The 36-story Ardmore Residence in Singapore designed by Dutch firm UNStudio heralds a “new breed” of residential skyscraper for the region. Employing an innovative inter-locking system of construction, the building features a distinctive, organically-inspired facade and a design concept focused on the natural landscape of the Garden City of Singapore.

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The system of inter-locking panels was developed specifically for the Ardmore project by Web Structures, a company with a focus on fusion engineering (the practice of reconciling design sensitivity and cost consciousness). The approach enabled the architects to create the cantilevered shear walls that are staggered across the height of the tower, and which are crucial to the textured appearance.

Though the structural significance of such a system is not immediately apparent, the undulating shapes and the dramatically recessed sections, which give the impression of a clutch of four narrow verticals rather than a single building, is striking indeed. In addition to having aesthetic appeal, the folding and wrapping exterior weaves balconies and bay windows into a single line and allows for rounded, column-free corners. The highly textured pattern and layering of surfaces also results in greater transparency and increased natural light in the apartments themselves.

Garden in the city

Focus on the views and landscape is key to the overall concept of the Ardmore Residence. To improve connectedness to the site and to ensure that all of the 58 apartments enjoy a clear view, the residential units start on the 8th floor. Bay windows in each apartment allow for expansive views across the city. Four huge columns support the building for seven stories beneath, with open space between them on the ground. This means that landscaping, and pedestrians, can pass beneath the building, rather than having to circumvent it, and allows for views through to the gardens and swimming pools.

The apartments themselves adhere to a “living landscape” scheme, which includes double-height balconies, window walls and living spaces oriented toward the outdoors. In addition to being open to plenty of daylight, the apartments were designed to maximize natural ventilation.The building also contains water-usage regulators and water-efficient fittings.

The new breed of residential high-rise

The Ardmore Residence takes its place among a new generation of residential towers due to its focus on the design aesthetic. Until recently, the residential high-rise in Asia denoted a blocky structure that was more about density than about design or living experience.

The architects cite a new attitude in developers who are commissioning bespoke buildings that are more design-led and located in more appealing neighborhoods. The Ardmore Residence was built near the Orchard Road luxury shopping district, and its multi-layered facade makes it a sculptural presence in the city as well as a building that is intended to provide a unique spatial experience for residents.

Innovative construction

The inter-locking system comprises single-story shear walls that cantilever from the inner core walls and support one floor above and one floor below. Thirty-meter (98 ft) high columns with a ring beam between them were cast in place, while the remainder of the facade was constructed from pre-cast concrete panels, some of which are structural.

The sharper edges were achieved using GFRC (glass-fiber reinforced concrete) infill pieces that were attached to the pre-cast panels. The whole facade was painted with textured silicon to create a smooth finish across the curved profile and to minimize streaking lines. Construction time was three years.

Sources: UNStudio, Ardmore Residence

The garden will be opened to the public from the December 11th after repairs and renovations of the gardens have taken place.

Sports and Culture Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario, speaking during a visit of the site, said the jubilee celebrations steering committee will oversee the renovations at the grounds which will include sprucing up of the monuments and landscaping.

Wario said the events will begin on December 11th at the park where there will be hoisting of the Kenyan flag to symbolize the attainment of independence for the country.

The entrances and exits to be used during the celebrations will be clearly demarcated and sittings arrangements for invited guests planned out.

The government plans to have a three-day holiday, December 11th to 13th, to celebrate how far Kenya has come over the years.

Kenya at 50 celebrations was launched on Wednesday as preparations run through until December 12th, Jamhuri day.

By May Jesaro

He would be delighted to flip through a few pictures of the spaces he helped design as an associate at the august landscape architecture firm Oehme van Sweden. For instance, the newish azalea collection at the New York Botanical Garden — that’s worth a peek.

Or how about stopping by Mr. Rainer’s influential garden blog, Grounded Design, where he has taken to speaking apostasy against the dogma of green landscaping.

“The native plant movement is, in part, this Protestant idea that it has to hurt in order to do good,” he is likely to say. “In order to support wildlife, to be a better citizen, you have to throw out your dahlias and your peonies. I think that’s too bad. Sustainability should be more hedonistic, more pleasurable.”

He will gladly reveal his whole cosmology, with a garden at the center. But he maintains that no one wants to see his tenth-of-an-acre lot, on a bus line, surrounding a humdrum 1951 rambler in the Washington suburbs.

