Dear Savvy Senior,

What resources can you recommend to help older job seekers? I’m 62 and have been out of work for nearly a year now and need some help.

— Looking For Work

Dear Looking,

While the U.S. job market has improved slightly over the past year or so, challenges persist for many older job seekers. Fortunately, there are a number of free online tools and in-person training centers scattered across the country today that can help you find employment. Here’s what you should know.

Online resources

If you have Internet access, there are a number of 50-and-older online employment networks that can help you connect with companies that are interested in hiring older workers.

Two of the best are workreimagined.org, a resource developed by AARP that combines career advice, job listings and online discussion tied to LinkedIn’s professional networking platform. And retirementjobs.com, which offers a job search engine that lists thousands of jobs nationwide from companies that are actively seeking workers over the age of 50. It also provides job-seeking tips and advice, helps with resume writing and allows you to post your resume online for companies to find you.

Some other good 50-plus job seeking sites to try are workforce50.com, retiredbrains.com, retireeworkforce.com, and encore.org a resource that helps older workers find meaningful work in the second half of life.

In-person help

Another good place to get help finding a job is at a Career One-Stop center. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, these are free job resource centers that can help you explore career options, search for jobs, find training, write a resume, prepare for an interview and much more. There are around 3,000 of these centers located throughout the country. To find one near you, call 877-348-0502 or go to careeronestop.org.

Depending on your financial situation, another program that may help is the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). Also sponsored by the Department of Labor, SCSEP offers access to training and part time job placements in a wide variety of community service positions such as day care centers, senior centers, governmental agencies, schools, hospitals, libraries and landscaping centers. To qualify, participants must be over 55, unemployed and have poor employment prospects. To learn more or locate a program in your area visit www.doleta.gov/seniors or call 877-872-5627.

Work at home

If you’re interested in working at home, there are many opportunities depending on your skills, but be careful of rampant work-at-home scams that offer big paydays without much effort.

Some of the more popular work-at-home jobs include “customer service agents” who fields calls from their employers’ customers and prospective customers — you don’t place telemarketing calls. Agents earn an average of $8 to $15 an hour and many also receive incentives and commission, too. To find these jobs see arise.com, alpineaccess.com, liveops.com and workingsolutions.com.

If you have good typing skills there are “transcriptionist” jobs that pay around $10 per hour for typing verbatim accounts of board meetings, presentations, conference calls, etc. Companies that hire transcriptionists are tigerfish.com, ubiqus.com, ctran.com.

And if you have a college degree, online “tutoring” or “proofreading” jobs are always available. See tutor.com to find tutoring opportunities which pay between $10 and $15 per hour. Or, if you have some writing or editing experience, proofreading pays $12 to $20 per hour. See firstediting.com and cactusglobal.com to look for proofreading jobs.

For more work at home ideas and resources, see retiredbrains.com and click on the “Work from Home” tab on the left side of the page.

Start a business

If you’re interested in starting a small business but could use some help getting started, the U.S. Small Business Administration offers tips, tools and free online courses that you can access at sba.gov.

• Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070. Or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

There’s no denying the Niowave expansion on Walnut Street is hard to miss, and neighbors have a name for it.

“The pole barn,” Mary Elaine Kiener said.

She lives just three houses away from what has become a 14,000-square-foot thorn in the community’s side. They’ve been battling with Niowave over the design for months, asking for improvements since they weren’t involved in the construction in the first place. Folks said it’s not just an eye sore, it’s hurting property values.

“We have real estate agents saying, ‘We’re not going to show people properties in the area,'” Kiener said.

Niowave said it’s tried to be a good neighbor and offer landscaping ideas that the community has shot down. Now it wants a $550,000 tax exemption on equipment investments over the next six years, while adding 25 jobs by 2016.

“At the end of the day we’re looking at a very important business partner here for the city of Lansing, and in an important neighborhood,” Lansing Director of Planning and Neighborhood Development said. “In the middle, there has to be a compromise, and I think that – I believe very strongly – that’s what Niowave has brought forward.”

That’s not the way the neighborhood sees it. They called the tax abatement request “ridiculous” at Monday’s City Council meeting, where multiple people spoke out against it.

“This issue has kind of taken on a citywide flavor,” Lansing City Council At Large Member Brian Jeffries said. “We’ve had a lot of other neighborhood organizations from East Side, South Side, contacting us, saying, ‘Hey, we don’t want this happening in our neighborhood.'”

Those neighborhoods have even coined a new catch phrase for their troubles.

