By Frank Limpus

The trend toward  a more sustainable lifestyle in America continues to blossom.

According to the 2011 ImagePower® Global Green Brands Study, one of the largest global consumer surveys of green brands and corporate environmental responsibility, consumer appetite for green products has increased significantly.   But what about those consumers who want to go beyond simply composting, recycling, performing an energy audit of their home or installing solar panels?

Here are five unique ways to live greener.

Green furniture                              

More and more furniture is going green.  Take Rail Yard Studios, for example, which produces a line of rescued and reused furniture from harvested railroad crossties and rails dating back as far as 1898.  Both rails and ties (which avoided the creosote process) were destined for scrap until Robert Hendrick, founder of the Nashville, Tennessee design firm, stepped in and began turning the components into livable parts of life.  The result is both furniture… and art you can sit on.   Each piece has its own history from a particular railway and is dated with a salvaged railway date nail.  And many have appeared in various shows and galleries.

“People who appreciate furniture-as-art will enjoy these pieces with their raw earthiness and natural feel,” Hendrick said.  “They strike a balance between rustic and modern, and make a statement about how creative we can be at re-purposing natural materials that might otherwise be discarded.”

Small edible landscape

Peppers and herbs look great in a street side border, cherry tomatoes will eventually add a touch of color over the front arbor, and lima beans on the trellis behind the fence will soon be ripe for the picking.

Since 1970, Rosalind Creasy has been growing edible plants alongside traditional flower or foliage plants, improving not only the landscape of her yard, but space utilization, as well.  Her work has revolutionized how people think about gardening and her book published in 2010, Edible Landscaping, has been the guidepost for consumers who want to make the most out of their home garden.

“Edible landscaping is simply the practical integration of food plants within an ornamental or decorative setting,” Creasy said.  “The same design principles as for ornamental landscapes are used, while substituting edible plants such as lettuces, blueberries, vegetables and fruit trees for some of the otherwise unproductive plant material.  With careful planning and the judicious use of fruits, herbs, and vegetables, a yard can be not only visually pleasing, but flavorful and practical, as well.  Plus, it’s a great topic for conversation!”

Rain gardens

Managing the runoff of fresh rainwater can not only help homeowners avoid flooding issues, but stop the water before it flows to the street and sewer, becoming contaminated stormwater, as well.  One of the more popular solutions to this challenge currently gaining interest is the creation of rain gardens, shallow depressions near a runoff source (downspout, driveway, sump pump) and planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses to keep clean, fresh rainwater out of the sewer system.

One of its biggest advocates is a small company in Chicago, Rain Garden Network, which has been concerned that most people do not know enough about water issues and how they unknowingly contribute to pollution.

“By educating consumers about the issue, we hope to give them resource options that helps better manage fresh rainwater so that it aids the environment and doesn’t hurt it,” said Sue Cubberly, Rain Garden Network.  “We advocate for the use of all types of green, on-site solutions to reduce or eliminate polluted stormwater runoff and beautify a person’s living space.”

Sustainable flooring

Wood flooring in homes these days is popular.  But even better are renewable or recycled sources of flooring that are harvested responsibly (where entire farms aren’t wiped out from harvest), have a long life cycle (material used won’t need to be replaced often, letting the majority of the harvest go towards new buyers), or have a higher recycled content.

One global tile company, Plaza Ceramics, in Alcora, Castellon, Spain, has developed a highly durable floor tile under their Eco-Logit brand that uses recycled glass as one of several components.  In fact, recycled materials make up more than 85% of their tiles.

Green vacations

“Each year, millions of tourists head to exotic locales in search of ecotourism adventures and outdoor recreational experiences,” says Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton (FL) Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.  “More and more travelers are seeking opportunities to explore locations that not only provide an adventure, but also promote the core ideas of ecotourism:  protecting the local natural environment, benefiting the local community, and providing an educational experience for the traveler.”

So more destinations like Falcoine’s are packaging or touting vacation options that respect the environment and provide ways to ensure nature, such as Bradenton’s 30,000 acres of conserved land, are on a family’s must-do list.  From paddling, hiking and biking to geocaching, horseback riding, bird watching, camping, even educational programs, most environmental pursuits are within reach and can be explored by most all citizens of the U.S.