Mr. Rainer, 37, posted hundreds of essays on the nature (and artifice) of the American landscape before finally sharing the first snapshot of his home garden a few months ago.

“I’ve been petrified to do it,” he said on a recent Sunday. “I teach planting design” — Mr. Rainer is an adjunct at George Washington University — “and I’m kind of the planting-design go-to guy at work. I have a blog. A lot of credibility is riding on what I would do in my own garden. And yet the circumstances have been that this is not a house or a garden that will ever be a masterpiece.”

With the dead season on the way, Mr. Rainer was feeling reflective about what his plants had done, and failed to do, over the summer.

There are, in a sense, two gardens here to autopsy. The first is a native bed (or “native-ish,” he said), with perennial grasses and shrubs like chokeberry, ninebark, winterberry and Virginia sweetspire. The plan is for these woodland edge plants to grow in and form a bulwark against the busy street. The second, which his brother-in-law has christened “the duck blind,” is a screened border planting filled with annuals and exuberant oddments.

If Mr. Rainer’s eye weren’t critical enough, his wife, Melissa Rainer, 41, is also a landscape architect. They work together at Rhodeside Harwell in Washington.

“If I did an as-built plan for the garden,” Mr. Rainer said, “it might go against quite a lot of what I would teach in a class.”

Ms. Rainer said, “It ‘might’ or ‘absolutely would?’ ”

The home garden of the horticulture professional is a strange place, said Todd Forrest, the vice president for horticulture and living collections at the New York Botanical Garden. While a tradition of excellence is the standard at work, he said, “I would never look at another gardener’s garden critically — like, ‘Wow, your turf looks spotty.’ ”

Of Mr. Forrest’s own one-acre yard in Ridgefield, Conn., he said, “it’s not designed in any way, shape or form.” Instead, he is conducting a casual field trial of which New England plants are unpalatable to Odocoileus virginianus, the demon ungulate known as the white-tailed deer.

Mr. Forrest sees the same spirit of inquiry in Grounded Design, and he has invited Mr. Rainer to speak at the botanical garden in March.

“He’s very self-critical,” Mr. Forrest said. “In some ways, self-deprecating. He doesn’t proclaim any expertise, except the expertise of passionate inquiry and honest reporting.”

What is Mr. Rainer’s honest evaluation of his own garden, then?

“There’s a disregard for the colors matching all together,” he said. And the plant heights are all over the place, like a seventh-grade class photo. In sum, “It lacks coherence.”

Where, for instance, did the 11-foot-tall Abyssinian banana plants come from and why are they growing above a native mountain mint? Ms. Rainer addressed the first question: The couple like to browse the houseplant section of the nursery, where everything costs $5. Stick it in the ground in April and you have a giant by fall.

Hudson — At the end of Georgetown Road in southern Hudson will be the new office for KGK Gardening Design Corp.

Ken and Joyce Kuryla with their son, Derek, along with the KGK work crew and city officials broke ground on the new office space Nov. 8.

The main floor will be 1,117 square feet and the basement an additional 1,107 square feet. A future assembly center is planned with 1,116 square feet for meetings, weddings and special events, Ken said.

“We’ve outgrown the [current] office,” Ken said.

There will be no retail in the new office, and the garden art shop, “About Gardens” at 219 N. Main Street will close before the new facility opens, Joyce said.

KGK Gardening and Design plan to finish the building early spring of 2014, Joyce said. The building and assembly center are on 19 acres.

Derek said the assembly hall will have a rustic barn look with plenty of landscaping for enjoyment and photo opportunities.

KGK Gardening and Design employs 50 crew members during the summer and 15 during the winter, Ken said.

Mayor William Currin said the business was started 29 years ago and has been an asset to Hudson.

Economic Development Director Chuck Wiedie said KGK has been a landmark in the city for a long time.

“I think the company that’s been grown in Hudson and expanding here in the spring is great,” Wiedie said.

Council member Alex Kelemen said the company fills a need in Hudson and the location, which had to be rezoned from suburban residential neighborhood to industrial/business park earlier this year, creates an unusual use in an industrial area.

Council member Dan Williams said it’s great to see a local person succeed.