“Every time there’s a new development or something new coming through, people say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to get Niowaved,'” Kiener said.

Niowave has offered $100,000 worth in landscaping, but people say it’s not enough. They want guarantees.

“They have not been good neighbors,” Kiener said.

A public hearing for Niowave’s requested tax exemption is set for March 11.

There’s also an amendment on the table for the Special Land Use permit to prevent situations like this in other neighborhoods in the future.

CHAMBERSBURG – The former Pab Roof Truss building was transformed into an outdoor-living “idea book in 3-D” this weekend for the Backyard Living Expo.

Shortly after the 10 a.m. opening Saturday, the expo’s second day, dozens of people meandered

through the showcase of patios, outdoor living rooms, sheds, gazebos, fence displays, hot tubs, children’s play sets, water features, lawn furniture, lawn mowers, grills, outdoor flooring materials and other projects available from the 40-plus vendors.

The layout emulated the looks homeowners can achieve on their own properties. Robb Fox, owner of Chambersburg’s Fox Landscaping, was part of the group that developed the strategic design; displaying, for example, plants and hardscape materials together like they would be in a front yard promotes vision to turn an idea into a project under construction.

“(The expo) is an idea book in 3-D,” Fox said.

Scott Rosenbaum, owner of Chambersburg’s Rosenbaum’s Landscaping and lead organizer of the expo, said the event fills a need that he saw for the outdoor-living industry in the area. Only businesses serving outdoor-specific needs were brought in.

The expo’s strict focus meant that more people serious about starting a project attended.

“Here’s the neat thing, because we’re so focused on what we’re doing, we’re finding out the people who are coming, if they have a need they know if they come here they’ll be able to find the answer,” Rosenbaum said.

Jenn and Chris Wenger, Shippensburg, were two of those people looking for answers. They have caught spring fever, Chris Wenger said, and were getting a head start on potentially building a deck.

“We’re here to get ideas to make some improvements down the road,” Jenn Wenger said.

Also thinking spring were Dave and Gina Lapole, St. Thomas. Looking to replace a shed, they went out to see what is new this year.

“We want to have ideas in mind for when the winter breaks,” they said.

Another attendee had just learned about the expo from a friend and came to find awning possibilities for his business, Cleaning Connection Inc. Glenn Lininger had checked out Incredible Awning to find out what options are available.

The focused crowd helped many vendors obtain solid leads, Rosenbaum said. Robin Musser, a representative for Kelsey Springs Landscaping, Chambersburg, said she had set up six cost-estimation appointments by the first hour of day two of the expo.

Most people were interested in patios and other hardscaping, and water features, Musser said. said. Similar trends were seen by Eldorado Stone, Chambersburg. Representative Dan Elders said outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces attracted much attention.

For Flohr Pools, the expo came during the prime season for buying pools and hot tubs. Representative Kim Heck said she has not seen specific trends, and that interest among above ground pools, underground pools and hot tubs seems about equal.

Although it provides various projects for the home, Byers Home Improvements, Chambersburg, showcased outdoor rooms at the expo. Owner James Byers said rooms come in different varieties to work in some or all of the seasons. He said winter is a popular time because it allows people to feel like they are outside, but in a space much warmer than the outdoor temperatures.

Rosenbaum planned the expo for February because many vendors said March is extremely busy.

For some vendors, it was also a good start to a year when they hope to continue climbing out of the down economy. A number of vendor representatives said the economy seems to be having less and less effect on people’s decisions to start home improvement projects.

Breaking projects down and completing them in segments was a trend seen by Kelsey Springs Landscaping, Musser said. Also, homeowners who may have put improvements off are now making them a priority. They are skipping vacations and forgoing other luxuries in order to make home a more comfortable place.

Things are looking up for Flohr Pools, Heck said. Now is the time to get started on plans to have a pool by summer, and the year is off to a good start.

Sales have been rising at Eldorado Stone, Chambersburg, as the recession has gotten older.

“We had our biggest year last year,” said representative Dan Enders.

Not all industries have had much of an economic sting to come back from though. Nick Ehrhart, president of A Plus Fencing, Chambersburg, said children and pets create a consistent need for his industry.

Rosenbaum said plans are already in the works for a second annual expo. A number of this year’s vendors have signed up to be part of a committee that will provide input to improve the event.

“We see what we have now, were gonna take it up another notch,” Rosenbaum said. “We’re gonna blow the socks off, from this year to next year.”
The Backyard Living Expo continues 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today2.24 at the former Pab Roof Truss Building, 5274 Sunset Pike, Chambersburg. Admission is $3; free for children age 12 and younger.