Living green can be far more innovative – and rewarding – an endeavor than taking a few steps into recycling or cutting back on water use.  Its easy if you’re willing to think a little differently about it!

A writer and public relations practitioner, Frank Limpus has written about cars, tires, shoes, flour, liquor, physicians, healthcare and everything in between.  He’s held communications positions in two multi-national corporations, a regional marketing communications agency, a tertiary university medical center and his own communications firm. 

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Tags: edible landscape, featured, full-image, green furniture, green vacation, home and garden, lifestyle, rain garden, sustainable flooring

Category: Home Garden

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Could you use a hand taming your yard?

Here’s a way to get a healthy garden and help someone on the road to recovery from mental illness — hire a team from Landscaping With Heart.

“It’s a social enterprise and it employs people with mental illness in the landscaping field,” explains Darrell Burnham with Coast Mental Health. “We founded it in 2006 and we work with about 20 or so contracts around the Lower Mainland, cutting grass, maintaining gardens, pruning, power raking, aeration and whatever our customers want.”

A team of crews work in the community, trained by Coast Mental Health to work in the landscaping business, funded through fees for service. Burnham says it’s about healthy gardens and healthy people.

“Unemployment for people with mental illness is about 80 per cent so anytime you get people back in the workforce it’s a huge achievement. People are often labelled by what they do, so if you are doing nothing or you look at yourself as a patient, it often adds another level of stigma or misunderstanding. For these people, they are landscapers and they can say that’s what they do for a living. That is very helpful.”

It also helps fight another common problem for people recovering from mental illness — poverty.

“Anytime we can get a few extra dollars in people’s pockets so they can have more independence, afford better housing, get the food they need, just enjoy life better, the more they are able to deal with the challenges of dealing with a mental illness,” believes Burnham.

“It’s hard work, it’s valid work, and all these things are very, very important,” he adds.

Landscaping With Heart’s team leaders have been involved in the industry for a years and continually train new people to work in lawn and garden maintenance. A number have gone on to start their own, successful businesses.

By 

In the last few years, community vegetable gardens have been springing up everywhere you look. Breckenridge is the latest of the local communities to get on board, with 42 raised-bed vegetable gardens now under construction on the Colorado Mountain College campus. The High Country Conservation Center coordinates two of Summit County’s community gardens: The Living Classroom in Frisco and the new gardens in Breckenridge. Jen Santry of HC3 is the driving force behind getting the gardens up and running.

I’m the manager of Summit Landscaping Garden Center, and last week, Santry and I held two sessions to educate aspiring new gardeners about the basics of high-altitude vegetable growing. Students in the class were excited to learn that as long as they stick to “cool season” vegetables, they can expect a bountiful harvest throughout the summer growing season.

Cool season vegetables include all of the greens: lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, bok choy and cabbage. Root vegetables love our cooler temperatures, so gardeners can plan on eating plenty of radishes, carrots, beets, turnips and parsnips. Snow peas and sugar snap peas grow beautifully if given a simple trellis to cling to.

We gave planting advice for each type of vegetable. Many veggies grow best when the seed is planted directly into the vegetable garden, rather than trying to start the seeds inside. Other vegetables with a longer growing season are more successful when starters are used. Starters (a.k.a. transplants) are grown in a greenhouse, providing a head start on the growing season. Green onions will thrive if grown from sets, readily available at local garden centers. Potatoes are best grown in a pot, with soil being added through the summer to cover the rapidly growing vines, culminating in a fun fall harvest.

Students were encouraged to think carefully about how they use their limited garden space. Growing vegetables in rows is a concept borrowed from farmers with large tracts of land. Square-foot gardening is a method that utilizes space more efficiently, allowing a gardener to grow many crops in a small area.

Each student left the session with a list of the vegetables and herbs that will thrive in Summit County. This list is available at the Summit Landscaping Garden Center, as well as all of the seeds, veggie starters, onion sets and seed potatoes that you need to get your garden started.

And what about the coveted tomatoes? Tomatoes are “warm season” vegetables that prefer a warm climate or to be tucked into the heat of a greenhouse — but it is always worth a try.