“He grew up here,” Williams said. “This is the type of development we like to encourage. It’s nice use of the property.”

Ken thanked his staff who were present for the ground breaking and the city of Hudson.

“I’m proud to call Hudson home,” Ken said. “Hudson is great, and we intend to make it better.”

Email: lfreeman@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-541-9434

Facebook: Laura Freeman, Record Publishing

Twitter: @LauraFreeman_RP

If all goes according to plan, in a few years’ time a part of urban Washington will resemble a sprawling Qing dynasty classical garden, complete with pavilions, lakes and ponds, ornate bridges and Chinese fauna.

The ambitious project, a collaboration between China and the US, is finally kicking into gear as money is being raised to break ground, and design and architectural plans are being finalised.

At the top of the agenda – ensuring the almost five-hectare National China Garden will retain the authentic look and feel of an archetypal Chinese garden, the odds of which are pretty good given that it is being modelled on the Geyuan and Heyuan gardens in Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu known for its classical gardens.

The garden complex will be built within the US National Arboretum, a 180-hectare haven for nature buffs that includes a national agricultural research and educational facility and a living museum.

The project is being pitched as a “cultural bridge” between China and the United States, says Sandra Gibson, executive director of the National China Garden Foundation in Washington.

“If you think about the concept of a garden in Chinese culture, it’s about much more than going outdoors and watering a few plants and flowers,” she says. “It’s a much more robust concept than that. It should be a place for beauty, equanimity and shared interests, for the long term.”

To that end, the foundation brought in international architecture firm Page Southerland Page, which outside the US has offices in the Middle East and London, and has been involved in designing US embassy compounds in countries as far flung as Madagascar and Rwanda.

Thomas McCarthy, a principal at the company, is working with partners in China to ensure the authenticity of the environment, including an adherence to the principles of fung shui and placing various structures relative to the wind, water and mountains.

“The work is predicated around the essential recreation of a classical Chinese garden and embodying those fung shui principles that are already encompassed within a Chinese garden,” he says.

Geyuan Garden is known for the use of bamboo and rocks as its principal elements, with the rockeries representing different seasons. The Washington gardens will also be inspired by the Heyuan Garden, which is known for its winding pathways and corridors and Western architectural flourishes, as well as halls, pavilions and green landscapes speckled with vivid flowers.

“There are very specific portions of these gardens that are being replicated,” McCarthy says, adding that this extended to water features like the famed narrow lake that meanders through Yangzhou and the equally well-known White Pagoda, a city landmark. Pavilions, terraces and bamboo gardens will all be diligently recreated at the National China Garden.

Although the land was donated by the US Congress, China will be supplying labour for the landscaping, rockeries, lighting fixtures, art objects and furnishings. Gibson says that China will also provide the materials for 22 structures on the site – buildings designed in keeping with Chinese traditional architecture and where calligraphy classes will be held, classical music will be performed, and photography and artworks will be exhibited. There will also be two teahouses, one overlooking the lake.

Because of the National Arboretum’s vast collection of plants, trees and flowers – including an Asian collection – the flora and fauna for the National Garden will come from its own mix, including bamboo, maple and pine.

“The goal is to make the landscape as close as possible to that in Chinese gardens, and we can use the stock of Chinese ornamentals that has been cared for at the arboretum,” McCarthy says.

The China Garden project was first initiated almost a decade ago in an agreement between the US Department of Agriculture and the State Forestry Administration of China, Gibson says. But a number of factors – primarily economic – caused things to stall.

In 2008, a new US farm bill allowed for private fund-raising and provided the almost five-hectare undeveloped parcel of land at the arboretum. A few years later, China’s former ambassador to the US, Zhang Yesui, and American agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack moved things forward by signing a new memorandum of understanding. The US$60 million project will now be funded in its entirety through corporations and individuals.

From a design perspective, McCarthy says that the goal is to offer a “synthesis of Eastern and Western concepts of how to shape space”.

“Classical Chinese garden design provides the opportunity for contemplation of mankind’s relationship to nature and the strength and perspective that insight offers,” he says.

“The thing that excites me the most is the interaction of the landscapes and the buildings. The rocks and the rockeries are going to be absolutely spectacular, and if you consider rocks as embodiments of mountains, and combine that with pavilions and other structures in that interaction with nature, it can be really profound.”

Photo by Karla Akins
Garden design with water features 

Look at your yard (or your lack, thereof). Is it producing as much as you want it to? Are you growing all the flowers, food and herbs as you’d like? Is it a pretty space? If you live in an apartment, do you feel like you have absolutely no space in which to grow plants, compost or catch rain water? Some of you probably feel like you have nothing to work with.

No matter your homestead reality, permaculture can help you move closer to the space of your dreams. Permaculture is a design system that mimics nature in a way that is aesthetically pleasing while also functional, productive, and sustainable.

Photo from transitiontownsca.org
The natural beauty of a space transformed by permaculture

To find out more about the connections between art and permaculture, we talked to art director and permaculture designer, John Bushe’.  John works with permaculture in multiple ways. He applies permaculture to homes and land, and he also uses permaculture principles to design and grow businesses and municipalities in the U.S. and Latin America.

Photo provided by John Bush
Artist and permaculture designer John Bushe at Enchanted Rock

Hi, John. Please tell us your view of the role of art in permaculture.  

Permaculture itself is  an ecological design system that is replacing our current failing agricultural system.  You can apply its principles to a garden, a business, your life or even art.

Permaculture’s a functional way to organize chaos.  Whether I’m designing a landscape or a website, aesthetics should be a huge part of that design. We want our environments to look and feel good, right?

If you go to school and learn art, you gain skills but you don’t learn the ecological side and don’t necessarily learn to make art that’s functional, that serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. If you go into a museum, you’re not going to come out of there with food or drinks; you get entertainment.   Now if Michelangelo had turned the David into an atmospheric generator (collects water from the air) that would be something, wouldn’t it?  That is possible now.

Permaculture creates resources like food while serving an artistic purpose in the home and yard.  Of course, some permaculture designers are better gardeners and not as good on the aesthetics of the design. If you hire a permaculture designer, you’ll want to find out if their strengths match up with your needs.

I studied art direction in college and art and design in high school, and no one ever talked about the relationship between art and nature. If you like art and nature, permaculture is an excellent way to work with both.

There are specific artistic design patterns  associated with permaculture – like the spiral – but really, the whole system is an artistic application of common sense design ideas that are right in front of our noses. I live in an urban condo with a tiny back porch. It’s so small and intricate, but I’ve had a blast designing it for maximum food, flower and herb production.  It is a much different system design for this small space compared to what we do on large pieces of land.   Soon, we’ll have tilapia back there. This project is important to me because I want to show people that they can do a lot with very little space.

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Do you have a specialty inside of permaculture?

I like to say I  specialize in “resourcery.”  For years, I’ve acted as a catalyst for businesses, cities and individuals to transform over to the resource economy. “Don’t throw away waste; find new ways to use it.” That’s zero waste philosophy, the most powerful goal in the universe, in my opinion.

Now we’re learning to see things that weren’t there before with different eyes. Artists are so good at this. That’s why upcycling has become such a huge movement over the last few years.

Ultimately, bringing ecology into art and design takes the conversation from scarcity to abundance. In the past, artists have had to go to stores and buy paint brushes, paint, canvases, etc. The zero waste conversation turns everything into a potential art supply. Everything is a potential canvas. You can produce food, water, entertainment, beauty and abundance by applying the zero waste-permaculture philosophy.

You can go to a landfill and find materials to make art, an epic building, and probably even a 3D printer! With food waste, you make compost that helps you build fertility in the soil to grow food, etc. You can help end hunger by teaching people about making compost out of food waste, saving seeds from local organic produce, and then planting them. When you have way too many seeds for your own household, you get to start sharing them with others. Zero waste solves everything, and it is just one of 12 permaculture principles!

It’s interesting because this is all really just forgotten knowledge. We go visit Mayan ruins and marvel at the art and design, but we don’t apply that knowledge. The Maya caught rainwater in big vessels called chultunes. The Aztecs built chinampas to make use of the best soil from the bottom of riverbeds in their gardens. Permaculture helps us to remember these kinds of common sense design ideas.

Image from mrmoyer.pbworks.com
Illustration of Aztecs building chinampas

Do you have a specific example of landfill waste that artists can use for supplies?