———-

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4771.

25 February 2013

Comments on Draft Ferry Road Master
Plan needed by Thursday 28 February

Residents and
businesses have until 28 February to tell the Christchurch
City Council their views on the vision, goals and actions
proposed in the Draft Ferry Road Master Plan (Phase One).
The Council-led Plan has been prepared to support commercial
centres along Ferry Road in response to the damage caused by
the earthquakes.

The final date for public submissions is
5pm on Thursday 28 February 2013.

The Plan is available to
view in any of the Council’s open service centres and
libraries. It is also available online at www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay

City
Planning Unit Manager Brigitte de Ronde says more than 50
submissions on the Plan have come in.

“There is strong
support for a shared pathway network along the
Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River and through public open spaces.
People also responded positively to the theme for Woolston
Village: reconnecting people, the river and heritage.
Comments support the use of materials and designs for
buildings, street furniture and landscaping that reflect and
celebrate the area’s built, social and natural history.”

Mayor Bob Parker says the Draft Master Plan sets a
long-term vision for the area that recognises the vital role
of the corridor as an important transportation route for the
city, while also developing actions that support a good
quality of life for the people who live, work and visit this
area.

“I am heartened by the level of detail people have
put into their submissions to the Plan. Amongst the many
initiatives that people are keen to see in the Ferrymead
area is an increase in safety for pedestrians and the
beautification of the area through additional landscaping
and street furniture. The Plan reflects these ideas by
proposing a much more pedestrian-friendly environment and
greatly improved public access to the recreational value of
the natural environment.

“I urge people to get their
comments on the Plan in before submissions close on 28
February. These comments enable any modifications to be made
to the Plan to make sure it truly reflects people’s
aspirations and hopes for the future of this important
area,” he says.

Comments can be made:
• online at
www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay

• emailed to FerryRoadMP@ccc.govt.nz
• posted
to
o Freepost 178
Draft Ferry Road Master
Plan
Strategy and Planning Group
Christchurch City
Council
PO Box 73012
Christchurch 8154
or
•
hand-delivered to Civic Offices, 53 Hereford Street.

For
more information visit www.ccc.govt.nz/suburbancentres

Background
The
Draft Ferry Road Master Plan is Phase One of a master
planning project for the area. Due to the corridor’s size
and the number of suburban centres along its length three
distinct programmes of work have been identified, all of
which will contribute to the final, overarching Plan for the
area: the Ferry Road / Main Road Master Plan.

Phase One
deals with the area between the city (Fitzgerald Avenue)
along Ferry Road and Main Road to the Ferrymead Bridge only.
Phase Two includes the portion of the corridor from
Ferrymead Bridge to Sumner. The initial project scoping work
for Phase Two has begun. A Council-led corridor study is
also planned for Ferry Road that will help determine
transport priorities for the road corridor. The Corridor
Study is planned to start in early 2013 and will take
several months to complete.

Phase One is a comprehensive,
stand-alone Plan, however, as the other two associated
programmes of work are progressed, adjustments to the Draft
Ferry Road Master Plan (Phase One) may be
required.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

A busy highway’s din has replaced quiet lakeside life for scores of Rowlett residents who live along a two-mile stretch of the Bush Turnpike’s eastern extension, which opened in December 2011.

And while the North Texas Tollway Authority followed all rules in addressing the highway noise — most notably, building

Wil McLellan the founder of EPIC Hub on the cnr of St Asaph and manchester.

Technology entrepreneur Wil McLellan gives everything he does his all – a titanium plate underneath his right eye proves it.

The plate is there after McLellan suffered a fractured eye socket during training for last November’s Fight for Christchurch charity boxing match.

McLellan does nothing half- hearted and with that same drive he co-founded the Epic IT hub in Manchester St with Colin Andersen (Effectus) last year.

British immigrant McLellan has lived in Christchurch for 10 years and helped found game- development studio Stickmen Studios. He and Anderson dreamt up the Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus (Epic) in the wake of the devastating February 22 earthquake, and it may well be the spark of something very important to Christchurch’s future.

What McLellan and Anderson came up with was a plan to house technology companies – all leaders in their fields – together in a building in a communal-type arrangement that let employees and their ideas mingle.

It’s an open-work approach made famous by internet giant Google.

McLellan says Epic was a huge undertaking for him – he’s a man who admits he has never even put up a shelf – and the impetus for the complex came as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes. “This is entirely demand driven. This would not have happened without the earthquake. It’s one of the few silver linings, if you know what I mean. It’s a good thing that has come out of the rubble.

“We dusted ourselves off and some of us said we’ve got some really positive ideas here and normally it would have been too difficult to rally together all the different companies, it would have been too difficult to get the land off the Government, but the Government acknowledged now was the time to do some serious stuff and keep these companies going.”

McLellan says taking the idea from concept to final building “nearly killed us both”. The mental toll was “tremendous”.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of our families, 24/7. We both contemplated quitting several times – we’re not superheroes. It was only the people there to pick us up that kept us going.”

“There were days when I rang Colin almost in tears, saying, ‘Man, I can’t do this any more’, and he would say, ‘Mate, don’t worry. Chuck me the ball. Take a few days . . .’ Two days later I rang Colin and I went, ‘Mate, I’m back.’ He said, ‘Great. I quit.’ I was like, ‘Don’t worry, man. Chuck me the ball.’

“I’d come home sometimes and sit with my head in my hands and my wife would put her arms around me and say, ‘We can get there.’ And we did.”

McLellan rang Craig Nevill- Manning, engineering director at Google in New York and also a New Zealander, for advice. As well as advice on how to structure the building’s layout, Google also funded a barista coffee setup. Weta Workshop donated original artwork to hang on the walls of the shared spaces.

“We sat back and said, ‘We’ve never done this before’, and what do you normally do when you’ve not done something before? You look at inspirational environments for ideas, but instead of just looking, I rang Craig and told him what we were planning and he asked what he could do to help. The earthquake was this catalyst because normally if I’d rung him he probably would have said, ‘Sorry, I’m a bit busy at the moment’, but everyone had seen the earthquake and everyone wanted to help.

“The thing I liked about Google was that they didn’t develop tech parts: they developed environments that let people mingle. So the vision we had for this place [Epic] was to encourage people to mingle. It was about breaking down the barriers among companies.”

The main anchor tenant is Sli- Systems, and other tenants include Effectus, Stickmen Studios and Meta Solutions.

McLellan says the Christchurch City Council provided the land rent-free for five years, and $900,000 in grants came from the Ministry for Science and Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

The city council and City Care donated time and materials towards landscaping the grounds. The BNZ was the main financier of the project, says McLellan, and an important tenant, sponsoring the BNZ lounge in the complex.

McLellan hopes Epic will attract talented people back into Christchurch and he says the hub needs to be in the central city, not in a suburb.

“One of the papers in my [university] degree was the death of the inner-city, so I realised that out-of-town malls and companies moving [away from the city] doesn’t do anything to help have a vibrant city life.

“In cities, you’ve got your businesspeople walking around, you’ve got your high-tech people with disposable income. And with the vision we had, we hoped Christchurch could be an inspirational place for the future. All of us wanted to be here and it comes down to attracting staff.”

He says trying to attract the best staff in the world to work in an industrial estate isn’t easy.

“Whereas if you say ‘We’re smack bang in [the middle of] one of the most innovative, new, exciting cities in the world’ that helps us. It was also our own staff: none of us wanted to be in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, none of us wanted to struggle to attract people and thinking we’re going to be trying to sell a vision that isn’t exciting.

“And then there is the bigger picture: We want to live in a city that has a heart. We all live here, we’ve all made a huge commitment to stay here, so we were thinking it just makes sense to have high-tech, entrepreneurial companies right back in the middle [of the city]. For us it was always passionate about the middle.”

The Epic project has shown McLellan the things that he can do well and the things he doesn’t do so well. It put him out of his comfort zone.

“I’ve had some terrible moments during this project where I’ve been completely outside my comfort zone and I never want to go there again. I’ve learned that my skill set is in pulling the right people together. I’m an instigator . . . it’s reinforced my faith in people.”

Epic is merely the first stage of McLellan and Anderson’s plan.

“The vision is to seize the opportunity with the blueprint that has been provided. They’ve drawn a big square around this area and called it the innovation precinct. Provided we can work with the landowners and provided we can get the funding, it’s a case of Epic being innovative and in some respects inspirational,” he says.

“We want people to walk in and say, ‘Wow, all these companies are working together and it works.’ But we’ve done it [Epic] on a very low budget so for stage two we want to take all the magic from stage one – the inspiration, the collaboration, the economies from sharing space – and put it into an iconic environment that is world class.”

Stage one was codenamed Sanctuary. Stage two is called Sigma. This involves creating a world-class multibuilding campus for innovation-based Canterbury companies, all working from the heart of Christchurch’s rebuilt CBD.