Courtesy of Summit Landscaping, a full service garden center and landscaping company at 1925 Airport Road in Breckenridge. Contact them at (970)453-1039 or www.summitlandscapingofbreck.com.

By 

Dispatch

Sunday May 27, 2012 5:40 AM

GAMBIER, Ohio — Garden lovers will soon have a rare opportunity to tour one of the finest private gardens in the Midwest.

Two miles from the village of Gambier, the 75-acre Schnormeier

Gardens opens for a short time each year — this year, June 6-10.

The couple who created the horticulture showplace — and happily live amid the gardens full time — are Ted and Ann Schnormeier, both 77.

Their open house, initiated three years ago, drew 20,000 visitors last year.

The Schnormeiers are gracious and welcoming hosts.

“It’s just the landscaping surrounding our home,” Mr. Schnormeier told me this month during a private tour.

The gardens date from the mid-1990s, after the Schnormeiers built their 4,600-square-foot home and took a trip to China, where they were inspired by the gardens they saw.

“We thought, ‘We need to do a little landscaping,’” said Mr. Schnormeier, a Mount Vernon businessman who made his fortune with the window and door company Jeld-Wen.

They started small, with a formal Japanese-style garden just behind their house — itself a gorgeous homage to Frank Lloyd Wright prairie-style homes with a low, long terraced roof and porch lines as well as large windows, opening like picture frames onto the garden.

Mr. Schnormeier remembers the beginning precisely.

“We worked flat-out on this project for a dozen years, (beginning) July 6, 1996, at 9:30 a.m. when the first load of rocks arrived.”

Since then, Schnormeier Gardens has grown to nine distinct areas, including a waterfall garden, serenity garden, stream garden, hosta garden, meadow garden and woodland garden.

One of my favorite spots was the Chinese cup gardens, set in two hollows and gracefully adorned with boulders and a pagoda-topped Chinese-style pavilion. Children especially will want to keep an eye out for the resident dragons (sculptures).

The last of the garden areas, the quarry garden, was completed in 2008 with 1,200 tons of limestone simulating an abandoned quarry and plantings of rare conifers watered by a well-fed manmade waterfall.

The laborious and often-frustrating 12-year process of building Schnormeier Gardens is a story — perhaps a cautionary tale — that can be found on the extensive website www.schnormeier gardens.org. The Schnormeiers say they can’t say — nor do they want to know — what the total project cost.

Schnormeier Gardens is now in “maintenance mode,” Mr. Schnormeier said. And maintenance is a priority for the couple, with the grounds kept in tip-top shape with the help of several hired gardeners.

The Schnormeiers say they like the natural look but also the definition and clean edges, which are apparent during a visit. Each individual garden area is defined by planted screens, water features or some of the more than 5,000 tons of stone moved to the garden during construction.

The result is a series of intricately planned vistas that open up like works of art.

“There’s no place you can stand and not see a perfect picture,” Mr. Schnormeier said with understandable pride.

As befits a garden heavily influenced by Asian styles, Schnormeier Gardens emphasizes form and structure. Visitors will find no annual plants and few blooming perennials.

Instead, the garden has a top-notch collection of rare conifers, deciduous trees with richly colored foliage, and water, water everywhere.

“I like water — it adds life to the garden,” Mr. Schnormeier said.

The garden features 10 lakes or ponds with many streams and waterfalls, produced by pumping 3 million gallons a day (the same as the city of Delaware, noted Mr. Schnormeier) from recirculating ponds or wells.

Visitors might also find themselves enchanted by a Chinese-style arch bridge and traditional Japanese-style teahouses and garden houses.

Also enhancing the garden are almost 50 pieces of sculpture and art, mostly commissioned pieces.

For a garden that is relatively young, the plantings look remarkably mature.

Visitors will see several plants that are rare or unique in Ohio — especially conifers and including several others that aren’t supposed to grow here.

“I have the advantage of knowing nothing about horticulture,” Mr. Schnormeier said.

But the Schnormeiers do know about leaving a gracious legacy: They have formed a foundation and an endowment that will someday operate Schnormeier Gardens and open it to the public year-round.

sstephens@dispatch.com

@SteveStephens

25 May 2012
Last updated at 21:03 ET

Part of Brewin Dolphin’s winning garden by Cleve West will go to charity

The exact cost of individual gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show is shrouded in secrecy, but with estimates of £200,000 upwards, where do these pricey exhibits go when the show is over?