Pretty much anything and everything can be turned into art supplies and resources. I have a disassembled blender at home. I can use the wire wrapped around the motor to make a sculpture. The plastic can become ink for a 3D printer. There’s copper in there, and steel, too. There’s e-waste in there that can be used to build a cell phone If you’re interested in building something like a phone, you can just look up directions online.

So, when I’m creating permaculture designs and thinking of ways to make a space look kick ass while also producing a big yield, I look around the community. Cheap or free resources are usually just sitting there waiting to be used.

Photo by Brian Patrick Flynn
Upcycled materials make a container garden

Permaculture’s a beautiful animal. I truly believe that, by applying permaculture principles in conjunction with the goal of zero waste, we have the key to heaven on earth.

***

To contact John with questions about your space or to find out how to become a permaculture designer, write him at jbush@adbongo.com.

What do you think of permaculture’s potential to change the world? Please tell us in the comments section below!

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Today it’s Rose Park, but many residents in the neighborhood still refer to it as Garfield Park.

It was the playground for Thomas Andrew Miles, who grew up across the street.

“I would come to the park at 8 a.m. and go home at dark in the summer and before and after school,” he said. “I would cross the park going and coming from school.”

In those days there was ice skating, tennis, baseball and watching games. “It was part of my home,” he smiled.

Today he’s 64, still lives in the neighborhood and still goes to the same 9-acre park at 3045 N. King Drive every day.

Now he checks out the Internet on the computers at the park’s Clinton and Bernice Rose Senior Center, works out in the fitness facility, has some lunch and gets to know the other seniors who come for activities.

Like many others at the center and in the neighborhood, he said he would like to see the park spruced up and improved with more activities to attract a new generation.

Last week over pizza, chicken wings and lemonade, about 35 residents and interested parties attended the second of two meetings that have been scheduled by the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative to start drafting ideas, plans and a vision to redevelop and reinvigorate the park.

“The county has done a good job of maintaining the park, but we think there are things we can do to enhance the park, and we want to work with the county and others,” said J. Allen Stokes, coordinator of the Harambee Initiative.

Milwaukee County Parks Director John Dargle attended the meeting and praised the group for doing the groundwork to provide the county with information on what residents would like to see in the park.

“It helps us as we go forward with a physical assessment and what repairs and improvements are needed,” he said.

County Supervisor Willie Johnson also attended the meeting and told the group that in the 2014 budget, the county has allocated $14,900 to reconstruct the basketball courts.

As the planning continues, it’s important to also look for ways to finance projects, he said.

Once plans are developed, applications will be made for grants from foundations and other private sources, said Leif Otteson, a community organizer with the Harambee Initiative. Forming a Friends of Rose Park also may be considered to gather support, he said.

Two years ago, students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture’s Community Design Solutions drew up plans for a “what if” project for Rose Park as a class exercise.

Now those plans have been pulled out, and some students are working with residents and others to draw up new possibilities for the park.

Today the park contains a softball field, two basketball courts, playground, wading pool, a storage or bath house, the senior center and 70 parking stalls.

Residents’ wish list

At last week’s visioning sessions, residents quickly drew up a long wish list for the park that included: an ice skating rink, bandstand, community gardens, new landscaping, native plants, a water fountain, modern lighting, soccer field, bike and walking paths, a children’s area, benches, an amphitheater, picnic tables and improvements to the basketball and softball fields.

When Lashante Nickson, 10, was told by her godmother she would be attending the meeting on ideas for the park, the young girl drew up her own plans with a pencil and paper that included tire swings and a teeter totter.

Her godmother, Keya Shumpert, said she grew up at the park and would like to see it be more “kid-friendly.”

“We don’t come now because there’s not much to do,” she said.

For the last 30 years, Ronald Radcliff has been playing softball at the park. “I’ve been playing since I was 18. I still play and I love it,” he said.

“I’ve been hoping something would happen to improve the park, because other parks are getting fixed up,” he said.

There’s been a park on this spot since 1866, when it was called Schuetzen (Rifleman’s) Park, according to a history of the park included in the UWM plans. Programs included a rifle range, beer garden, bowling alley, dance hall and saloon.

In 1891, it was sold to the Pabst Brewery and renamed Pabst Park. It was turned into an amusement park with a roller coaster, carousel and fun house.

Then, in 1921, Pabst Park was renamed Garfield Park after the 20th president of the United States. The city turned over the park to the county in 1937.

