Scout Projects Are Welcome at Wagner Farm Arboretum

Scouts and their projects are welcome at Wagner Farm Arboretum. These Eagle Scouts investigate needs and project options before selecting and fully documenting their proposed project for WFA. Throughtout the entire design/approve/build/install process, the scouts partner with parents, their troop leadership, the WFA Board of Trustees and Warren Township executives. Once built, the scouts deliver their creations to the arboretum for the benefit of the visiting public. Their work has been exceptionally executed and integrates nicely into the natural beauty of the land and plants at the arboretum.

Over the years, Wagner Farm Arboretum has been home to several Eagle Scout projects. The arboretum welcomes these projects and appreciates the hard work that goes into each and every one of them. Each project delivers a learning experience with opportunities to develop project ideas, make a selection, consider several designs, sitings and installations. WFA is proud to have been chosen by the scouts to be the recipient of their labor.

Krisha Gurram is the son of WFA gardeners, Lakshmi and Srinivas Gurram. For his Eagle Scout project, Krisha built 2 picnic tables with seating that he placed inside The Children’s Garden near the gazebo. The tables and seats are a place to have a leisurely lunch or to take a break surrounded by the quiet sounds of nature; they can also be used by parents as a place for activities with their children. The tables are an asset the garden needed and with Krishna’s project, that need was fulfilled. We know they’ll be well used and appreciated. Krishna also created a stained bench that is in place in The Children’s Garden Learning Center and will be used as classroom seating.

Elliot Baratta delivered a most generous Eagle Scout project to WFA. He built 6 standing/raised planter beds for WFA’s new Senior Garden. Additionally, Elliot built and installed 4 beautifully crafted benches in The Children’s Garden, placing them around the existing musical instruments, which will allow parents and grandparents the opportunity to sit and relax while enjoying the music made by children. He also installed large stepping stones to function as an entry point into the area.

Tyler Eng, pictured above, added his Eagle Scout project to the WFA Children’s Garden. Tyler built and recently installed two purple martin birdhouses in the garden. The birdhouses are large, so Tyler’s project encompassed the birdhouse design, the selection of materials, the build, the installation of a 20 foot pole with footings, and a pulley system to hoist the birdhouses 15 feet off the ground. Purple martins are day feeding insect eaters and are songbirds…both a reason to seek them out and welcome them into the garden with new homes.