Get Involved
Become a Member, Volunteer, or Donor.
You can support Darts Hill Garden by becoming an annual member of the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society. For a low fee, your annual membership provides many benefits including opportunities to provide input into decisions affecting the Garden and to enjoy additional time in the Garden on days not open to the general public.
An advantage of becoming a member of the DHGCTS is that you save money when shopping for plants and garden supplies. Members receive a discount (usually 10%) on purchases upon showing their membership card at select garden centres. These are:
Note: Membership must be current, and card must be shown before purchase is rung up. Valid for regularly priced items and may not be valid for all purchases.
Volunteering at Darts Hill Garden Park is a wonderful way to contribute to your community. All Darts Hill Garden volunteers are members of the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society (DHGCTS). If you are not a member and would like to volunteer, please become a member of the Society first.
Ensuring that Darts Hill Garden Park continues as a venue for learning is the purpose and the primary responsibility of the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society to the general public. It is in keeping with the Society’s constitution that the garden is ‘to be a place of horticultural learning’. Our volunteers all play a significant role in helping Darts Hill Garden Park function smoothly. They enjoy educating the public about plants, horticulture and Mr. and Mrs. Darts’ legacy. Every volunteer group, from Ambassador Tour Guides to the Workshop Coordinating Group, assists in making Darts Hill Garden Park a place of horticultural learning.
Whether you have just a few hours per year or significantly more time to help out, your contribution will be much appreciated. You’ll receive training, and you’ll be sure to enjoy your hours spent in the peaceful oasis of Darts Hill Garden Park amid a like group of friendly, helpful volunteers. Our volunteer groups include:
Darts Hill Garden is the result of over 75 years of work and dedication guided by the clear vision of Francisca Darts. Along with her husband Edwin, Francisca took a logged piece of land, turned it first into an award-winning orchard and then into the unique garden that is Darts Hill Garden Park today.
Francisca’s curiosity and love of the new and interesting has resulted in the most diverse collection of mature tree and shrub species in the Pacific Northwest. Many were planted from seed collected from around the world.
In 1994 Edwin and Francisca Darts donated their 7.5-acre garden to the City of Surrey and its citizens. Their intention was to give Surrey its own garden to be used as a horticultural centre for the preservation, enhancement, and development of plants. The non-profit Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society works in partnership with the City of Surrey towards these goals.
The Volunteer Engagement Coordinator provides volunteer coordination and administrative support to the DHGCTS board, for various events and programs throughout the year.
2 hours per week. A 1 year commitment is requested.
Authority/Decision Making:
Must be comfortable making decisions and problem solving with minimal supervision.
After training and mentoring, the volunteers in this group work with the public in interpreting the history, development, and importance of this plantsman’s garden. They can be identified in Darts Hill Garden Park by their friendly faces and pink pashminas (scarves). Depending on experience, the members of this group will serve in one or more of the following roles:
(a) Guide ambassadors – wander at large in the garden, interacting with visitors, offering information, and answering questions about Mr. and Mrs. Darts, the garden, its plants, and its development.
(b) Leisure tour guides – guide one-hour tours on public open days or two-hour private tours to family, community, or seniors’ groups.
(c) Golf cart guides – take up to three people on one-hour golf cart tours through the garden.
(d) Horticultural guides – provide two-hour tours to knowledgeable groups such as garden clubs, arborists, and horticultural societies.
Responsibilities: (depending upon role being performed)
Qualifications:
Written by Margaret Cadwaladr and published by the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society in 2019, A Secret Garden – The Story of Darts Hill Garden Park illustrates the life and times of Edwin and Francisca Darts, the garden’s founders. A delightful book, its colorful and well researched pages tells the story of their early life, the development of Darts Hill Garden Park and the ongoing horticultural legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Darts.
The main task of the Book Marketing and Publicity Committee is to promote Darts Hill Garden Park via the sale and marketing of the book. The tasks of the Committee include, but are not limited to (a) marketing & advertising; (b) inventory control, mailing out online purchases; (c) attending sales and marketing events; (d) sponsorship & cross promotion with other garden clubs/ organizations.
Responsibilities: (depending upon the role being performed)
1 year commitment is required from Book Marketing and Publicity Committee members. (~40 hours a year)
Qualifications:
The Darts Hill Garden Park Collections Committee usually meets five to six times per year. It is an active joint working group composed of three to four DHGCTS members and several City of Surrey staff. The Collections Committee has developed a suite of Excel spreadsheets which use specific criteria to rate suggested plant additions to the garden and also plant removals. These spreadsheets are also used to update the Master Inventory of plants in Darts Hill Garden Park. The Collections Committee’s purpose is to continue the life work of Francisca Darts. Mrs. Darts sought out rare and unusual specimens for her garden from all over the world.
Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
The Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society is incorporated under the BC Societies Act and is a registered charity. Charitable No. 86285 7935 RR0001. In support of the mission and purposes of the Society, the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society Fundraising Team raises funds for Special Projects and the Welcoming Centre at Darts Hill Garden. Please visit our Support the Garden-Donate page to learn more. When you leave a gift to the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust, you are planting a seed. A seed that will grow into something for future generations to benefit from.
The Labeling Committee has an important role and strong interest in increasing the educational experience of visitors to Darts Hill Garden Park by labeling its plants. Volunteers in this group specialize in specific tasks, including (a) plant identification and label placement; (b) data entry, checking, and proofreading; (c) computer setup and design of the labels; (d) production of labels, using a laser engraver.
Responsibilities: (depending on task being performed)
Qualifications:
Our Membership & Hospitality volunteer team are the first to greet visitors to Darts Hill Garden Park on members’ days, some coupled with strolls and plant sales. They offer a friendly smile, garden maps and brochures, and advice to help our guests and members make the most of their visit. This group’s work occurs, once a month, throughout the year including the Annual General Meeting (excluding August & December closures). With maximum 2.5 hour shifts, it is the perfect volunteer job for those who have limited time to commit. In 2021 the role and duties of the Membership & Hospitality Committee are under review due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Responsibilities: Working with a partner, Membership & Hospitality volunteers’ responsibilities include:
Qualifications:
The Native Plant Group plants and maintains the Native Demonstration Garden and the Native Loop Trail. Working with other volunteers from the Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society, Little Campbell Watershed Society, and the City of Surrey, these volunteers come together for 2 1/2-hour work sessions five to six times per year. In addition, some volunteers with an educational focus may conduct short tours of the native area, organize and tend information tables, and in other ways promote the use of and educate the public about native plants.
Responsibilities: Native Plant Group volunteers commit to work sessions from time to time in the native area at Darts Hill Garden Park. Responsibilities may include:
Qualifications:
The Propagation & Sales team is the largest and most active of Darts Hill Garden Park volunteer groups, holding regular work sessions throughout the growing season. They propagate plants for replacement and expansion of the existing inventory as well as for fundraising purposes; and they hold plant sales during public openings. In addition, this group has created and maintains a perennial display garden at Crescent Beach’s Heron Park.
Responsibilities: Propagation volunteers commit to meeting for work sessions from time to time at Darts Hill Garden Park or Heron Park. Their responsibilities include:
Qualifications:
The Workshop Coordinating Group organizes and coordinates workshops on behalf of the Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society. The group provides educational opportunities to DHGCTS members as well as to the general public. The three main areas of responsibility for the group include developing workshop programs, coordinating logistical and financial matters for workshops; and fulfilling reporting requirements.
Responsibilities: (depending upon the role being performed)
A 1-year commitment is required from Workshop Coordinating Group members. (~40 hours per year)
Qualifications: