Volunteers cover a barren New Brooklyn slope with 485 native plants.

Standing on the frigid hillside in temperatures better suited to shrinkage than growth, Don Willott stopped to survey the collection of potted plants situated at the forest’s edge.

“Can you tell why they call them snowberries?” Willott quipped, alluding to the whitish fruit that hangs from the aptly-named plant.

While there was no snow on the ground, ice abounded as volunteers on Thursday found homes on the hillside, near the intersection of Sportsman Club and New Brooklyn roads, for some 485 native plants – including vine maple, red osier dogwood, Indian plum, coastal rhododendron, cluster rose and snowberry.

In all, $1,500 worth of plants were purchased by the city non-motorized committee as part of an effort to re-vegetate the area following the construction of the path there a few years ago.

The path was cut into the hillside and is separated from the roadway by a strip of grass that Willott said will eventually see the introduction of plants.

Thursday’s planting party was the second such event at the site, following last fall’s planting of ferns salvaged from a development on Springridge Road. The first event was aided by students from Bainbridge High School and Wilkes Elementary, groups planners hope to include in the future as they continue to restore the hill.

“This is a great project,” said Willott, a member of the non-motorized committee. “Seeing everyone collaborate like this is really exciting.”

That collaboration includes the city’s operations and maintenance department, who delivered about seven yards of chips to the project, the city Watershed Council, the city Forestry Commission and volunteers, who braved the frost to dig holes and spread mulch around the hill’s new residents.

With help from a power auger, Brain Stahl, of the Kitsap Soil Conservation Service, had little trouble breaking ground.

“It’s not that bad,” he said with a shrug, as he made his way down the tree-line. Meanwhile, workers with shovels slowly plugged the holes with the various plants in Stahl’s wake.

The goal, Willott said, was to install the plants irregularly, so that the hillside would look natural. Planting was done in the winter to give the young trees time to establish themselves during the rainy season before the summer heat dries things out.

“It takes some time,” Willott said, mentioning salal he planted in his own yard, that took several years to get going.

That would explain the inclusion of two “thousand-year heritage trees” at the site. One is a fir and the other a maple that, if things go as planned, will one day tower over the trail below.

The planting bridged parallel and ongoing efforts on Bainbridge to improve trail networks and re-introduce native vegetation, which has, in some cases, been crowded out by invasive species. Scotch broom, English ivy, knotweed, tansy ragwort and holly are among the main culprits that have garnered enough contempt locally to warrant the creation of groups aimed solely at their annihilation.

Few of those unwanted plants remained on the hillside Thursday where, despite the cold, most appeared content.

“They got me,” joked plant specialist Olaf Ribeiro, as he prodded deftly at the soil. “I should have forgotten to set my alarm.”