Debra Harvey of the Gichigami Bonsai Guild spends part of Earth Day of Saturday digging up trees and shrubs on the former hospital property next to the Northern Michigan University campus. The plants are to be placed in guild members’ homes to continue growing there. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — Usually people plant trees on Earth Day, but for one local project on Saturday, they dug them up.

On Earth Day, volunteer members of the Gichigami Bonsai Guild collected trees and shrubs located on the former hospital property adjacent to Northern Michigan University’s campus.

The purpose is to replant them at their homes so the greenery can continue to thrive as redevelopment of the site proceeds.

Marc Weinrick of the Gichigami Bonsai Guild was on site on Saturday at the corner of College Avenue and Hebard Court. He said the club has been working with the NMU Foundation since October 2022 to come to an agreement to allow club members to collect some of the landscaping shrubbery from the old hospital property before demolition begins.

Club members showed up on a brisk Saturday with shovels to walk around the campus and dig up the plants, such as rhododendron.

“Some of them will end up in people’s yards as yard trees, and others will be transplanted into potting vessels in order to cultivate them as bonsai material,” Weinrick said.

A huge pine tree, though, probably would be difficult to turn into a bonsai.

“There are certain types of plants that lend themselves more favorably to the practice of bonsai, and so, those are preferable first,” Weinrick said. “However, some people have taken larger pieces that are going to be put into their yards.”

The Gichigami Bonsai Guild was created in 2021 by Weinrick, Jeremy Pickens and Walker Derby. Its first name represents the traditional Ojibwe spelling of Lake Superior, NMU said.

Bonsai involves growing and training trees in containers, with the end result being a tree that’s a miniature version of itself.

This artists’ collective is open to members from across the Upper Peninsula and holds monthly meetings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. the first Thursday of the month in the city of Marquette Arts and Culture Center located in the lower level of the Peter White Public Library.

The guild also holds gatherings to work on trees, discuss the artistry techniques and explore the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula.

Saturday’s event had a touch of irony.

“Typically people plant trees on Earth Day, but we dig them up,” Pickens said. “We’re kind of saving them from the bulldozer.”

Pickens said the plan is for the group to have a session on how to put the plants in pots and perform “after care” to ensure that they thrive and become “vigorous” as bonsai.

In September 2021, the NMU Foundation acquired the former hospital site from UP Health System-Marquette. It later selected a master developer and negotiated a partnership to facilitate the large community development. Demolition is scheduled to begin soon.

Dave Nyberg, executive director of business engagement and economic development with the NMU Foundation, said the foundation’s role in the project is to seek a solution to develop the blighted campus in a way that benefits NMU and the community at large.

Nyberg said local organizations had reached out with ideas on how hospital property can be reused.

In the Gichigami Bonsai Guild’s case, it was plants.

“We’re really glad to glad to collaborate with the Gichigami Bonsai Guild to help their club in advancing their mission,” Nyberg said on Saturday. “It’s not interferring with the demolition project itself.”

Nyberg said it is hoped the demolition contractor will announced in a couple of weeks.