A corner of Sleepy Hole Park was a hive of activity Saturday morning as scores of volunteers turned up to help improve the land near the kayak launch that’s still under construction on the Nansemond River.

The Nansemond River Preservation Alliance partnered with the city to improve the vegetation adjacent to the pier, making it even better than it was before construction started, said Elizabeth Taraski, executive director of the alliance.

“We’re planting native plants and spreading mulch to help stabilize the area from runoff,” she said. Before the project began, the corner was just empty space, she added.

The city purchased nearly 180 trees and shrubs of 24 species, all native to the area, said Mike Kelly of Suffolk Parks and Recreation.

The plants include wax myrtle, hydrangea, black gum, holly and willow oaks. A professional landscape artist did the layout, Kelly added.

He said the plants will support native wildlife as well as protect the waterway.

A seed mix will be spread on the hillside on either side of the launch, leading down to the water. Kelly said an Eagle Scout plans a project to improve the wetlands portion down the hill.

The volunteers were from throughout Suffolk as well as several neighboring cities.

One of the youngest volunteers on Saturday was Lashawn Scott, a seventh-grade student at King’s Fork Middle School.

“I want to be a marine biologist,” he said. “I want to help clean up so there is still life inside the river by the time I’m old enough. I think it’s important, so we don’t have everything running off and there’s not some big slide and we lose land.”

Jim Winters, a Suffolk Master Gardener who is retired from 46 years of U.S. Army service — part active-duty, part civilian — said he still looks for things to volunteer for.

“I think we all enjoy living in Suffolk,” he said. “It’s a nice place. Whatever we can do to make it better is good.”

A contingent of volunteers from the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club was also at the event.

The club is primarily focused on helping maintain a section of the Appalachian Trail approximately 11 miles long, club member Diane Leber said. But when they’re closer to home, club members hike on local trails and in local parks and want to help maintain them, too.

“I really do think it’s such a great resource for people in the area,” Leber said.

Club member Margaret Julian and her husband, Bruce, have a personal connection to Sleepy Hole. Her father used to be a security guard at the park, she said.

“We love giving back and making the environment pretty and healthy,” she said. “We look forward to kayaking here.”

As trees and shrubs got planted, mulch got spread and activity started to wind down on the site, Taraski surveyed the work and said the volunteers had done well.

“The people have been absolutely wonderful,” she said, adding that the project has benefits beyond the confines of the park and the river. “This is a wonderful example of a public/nonprofit partnership. It increases the awareness and support of more public access along the Suffolk waters.”