Chelsea is renowned for its extravagant gardens filled with the best plants in the country, eye-catching sculptures and innovative landscaping.

The colourful event takes place over five days and is a whirlwind of blooms, blossoms – but no umbrellas this year – as the horticultural world removes its muddy wellies and gathers to celebrate the glamorous side of gardening.

But how do you make 80ft (24.3m) planted pyramids such as Diarmuid Gavin’s Magical Tower Garden disappear when the curtain falls on the Chelsea drama?

Where next for a plant pyramid?

These exemplary gardens attract interest from influential quarters and occasionally a wealthy admirer will purchase one wholesale.

In the 1950s, the Duke of Windsor – formerly King Edward VIII – was taken with a fashionable rockery and had the whole exhibit relocated to his private estate. He was so enthused that he even helped to move it himself.

“It’s very rare to be able to sell a garden in its entirety,” says Mark Fane, director of plant supplier Crocus, and veteran Chelsea contractor.

“The only time we did that was when the Karl Lagerfeld Chanel garden was sold to a private client in 1993.”

Some of the plants are sold off when the 16:00 bell rings on the final afternoon, leading to astonishing scenes of a usually staid Chelsea crowd jostling for prize-winning flowers and sought-after plants.

Other plants have been borrowed from growers, or are needed for valuable seed collection later in the season.

Continue reading the main story

Where will 2012 gardens go?

• The Brewin Dolphin Garden, designed by five-times gold-medal winner Cleve West, features impressive beech hedging that will be donated to Horatio’s Garden, the memorial garden for Horatio Chapple. He was raising funds for the garden on his Arctic expedition.
• The Rooftop Workplace for Tomorrow Garden is being reinstalled in inner London by the Walworth Garden Farm charity.
• The Naturally Dry Garden will be moved to Capel Manor College as a horticultural educational facility.
• The Herbert Smith Garden will be sold off at the end of the show with all proceeds going to the charity WaterAid.
• Rainbows Children’s Hospice Garden will be relocated to form a permanent garden at the Hospice.

Truck loads are returned to the nurseries, where herbaceous plants undergo the revitalising “Chelsea chop”, before being sold on.

Finding homes for the structural elements presents a complex logistical problem and thoughts turn to disposing of the long-awaited show gardens before they have even been built.

Seasoned designers and contractors remember majestic trees being dumped unceremoniously in skips along with expensive timber, huge slabs of marble being discarded and whole hedges being abandoned on the pavements surrounding the showground.

This kind of wastage isn’t tolerated these days. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), organiser of the annual event, now encourages environmental responsibility and show-winning gardens are planned with sustainability in mind.

Mature tree specimens, sculpture and garden furniture may be auctioned off for charity, or are donated to charitable gardens and communal spaces.

Other features find their way back to the sponsors’ City head offices, while certain components sit in storage for months, even years, waiting to be re-homed or sold on.

“Sustainability is a good idea but not everyone has the money to do it,” says Cleve West, designer of the Best in Show Brewin Dolphin Garden.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Sustainability is a good idea but not everyone has the money to do it… sometimes it’s just easier to put it on a skip”

End Quote
Cleve West
Garden designer and two-times Best in Show winner

“Sometimes it’s just easier to put it all on a skip, although I’m pleased to say that won’t happen with our garden.”

Sponsors usually foot the bill for deconstruction and relocation – which can amount to £50,000 – but the unwelcome task of taking apart a garden falls to the designers.

“The breakdown of a Chelsea show garden is one of the biggest headaches a designer can have,” says Robin Wallis, director of Hortus Loci, a wholesale nursery that supplies many of the Chelsea designers.

“The trouble begins when you have to lift out mature trees, up to 12 metres tall. Their root balls must stay intact and moving them is a fine art.” Especially when trees can cost up to £11,000.

Getting 40-tonne lorries in and out of Chelsea is in itself a task, meaning the RHS has strict rules for the deconstruction process.

There is a non-negotiable deadline and exhibitors must gain a clearance certificate before leaving the showground.

Continue reading the main story

Carefully packaged beech trees from Belgium will reach their next destination

Moving boulders of Chilmark stone weighing up to one tonne is hazardous in such a restricted space

Giant topiary sentinels are often dedicated show plants and reappear in future show gardens around Europe

This 100-year old pear tree has already been earmarked for a private client

Continue reading the main story

Cranes, excavators and skip-loaders are provided, but available slots are limited. They can only be booked two days in advance and there is a race to secure equipment.

But what happens to the hundreds of tonnes of discarded plant matter, soil, compost, gravel, stone, tarmac, concrete and packaging?

The 2012 RHS reuse initiative is supported by Groundwork UK, a charity dedicated to regenerating the country’s green spaces with reclaimed materials.

Graham Parry, director of youth employment and skills, describes Groundwork UK’s part in the 2012 Chelsea breakdown as “a massive undertaking with an element of the experimental”, as it tries to bring the volume of waste as close to zero as possible.

Continue reading the main story

Returning home to Cornwall

The 2011 Homebase Garden, designed by Thomas Hoblyn, has been donated to the Eden Project in Cornwall.

The garden is very appropriate for Eden. It is cut and carved granite made from a Cornish quarry, replete with a classic collection of Cornish plants.

The garden elements have been in storage with the Hertfordshire company that originally built the garden, until it was moved to the Eden Project.

The public will be encouraged to walk into it and interact with it – people can paddle in the pool.

Over three days, infrastructure giant FM Conway will supply five workers, four 26-tonne trucks with hydraulic cranes and a forklift to transport 400 tonnes of Chelsea waste, costing thousands of pounds.

“The Chelsea breakdown is a very tight timescale, and I estimate that we can re-use or recycle 95% of waste this year. That figure could be 100%, if we could manage the logistics.”

Many of the leftover Chelsea garden materials will be used as part of an Olympic legacy programme to deliver 50 community gardens across host boroughs.

These will regenerate community spaces and provide qualifications for volunteer trainees, who are mainly young unemployed people from the recipient communities.

TEMPLE TERRACE, FL–(Marketwire – May 24, 2012) – A refreshing array of changes have taken place at a stylish and comfortable Tampa hotel near Busch Gardens where everything from landscaping to room renovations have resulted in a bright and contemporary new look.

Recent renovations over the past few months at the Fairfield Inn Suites by Marriott Tampa North have created an exciting new look for this family-friendly Tampa hotel that features a variety of room options to meet the needs of Florida travelers. Offering standard king and double rooms as well as one-room king suites with sofa beds, this well-appointed lodging pampers guests with the Marriott’s new sleep experience while providing complimentary amenities for value-added savings.

Highlighting the hotel’s new renovations, the entire property surrounding the Fairfield Inn Suites hotel near I-75 in Tampa has undergone a total refurbishment with special focus and attention to landscaping of the hotel’s sparkling outdoor pool and hot tub area. Aimed at providing guests with a well manicured and meticulous site for relaxation and family fun, this outdoor patio area features inviting new furniture and an exciting variety of trees and shrubs for a remarkable landscaping transformation. Completing the project is the addition of a poolside grill so guests can gather with family and friends for afternoon cookouts.

Whether traveling to Tampa for family vacation fun, a weekend getaway or business endeavors, guests of the Tampa North Fairfield Inn Suites enjoy free high speed Internet access, complimentary breakfast served daily in the hotel’s vibrant breakfast room, convenient access a well-equipped business center and The Market, where snacks, beverages and personal needs are available 24-hours a day.

The spacious guest accommodations at this prominent hotel near USF Tampa and other popular destinations include lavish Marriott bedding ensembles, 32-inch flat screen TVs with premium movie channels, in-room microwaves, mini refrigerators, coffee and tea service and a spacious work area with plenty of outlets and an ergonomic chair. Guests also enjoy special privilege access to the hotel’s newly designed fitness center where state-of-the-art cardiovascular equipment, a treadmill, stair stepper and cycling equipment are readily available.

About the Fairfield Inn Suites Tampa North

The Fairfield Inn Suites Tampa North hotel has joined in Florida’s preservation efforts and is recognized as a Florida Green-Lodging property continuously setting goals and taking appropriate action to help conserve and protect the state’s natural resources. Conveniently located near attractions such as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Channel Side, Ybor City, Florida’s beckoning white sand beaches and destinations such as Busch Gardens and Adventure Island Amusement Park, the hotel is an ideal choice for experiencing all the area has to offer while enjoying comfortable accommodations and exceptional service.

With all the green space in Wayland, it comes as no surprise that people take their yards and gardens pretty seriously. And when it comes to exterior decorating — in the sense of designing those gardens and yards — you told us where you go.

Earning 60 percent of the vote, Lynch Tree and Landscape is your pick for the Best of Patch Readers’ Choice landscape designer in Wayland.

It was brought to our attention after the poll posted that Creative Yard Designs is the same business as Lynch. For legal reasons, we can’t alter a poll in the middle of the contest, but we did not take votes for Creative Yard Design into account when it came to naming a winner. We apologize for the oversight.

Even though you raved about Lynch Tree and Landscape — “I am absolutely delighted with the landscaping of my yard…. it was a pleasure to deal with Lynch!” Alexandra Statland commented — you also had some nice things to say about other businesses in town.

We had write in votes for SP Landscaping, and Gardens by the Yard earned second place with 30 percent of the vote.

Gardens by Renee was Kate’s pick. She commented: “Not only did Renee design, plan and plant our amazing perennial beds, but she installed a fabulous fully-planted and irrigated organic raised bed vegetable garden at my place, and has taught me how to manage it.”

Best of Patch Readers’ Choice 2012 is going on summer hiatus; this will be the last poll contest for a while. We plan to be back in the fall with more contests that highlight our local businesses and places — so you can find the “best of” Wayland.

Also in the fall, we will be honoring the winners of our past three month’s worth of Best of Patch Readers’ Choice contests.

In the meantime, don’t hesitate to email me, or remark in the comments section below, about topics you’d like to see covered by our Best Of contests.

ROSEMONT, Ill., May 24, 2012 — Orthopaedic Surgeons Offer Safety Tips

ROSEMONT, Ill., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Gardening can be a rewarding experience, but according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in 2010 more than 41,200 people in the United States were injured as a result of working in their gardens.

Planting cascades of flowers and adding other landscaping features to your yard involves tools and equipment that, if used without precaution, could result in serious injuries.

“Whether you’re an expert gardener or first-timer, carefully planning your gardening project from beginning to end is important,” said orthopaedic surgeon Christopher Doumas, MD an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons spokesperson. “Many gardening injuries such as back strains or cuts from sharp tools can be prevented if the proper planning and safety guidelines are put into action.”

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recommends following these gardening safety tips and sharing them with family and friends.

• Plan what you want to do in advance and do not be in a hurry.  
• Wear protective gloves, sturdy shoes and long pants when working in the garden to protect against insect bites and injuries such as stepping on sharp objects or cuts from handling sharp tools.
• Familiarize yourself with the plants that are in your garden. If you identify poisonous plants or trees, ensure you keep young children away and educate them about the potential risks. If you cannot identify a plant or tree, take a sample to your local garden center for identification.
• Keep gardening equipment in good working order. For example, when using a hedge trimmer for the first time in a season, have it serviced to ensure that it is working correctly.
• To avoid injuring your back when lifting heavy objects in the garden, position yourself close to the object you want to lift. Separate your feet shoulder-width apart to give yourself a solid base of support, bend at the knees, tighten your stomach muscles and lift with your leg muscles as you stand up. If an object is too heavy or is an awkward shape, do not try to lift it by yourself. Get help.
• To avoid back and knee injuries caused by repetitive bending and kneeling in the garden, consider using a garden stool to help relieve pressure on your spine and knees.
• Gardening in the early morning or late afternoon helps avoid the heat of the sun. However, early morning and evening are dangerous times for UVA rays, which harm the skin, so a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen of at least SPF 15, and sunglasses are recommended regardless of time of day.
• Stay hydrated with fluids, especially if you’re working up a sweat.
• Do not drink alcoholic beverages before gardening as you may be operating equipment and using sharp tools.  
• Children should not be allowed to play in or near where sharp tools, chemicals or gardening equipment are being used or stored.  
• Remove stones, toys and other objects from the yard before you start gardening.