In the 1970s it was renamed, first in honor of County Supervisor Clinton Rose. Later the name of his wife, Bernice, who succeeded him on the County Board, was added. In 1982, the senior center was constructed.

Today it’s Rose Park, but many residents in the neighborhood still refer to it as Garfield Park.

It was the playground for Thomas Andrew Miles, who grew up across the street.

“I would come to the park at 8 a.m. and go home at dark in the summer and before and after school,” he said. “I would cross the park going and coming from school.”

In those days there was ice skating, tennis, baseball and watching games. “It was part of my home,” he smiled.

Today he’s 64, still lives in the neighborhood and still goes to the same 9-acre park at 3045 N. King Drive every day.

Now he checks out the Internet on the computers at the park’s Clinton and Bernice Rose Senior Center, works out in the fitness facility, has some lunch and gets to know the other seniors who come for activities.

Like many others at the center and in the neighborhood, he said he would like to see the park spruced up and improved with more activities to attract a new generation.

Last week over pizza, chicken wings and lemonade, about 35 residents and interested parties attended the second of two meetings that have been scheduled by the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative to start drafting ideas, plans and a vision to redevelop and reinvigorate the park.

“The county has done a good job of maintaining the park, but we think there are things we can do to enhance the park, and we want to work with the county and others,” said J. Allen Stokes, coordinator of the Harambee Initiative.

Milwaukee County Parks Director John Dargle attended the meeting and praised the group for doing the groundwork to provide the county with information on what residents would like to see in the park.

“It helps us as we go forward with a physical assessment and what repairs and improvements are needed,” he said.

County Supervisor Willie Johnson also attended the meeting and told the group that in the 2014 budget, the county has allocated $14,900 to reconstruct the basketball courts.

As the planning continues, it’s important to also look for ways to finance projects, he said.

Once plans are developed, applications will be made for grants from foundations and other private sources, said Leif Otteson, a community organizer with the Harambee Initiative. Forming a Friends of Rose Park also may be considered to gather support, he said.

Two years ago, students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture’s Community Design Solutions drew up plans for a “what if” project for Rose Park as a class exercise.

Now those plans have been pulled out, and some students are working with residents and others to draw up new possibilities for the park.

Today the park contains a softball field, two basketball courts, playground, wading pool, a storage or bath house, the senior center and 70 parking stalls.

Residents’ wish list

At last week’s visioning sessions, residents quickly drew up a long wish list for the park that included: an ice skating rink, bandstand, community gardens, new landscaping, native plants, a water fountain, modern lighting, soccer field, bike and walking paths, a children’s area, benches, an amphitheater, picnic tables and improvements to the basketball and softball fields.

When Lashante Nickson, 10, was told by her godmother she would be attending the meeting on ideas for the park, the young girl drew up her own plans with a pencil and paper that included tire swings and a teeter totter.

Her godmother, Keya Shumpert, said she grew up at the park and would like to see it be more “kid-friendly.”

“We don’t come now because there’s not much to do,” she said.

For the last 30 years, Ronald Radcliff has been playing softball at the park. “I’ve been playing since I was 18. I still play and I love it,” he said.

“I’ve been hoping something would happen to improve the park, because other parks are getting fixed up,” he said.

There’s been a park on this spot since 1866, when it was called Schuetzen (Rifleman’s) Park, according to a history of the park included in the UWM plans. Programs included a rifle range, beer garden, bowling alley, dance hall and saloon.

In 1891, it was sold to the Pabst Brewery and renamed Pabst Park. It was turned into an amusement park with a roller coaster, carousel and fun house.

Then, in 1921, Pabst Park was renamed Garfield Park after the 20th president of the United States. The city turned over the park to the county in 1937.

In the 1970s it was renamed, first in honor of County Supervisor Clinton Rose. Later the name of his wife, Bernice, who succeeded him on the County Board, was added. In 1982, the senior center was constructed.

Today it’s Rose Park, but many residents in the neighborhood still refer to it as Garfield Park.

It was the playground for Thomas Andrew Miles, who grew up across the street.

“I would come to the park at 8 a.m. and go home at dark in the summer and before and after school,” he said. “I would cross the park going and coming from school.”

In those days there was ice skating, tennis, baseball and watching games. “It was part of my home,” he smiled.

