WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Busch Gardens® Williamsburg’s talented team of landscaping pros braved the rainy, windy weather on April 28 to makeover Salisbury, Md. resident Noami Donohoe’s front yard. Donohoe was the winner of this year’s Busch Gardens Landscape Giveaway Presented by Bad Boy Mowers®. The giveaway package included a custom landscape design consultation, landscaping supplies and professional installation from the team responsible for maintaining Busch Gardens as the world’s most beautiful theme park. Donohoe also received a brand-new Bad Boy Mower, the official mower of Busch Gardens, as an additional surprise during the landscape reveal presentation. In Donohoe’s submission story, she shared that she could not afford to purchase a lawn mower.
Busch Gardens’ Director of Landscaping Erick Elliott consulted with Donohoe to discuss design elements that she wanted to see incorporated into her front-yard makeover. Donohoe, a disabled veteran, has limited mobility due to service-related injuries so the team chose to incorporate low-maintenance landscaping elements in the design. Per the homeowner’s request, the team designed a formal garden that infuses shrubs and perennials to provide year-round beauty and color. Elliott also included several signature elements to the landscape design including a water feature, native plants and a habitat garden.
“For this project we included low water use flowers and plants that can thrive in a variety of conditions. We also designed a habitat garden for the homeowner,” Elliott said.
Busch Gardens joined with the National Wildlife Federation in 2007 to build a habitat garden near the park’s Jack Hanna’s Wild Reserve.
“Similar to the certified habitat garden at Busch Gardens, Noami’s yard now provides the four basic needs for the survival of wildlife: food, water, shelter and a place to raise young,” said Elliott.
Kim Martinez, Regional Education Manager for the National Wildlife Federation, also visited the Donohoe’s home to certify the yard as an official Certified Habitat Garden®. Visit www.nwf.org for more information about certified habitat gardens.
In March, the park hosted the Busch Gardens Landscape Giveaway Presented by Bad Boy Mowers via Facebook. Participants were invited to submit a photo of their home and a story about why they deserved to win the giveaway. Hundreds of entries poured in. The entries were narrowed down to 20 finalists and Donohoe was randomly selected as this year’s winner. To read Donohoe’s submission story visit Busch Gardens’ official Facebook page – Facebook.com/BuschGardens. For a behind-the-scenes look at the yard transformation, visit Busch Gardens’ official blog – Buschgardensvablog.com.
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