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SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Below: The Garden Project did the landscaping for The Shasta Lake entry sign near Interstate 5.

photos by Laura Christman / Record Searchlight
Gennie Seely (right), and Georgia Haddon of the Shasta Lake Garden Project go after weeds in the native plant garden, one of the group’s gardens along Shasta Dam Boulevard.

Left: The Memorial Garden in the median area of Shasta Dam Boulevard was one of the first gardens done by the Garden Project.

Shasta Lake Garden Project was launched almost 14 years ago with the goal of making Shasta Lake better through gardening.

It worked.

The hands-in-the-dirt effort turned weedy center dividers along Shasta Dam Boulevard into flowery places. Garden Project volunteers also landscaped the Shasta Lake entrance sign near Interstate 5, planted a pocket park dedicated to Shasta Dam workers on Hill Street, and spruced up the grounds at Shasta Lake’s animal shelter on Ashby Road. Roses, petunias, pines and many other plants took root in Shasta Lake because of the Garden Project, but what really grew was community pride.

“It has inspired businesses to paint and put little plots of gardens in front of their places,” said member RoseMary Walter. “I really think it spruced up the town quite a bit.”

“Anybody who has seen Shasta Lake 15 years ago and looks at it today can’t help but be impressed, and I think the gardens are a significant part of that,” said Georgia Haddon, Garden Project coordinator.

It’s been a lot of work, and Garden Project members are getting a little tired.

“We are a lot older. We still have the enthusiasm, but we don’t have the bodies any more,” said Walter, noting that in addition to growing older, there are fewer active members.

Shasta Lake Garden Project isn’t throwing in the trowel, but it won’t be staging its English Garden Tour Tea in June — a 13-year tradition for the north state.

“We have always relied on the garden tour to be the major fundraiser, but it’s an event that requires more manpower than we have,” Haddon said.

Instead, the group is planning Garden Faire in the Park June 3 at Clair Engle Park, featuring vendors, demonstrations and refreshments.

The popular English Garden Tour Tea had costumed servers offering tea, scones and other treats; classical music; and gardens

in bloom. It was an image-builder for Shasta Lake, Walter said.

“There was a feeling in the wider Redding area that we were déclassé, say. Our Shasta Lake Garden Tour Tea was a high-class tea, something very new and different for the area,” she said.

Walter, who with Lynni Miller and Betty Head was one of the Garden Project’s founding mothers, said the first English Garden Tour Tea drew 100 people.

“We really didn’t know what we were doing. We ran out of food,” she said.

The next year they were better prepared. As the event grew in popularity, ticket sales were capped at 400 to keep it manageable. “I remember one year when we had people at the door of the house begging to be let in,” Walter said.

Walter is enthusiastic about the new event. “I think this plant fair will be fantastic,” she said. “We’ll have a little tea garden with recipes from our tour and some of those goodies there. So you can sit down and have a slice of cake or a couple of cookies with iced tea and lemonade.”

Admission is free. The Garden Project will raise money through sales and vendor fees. Members hope the event also raises awareness of what the group has done and is doing.

A concrete walkway was just added to the project’s native plant garden on Shasta Dam Boulevard. Gennie Seely, the member in charge of the native plant garden next to the group’s Memorial Garden, is adding markers to identify California bay, ceanothus, buckeye, coyote bush and the many other native plants in the garden. Seely, a Wiyot, started the garden to showcase plants used by Native Americans for basketry, medicines and food.

“I wanted to teach some of the younger people, so they will carry on when I am gone. I’m 82,” she said.

Haddon said the Garden Project has received lots of support from the community. Individuals, churches, schools and organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis pitch in when there’s work to be done.

There are no immediate plans for starting new big projects, she said. “We are focusing on maintaining what we have right now.”

Walter noted that there’s always more that could be done, and she would like others to join the effort. “We have done a lot of things and accomplished a lot, and we really wish there were people to take up the shovels and keep it going,” she said.

For information on Shasta Lake Garden Project, go to www.shastalakegardenproject.org.