Today he’s 64, still lives in the neighborhood and still goes to the same 9-acre park at 3045 N. King Drive every day.

Now he checks out the Internet on the computers at the park’s Clinton and Bernice Rose Senior Center, works out in the fitness facility, has some lunch and gets to know the other seniors who come for activities.

Like many others at the center and in the neighborhood, he said he would like to see the park spruced up and improved with more activities to attract a new generation.

Last week over pizza, chicken wings and lemonade, about 35 residents and interested parties attended the second of two meetings that have been scheduled by the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative to start drafting ideas, plans and a vision to redevelop and reinvigorate the park.

“The county has done a good job of maintaining the park, but we think there are things we can do to enhance the park, and we want to work with the county and others,” said J. Allen Stokes, coordinator of the Harambee Initiative.

Milwaukee County Parks Director John Dargle attended the meeting and praised the group for doing the groundwork to provide the county with information on what residents would like to see in the park.

“It helps us as we go forward with a physical assessment and what repairs and improvements are needed,” he said.

County Supervisor Willie Johnson also attended the meeting and told the group that in the 2014 budget, the county has allocated $14,900 to reconstruct the basketball courts.

As the planning continues, it’s important to also look for ways to finance projects, he said.

Once plans are developed, applications will be made for grants from foundations and other private sources, said Leif Otteson, a community organizer with the Harambee Initiative. Forming a Friends of Rose Park also may be considered to gather support, he said.

Two years ago, students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture’s Community Design Solutions drew up plans for a “what if” project for Rose Park as a class exercise.

Now those plans have been pulled out, and some students are working with residents and others to draw up new possibilities for the park.

Today the park contains a softball field, two basketball courts, playground, wading pool, a storage or bath house, the senior center and 70 parking stalls.

Residents’ wish list

At last week’s visioning sessions, residents quickly drew up a long wish list for the park that included: an ice skating rink, bandstand, community gardens, new landscaping, native plants, a water fountain, modern lighting, soccer field, bike and walking paths, a children’s area, benches, an amphitheater, picnic tables and improvements to the basketball and softball fields.

When Lashante Nickson, 10, was told by her godmother she would be attending the meeting on ideas for the park, the young girl drew up her own plans with a pencil and paper that included tire swings and a teeter totter.

Her godmother, Keya Shumpert, said she grew up at the park and would like to see it be more “kid-friendly.”

“We don’t come now because there’s not much to do,” she said.

For the last 30 years, Ronald Radcliff has been playing softball at the park. “I’ve been playing since I was 18. I still play and I love it,” he said.

“I’ve been hoping something would happen to improve the park, because other parks are getting fixed up,” he said.

There’s been a park on this spot since 1866, when it was called Schuetzen (Rifleman’s) Park, according to a history of the park included in the UWM plans. Programs included a rifle range, beer garden, bowling alley, dance hall and saloon.

In 1891, it was sold to the Pabst Brewery and renamed Pabst Park. It was turned into an amusement park with a roller coaster, carousel and fun house.

Then, in 1921, Pabst Park was renamed Garfield Park after the 20th president of the United States. The city turned over the park to the county in 1937.

In the 1970s it was renamed, first in honor of County Supervisor Clinton Rose. Later the name of his wife, Bernice, who succeeded him on the County Board, was added. In 1982, the senior center was constructed.

Water has become a critical issue for most Texans. And while recent rainfall has raised area lake levels and eased local water restrictions; booming populations are increasing the demand on the areas limited water supply. Seasonal fluctuations in rainfall and periodic droughts create a feast-to-famine cycle for residence living in the Coastal Bend. In urban areas, about 25 percent of the water supply is used to water landscapes and gardens. In the summer, as much as 60 percent of the water the average household uses may be used for landscape maintenance. Many landscapes require large amounts of water and much of this water is applied inefficiently. While adopting efficient lawn irrigation techniques can help save large amounts of water, a comprehensive program of landscape water conservation can dramatically reduce landscape water demand.

This idea is better known as Xeriscape landscaping but it need not be all cactus and rocks. A Xeriscape landscape has plenty of room for lush turf grass and shade trees. There are seven water saving principals of Xeriscape landscaping: planning and design, soil analysis and preparation, practical turf areas, appropriate plant selection, efficient irrigation, use of mulches, and appropriate maintenance. None of these practices are new and by incorporating these seven principles, you can help preserve our most precious natural resource – water.

Planning and design is the starting point for any water wise landscape. Consider how you use the various areas of your yard, how you want your yard to look, the amount of maintenance you plan to give it, and the budget you can afford. When designing the landscape, keep in mind that turf grasses need more water and maintenance than most other plants. To conserve water, reduce the size of the lawn by including patios, decks, shrub beds and groundcovers in the landscape design. Also consider the ease of watering turf areas. Areas that are long and narrow, small, or oddly shaped are difficult to water efficiently. Confine grass to blocky, square areas that are easier to maintain. The purpose of planning is to design a landscape that will have the appearance and function you desire while conserving water. You can implement your landscape design gradually over several years.

Prepare your soil by starting with a good soil test. Soil analysis will show whether the soil should be improved so that it will absorb and hold moisture better. Most soils benefit greatly from organic matter. Adding organic matter to the soil of shrub and flower bed areas makes plants healthier. Organic matter also helps the soil absorb and store water. As a rule-of-thumb, till in 4 to 6 inches of organic material such as shredded pine bark, compost or leaves.

Select trees, shrubs and groundcovers that are adapted to your region’s soil and climate. The use of native plants in Texas landscapes has become extremely popular. Combining Texas natives with well adapted exotic plants is one key to a beautiful, interesting landscape that conserves water. Native plants generally use less water than exotic plants, but there is room for both in well-designed landscapes. Native Texas plants are becoming more available at retail nurseries and garden centers.

While tremendous amounts of water are applied to lawns and gardens, much of it is never absorbed by the plants and put to use. Some water runs off because it is applied too rapidly, and some water evaporates from exposed, un-mulched soil. But the greatest waste of water is applying too much too often. When too much water is applied to the landscape it can leach nutrients deep into the soil away from plant roots, and possibly pollute groundwater. Runoff also can cause pollution by carrying fertilizers and pesticides into streams and lakes. These problems can be eliminated with proper watering techniques. The key to watering lawns is to apply the water only when the grass needs it, but thoroughly saturating the soil profile to a 6 inch depth with each watering.

In addition to irrigation scheduling, irrigation application methods can be improved to decrease water usage. For tree and shrub watering around the dripline (the area directly below the outermost reaches of the branches) is highly efficient, not watering at the trunk. Simply lay a slowly running hose on the ground and move it around the dripline as the area becomes saturated to a depth of 8 to 10 inches. If you use sprinklers to water turf, make sure the sprinkler heads are positioned properly to avoid watering sidewalks and driveways. Also adjust sprinkler heads so that they spray large droplets of water instead of a fog or fine mist, which evaporates quickly and may drift away with the wind. Water between late evening and mid-morning so that water will not evaporate quickly and be wasted. Drip irrigation is an alternative to sprinkler irrigation systems that is highly efficient. Efficient irrigation can save 30 to 50 percent of the water bill for an average home.

Use mulch in flower and shrub beds to reduce water evaporation from the soil. Mulch is a layer of nonliving material covering the soil surface around plants. Mulches can be organic materials such as pine bark, compost and woodchips; or inorganic materials such as lava rock, limestone or permeable plastic (not sheet plastic). Use mulch wherever possible. Good mulch conserves water by significantly reducing moisture evaporation from the soil. Mulch also reduces weeds, prevents soil compaction, and keeps soil temperatures more moderate.

Good maintenance preserves the beauty of the landscape and conserves water. Mowing grass at the proper height conserves water because it encourages root systems to grow deeper and become more water-efficient. Fertilizing the lawn at the proper time and using the proper amount can save time, effort and money by reducing mowing and watering. Properly time any insect and disease control measures, and eliminate weeds. A well-designed landscape that uses Xeriscape principles can reduce maintenance by as much as 50 percent through reduced mowing, once-a-year mulching, the elimination of unadapted plants that require lots of water, and efficient irrigation.

Xeriscaping conserves water in the landscape without sacrificing beauty and plant diversity. The information in this article was adapted from Extension publication B-1584 “Xeriscape: Landscape Water Conservation.” For more information on Xeriscape landscaping contact our office at 361.767.5223

Individuals with disabilities, who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in any of the mentioned activities, are encouraged to contact the County Extension Office eight days before all programs for assistance. Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.