Sound.

That’s because UW’s Society for Ecology Restoration student guild (SER-UW) native plant nursery has been working to restore areas on campus by increasing native species biodiversity and creating open spaces for students to engage with the natural world just steps from their residence halls. 

Get your hands dirty this weekend

Interested in getting out and working in the dirt this weekend? You're in luck! Saturday and Sunday there are ways for you to get out and help with campus efforts.

On Saturday, the UW Farm is having a work party at their Center for Urban Horticulture site, and just a stone's throw away the Yesler Swamp Project is also going to be working on restoration of the swamp area. Both events start at 10 a.m. For details see these links: