KUANTAN: Thousands of visitors flocked to the Sultan Ahmad Shah International Convention Centre here to do their mid-year shopping on the last day of the Perfect Livin’ 13 Home Lifestyle Exhibition on Sunday.

The exhibition, which was held for the third consecutive year, garnered huge support from visitors from all walks of life since its opening day on Friday.

In addition, the first 1,000 early birds were given an exclusive limited edition Perfect Livin’ aluminium drinking bottle and a trendy sling bag without having to make any purchase.

For those who made purchases in preparation for the coming festive celebrations, they were rewarded during the lucky draws segments with attractive prizes such as IPad Mini, luxurious mattresses, recliner chairs and landscaping vouchers worth over RM100,000.

The exhibition saw more than 400 booths dealing in home renovation, refurbishment and innovation needs, interior designing, flooring, wall coverings, wardrobes, gates, grilles and customised designs and finishes.

Visitor Wee Shu Hong, 70, was delighted with the array of furniture on display, stating that she had been looking for new furniture for some time.

“I have been waiting for this exhibition to survey for new furniture at bargain prices,” she said.

Another visitor Yuhani Yusof, 31, and her husband, Mazri Mahmud, 35, had their eyes set on water filters.

However, Yuhani said some products were slightly more expensive, probably due to rising cost of
raw materials and transportation charges.

M. Subatra, 44, said she did some research on prices and quality of products before visiting the exhibition.

“I am looking for kitchen hoods and they have quite a few good brands here which are not found in outlets around Kuantan,” she said, adding that she would make comparisons before deciding.

Meanwhile, I.Star Ideas Factory Sdn Bhd business development director Jason Yap said the three-day exhibition had met its target in terms of visitors turnout.

Yap said based on feedback from more than 150 exhibitors, most were satisfied with the event and had pledged to continue their support in the coming years.

“We are very happy to have successfully created a brand. People know about our exhibition, so most of them waited to shop here for their household needs.

“The convenience of having many market leading brands in one place is what attracts visitors to this exhibition,” he said.

The 2/3 acre West College Courtyard is in full bloom this summer thanks to the efforts of Wesleyan’s WILD Wes organization (Working for Intelligent Landscape Design). Last summer, the organization planted hundreds of perennials, fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and ground cover; and this year, campus sees their efforts bloom to fruition. (Photos by Olivia Drake)

(Yael Chanoff ’11 contributed to this story)

Behind Wesleyan’s historic College Row is a picture of New England college charm. But in the green expanses of lawn, where most see tradition and classic beauty, a group of Wesleyan students saw an environmental affront.

Blue bachelor buttons in bloom.

For the past three years, a student group known as WILD Wes (Working for Intelligent Landscape Design), has attempted an alternative approach to landscaping. With Wesleyan’s support, WILD Wes has embarked on a bold experiment: ditch the lawn and replace it with a sustainable landscape, based on the principles of permaculture.

Permaculture design is meant to mimic natural patterns, such that the systems thrive permanently on their own, with low human maintenance. Wesleyan Head of Grounds Dave Hall believes the site has the potential to reach this level. “I’m hoping that it becomes labor-neutral,” he says. “There’s the possibility of some handwork, but no machinery.”

The courtyard is a challenging site. Years of erosion have swept away the topsoil, leaving the ground rocky and compact. Several large beech trees had to be removed due to an epidemic of beech bark disease, essentially leaving the area devoid of any plant life other than the ailing lawn.

For two years, students worked tirelessly on clearing, grooming, composting, mulching, trenching, and planting perennials, fruit trees, herbs and ground cover on the 2/3 acre sloping plot of land near the University’s West College student resident halls. But this summer, the unsightly dirt-heap has bloomed to life and the campus community is seeing the project bloom to fruition.

This week, red poppies, blue bachelor buttons, swamp milkweed, almost-ripe blueberry bushes and clover dot the landscape. On a woodchip path, courtyard visitors can stroll past the wildflower and fruit gardens, and even into a rain garden — a haven for butterflies and bees.

Nothing in the garden goes to waste. In 2012, WILD Wes students constructed their own “compost throne” out of repurposed wooden pallets. They also haul invasive weeds and other spent greens to the university’s composting site off campus, where material is broken down in several earth bins.

For Wesleyan 2011 alumnus Miles Bukiet, co-founder of WILD Wes, “It’s a victory for permaculture and it’s a victory for Wesleyan. What this project represents is a coming of age of the permaculture movement.”

The concepts of permaculture originated when farmers at the turn of the 20th century espoused the value of “permanent agriculture” to save the land from the industrial forest-field-plow-desert pattern that produced quick results but left land barren. The movement picked up in the 1970s, and acquired a cultural dimension with alternative commune-style living, “eco-villages,” and private residents experimenting in their own backyards. Now, permaculture has entered the mainstream, and WILD Wes has a hand in this new stage of the movement.

Their determination was on display in December 2011, when WILD Wes held its first annual Design Charrette, a symposium that brought together professional permaculture designers, faculty and staff from Wesleyan, and students from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to brainstorm ideas for sustainable landscaping on campus. The next semester, spring 2011, Bukiet and WILD Wes co-founder Sam Silver ’11 taught a student forum, the Sustainable Landscape Design Studio, in which they developed practical plans for WestCo. They also won a $50,000 grant from the Green Fund, Wesleyan’s student-run resource for environmental initiatives on campus.

Now that the West College Courtyard is blooming and self-sustaining, WILD Wes is moving on to a new project – overhauling a sloping hill near the Summerfields Dining Hall. The organization, currently led by Tennessee Mowrey ’14, Rina Kremer ’15, Nathaniel Elmer ’14 and Roxanne Capron ’14, is working on the project this summer.  They’ll replace a trampled path with stairs and planted terraces that following the principles of permaculture. The diverse terrace gardens will prevent soil erosion and attract helpful insects while yielding herbs, berries and vegetables.

Bill Nelligan, director of sustainability, has confidence in WILD Wes’ projects. “It’s a great sustainable model. We’ll continue to creating landscapes across campus that are not only self-sufficient and native but will provide an edible landscape as well.”

Below are photos of the courtyard on June 20. To view last summer’s courtyard photos see this link. To watch a video on WILD Wes see this link.

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Gary and Judy Koy have spent the better part of 40 years turning 4 acres of hayfield into landscaping that should be on the cover of a magazine.

They bought the land and built their home just to be one of the first in the area in the Town of Maine, just outside of Wausau.

Since then, they’ve planted hundreds of trees and countless flowers that bloom from spring to fall. Roses dominate the rest, because they’re Judy’s favorite.

And there is just enough other stuff like shrubs, birdbaths and lawn ornaments to keep it all interesting.

The Koys say it takes about 5-hours a week to maintain. Although Gary says he never really walks through his yard, he pulls weeds as he walks through it. And Judy spends a lot of time in the off season going through magazines to come up with ideas.

The yard also features a Shakespeare Garden and multi-layered water feature. Gary and some buddies from where he used to work needed two weekends to put it in. But Judy tells us it still didn’t go in fast enough because she couldn’t wait to plant around it. The name of the waterfall, “The Bridge Over the River Koy,” was inspired by the movie but is a tribute to first born grandson, River Koy.

A rose garden will also be named for granddaughter, Emily Rose.

As for what the future holds for the garden, it depends who you ask. Judy says maintaining what they already have keeps them busy enough. Gary says he’d like to put in a fire pit.

Their best tip for your Great Garden: Make it a work in progress. Don’t do it all at once.

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