The forests, gardens, and lawns at IMS are a well-loved aspect of the retreat experience. Groundskeeper Dennis Rush and his wife, Nia, take care of these areas along with the entire facilities team. Thanks to their care, we all benefit from the serenity and beauty of our outdoor spaces.<\/p>\n
Each season of the year brings something unique to our natural surroundings, including the spring when the sounds and smells of the gas-powered lawn mower fill the air. Thanks to our generous donors, this past fall we replaced the old lawn mower with a new electric one. The new mower is better for the environment, more ergonomically friendly, and most importantly to the retreat experience, it\u2019s significantly less noisy and smelly.<\/p>\n
Although the team only got to try out the new mower a few times this year, it\u2019s already made a big difference for all. Here, Dennis fills us in on the new mower, gardening tips for the winter season at IMS, and how he got his start caring for the natural world.<\/p>\n
Tell us about the new electric lawn mower and how it\u2019s different than the old gas-powered one.<\/strong><\/p>\n It takes more than seven hours to mow all the lawns at IMS, including at the Retreat Center, the Forest Refuge, and Gaston Pond. A lot of time is spent mowing, especially in the spring and early summer, when the grass needs to be mowed every week.<\/p>\n The biggest problem with the old Scorpion gas mower was the noise. Because we wanted to be mindful of disturbing the retreatants, we were always concerned about when we mowed. And trying to mow all the grass in between every retreat was difficult and we couldn\u2019t always do it. So, there were times when it could be noisy for the yogis. The new mower is ninety percent quieter, so it gives us the ability to mow at any time.<\/p>\n Another big difference is how smooth the new one runs and how much more comfortable it is to operate. You had to stand to operate the old mower, so it wasn\u2019t as safe or comfortable. And with fewer vibrations and better shock absorption, it\u2019s easier on the body for the operator.<\/p>\n Commercial gas mowers like our old Scorpion need a lot more maintenance too. We\u2019ve had it since 2009 and the engine and some other parts have had to be replaced over the years. We’re expecting a lot less maintenance with the new one. And, of course, there’s no gas or oil to deal with which is great. You just plug it in, it charges overnight, and it\u2019s good for about six hours of mowing. So, it\u2019s a lot better for the environment!<\/p>\n Tell us about some of the preparations needed on the IMS grounds to get ready for winter.<\/strong><\/p>\n We do a lot at this time of year to get ready for the springtime when things are busy. Leaf removal is a big project at this time of year. In the areas where there are a lot of trees, we collect the leaves to protect the lawns and gardens. Too many leaves can suffocate plants and kill the grass. We also cut back the perennial beds to help them come up in the spring. We don\u2019t cut everything. For some of the roses and other plants, we let the winter weather do the work and then we cut them back in the spring.<\/p>\n Yogis will notice that some of the plants in front of the meditation hall are wrapped in burlap to protect them against the west wind.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll also add lime to a few spots on the lawn where the soil is acidic. This raises the pH\u2014making it more alkaline\u2014which allows the soil to better absorb nutrients.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also started to renovate the Buddha garden (near the parking lot, behind the fence). This area had been a bit neglected partly due to the Covid lockdown when we had fewer people working. We\u2019re starting to spruce it up and we\u2019ll do more in that area in the spring.<\/p>\n Snow and ice can be another big part of the retreat experience at IMS. How do you prepare for the Massachusetts\u2019 winter?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ice is one of our biggest challenges. We want to make sure yogis are safe on the steps and the paths, so it\u2019s important to keep everything clean with so many people walking around.<\/p>\n We keep the buckets on the sidewalks filled with sand or salt so that we\u2019re ready when the ice and snow come. And anyone can put the sand out, even some of the yogis do it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re also getting the snow blowers ready. We have a snowplow, but a local company does most of the heavy snowplowing. But we have at least four snowblowers, so we do a lot of snow blowing.<\/p>\n How did you start doing this type of work? And how did it lead you to IMS?<\/strong><\/p>\n As a kid, I did a lot of gardening work. Eventually, I went to forestry school at Paul Smith\u2019s College in upstate New York. In my 20s, I worked for the Forestry Service as a seasonal worker. I\u2019ve also worked at plant and tree nurseries, and I\u2019ve done a lot of landscaping work. That\u2019s where I met Nia\u2014on a landscape crew in Watertown, CT.<\/p>\n I was working for the Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire before coming to IMS. While living in New Hampshire, we both got interested in Buddhism and were involved in some sanghas in the area. One year, they weren\u2019t going to hire us back and Nia looked at the IMS website, and there was a job being offered, so that\u2019s how we came here. And now we live at Gaston Pond. We\u2019ve been at IMS for more than eight years.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the first sign that spring has arrived for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I know spring is here when the forsythia starts to bloom. That\u2019s when I notice more yogis coming outside. And the crocuses and the apple buds are a tell-tale sign too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A conversation with IMS groundskeeper Dennis Rush The forests, gardens, and lawns at IMS are a well-loved aspect of the retreat experience. Groundskeeper Dennis Rush and his wife, Nia, take care of these areas along with the entire facilities team. Thanks to their care, we all benefit from the serenity and beauty of our outdoor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":19739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-19703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ims-giving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"