In a sign of spring, finally, volunteers have begun cleaning up the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, said Darrah Cole, a horticulturist at the Greenway.
Cole was joined by eight volunteers on Wednesday to cut grass, prune rose bushes, and prepare the ground for a fresh layer of mulch, she said. Cole said they ventured out at 8:30 a.m. and finished near noon.
“Usually, we start in mid-March,” she said. “We actually had an event March 11, but had to cancel it because there weren’t enough areas uncovered from snow.”
The heavy snow covering the shrubs caused many of their branches to fall off, Cole said, creating a need for more cleanup than usual.
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“We peel back winter and spring emerges,” said Keelin Purcell, volunteer coordinator for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.
The group can accommodate up to 15 volunteers, Purcell said. She said this is “just one way people can get their hands dirty in the parks.”
The Greenway releases a calendar of cleanup days on the Web where people can sign up. People can also sign up through the nonprofit Boston Cares, which focuses on volunteering in the Greater Boston area. Purcell said there were two people Wednesday who have been volunteering since 2009.
“We are excited to be finally out there,” she said. “We had to skip around a lot [around the park] and we are keeping an eye out on the forecast.”
Rebecca Fiore can be reached at rebecca.fiore@globe.com.