McLellan wants something that Christchurch people could be proud of and walk past and say, “So this is why companies come here.”

“That’s the vision. That’s where the magic happens. The magic happens with people talking and sharing ideas. Proximity helps innovation. It really does. There’s no substitute for sitting down and having a coffee with someone when you’re doing business.”

McLellan is passionate about Christchurch and never thought about leaving the city after the earthquakes.

“I love this place. I remember my wife saying the day after the earthquake . . . we were in our tent in the backyard and I woke up and said, ‘What the f… am I going to do? I’ve got staff with no equipment. The house is gone. The city is gone. And she said, ‘Wil, the house is destroyed, the office is destroyed, but our home in Christchurch is still here. We can get through this.’ ”

Three months since it opened, McLellan is happy with where things are at. “Epic is performing even better than expected. Tenants love it – it’s a welcoming and inspiring environment, where they are surrounded by like- minded people. Many have made new friends and business partnerships and we are very happy that lots of external groups like the software cluster and Ministry of Awesome regularly use the shared spaces for their meetings. In short, Epic is connecting people.”

– © Fairfax NZ News

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Patrick Johnston/Times Record News
Zoe Swick (left) talks with artist Chi Chi Price about two sculptures she is working on Saturday afternoon at the Arts Alive! Home amp; Garden Show at the Multi-Purpose Events Center.

Patrick Johnston/Times Record News
A couple checks out a Wichita Valley booth with native plants and landscape ideas that are better suited for drought conditions Saturday afternoon at the Arts Alive! Home amp; Garden Show at the Multi-Purpose Events Center.

photos by Patrick Johnston/Times Record News
A group looks through a vendor booth featuring various types of decorative art, including metal parrots and clay pots, Saturday afternoon at the Arts Alive! Home amp; Garden Show at the Multi-Purpose Events Center. TOP: Zoe Swick (left) talks with artist Chi Chi Price about two sculptures she is working on.

Drought restrictions and approaching summer temperatures might have some Wichitans shying away from gardening, but the Wichita Falls 16th Annual Arts Alive! Home and Garden Show was alive and well this Saturday at the Multi-Purpose Events Center.

Event director and Kemp Center for the Arts Director Carol Sales said over 1,300 people flooded through the doors in the first hour of the show.

This year the theme “Roots and Wings” focused on educating people with how to deal with drought conditions and still enjoy gardening.

Every year a committee selects the theme for the show, and this year the committee wanted to have an educational year, Sales said.

“They worked from the Erma Bombeck theory that you give every child roots and wings to fly,” Sales said.

“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: one is roots, the other is wings,” the quote reads.

The event continues today with informative sessions on progressive waste solutions, vertical gardens and the Nighthawks football team is prowling through the MPEC. Beginner art classes and youth art classes offer an opportunity to learn and sticking with the theme.

Vendors at the event offer everything from lawn mowers and weed killers to exquisite landscaping options and well drilling. Of course other frilly, fun things like purses and decorations and drink mixes and food were all available as well.

The Wichita County Humane Society brought out several of their adoptable friends in their new trailer, and people took advantage of playing with the lovable pets.

Several galleries in rooms off the main room featured Mexican pottery and ironworks, furniture, antiques and a whole slew of local dealers offering their services — like handmade stained glass windows.

Betty Higgins, featured artist, painted “Red Poppies,” and she is described as not only a talented artist but generous in heart and spirit. Keeping the theme in motion, Higgins is highlighted children’s art from classes at the Kemp Center for the Arts.

“She wanted to illustrate the camps for the kids and everything at the Kemp Center,” Sales said. “This whole weekend has been an educational opportunity for the community. Everyone is trained to educate themselves about the drought situation and about recycling reuse. It’s all about doing what’s better for family life, and this is like a hometown marketplace of vendors to give them an opportunity to have an open house and an open spring.”

Sales said the drought is making people more aware of their footprint left behind, and they’re trying to do their part by educating people.

For those still eager to learn about the 2013 Home and Garden Festival, the event goes on from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the MPEC with tickets available at the door.

Published: Saturday, February 23, 2013

For decades, carpets of lush, green suburban lawns have been icons of an attractive, well-maintained home. But our recent drought has made more than a few homeowners reconsider the composition of their landscape. Last year, almost all of my landscaping clients requested a design that included eliminating at least a section of lawn as part of their overall plan.

Citing skyrocketing water bills, parched and dying grass and constant maintenance woes, homeowners are eager for eco-friendly alternatives to traditional lawns that are becoming harder and harder to maintain in our climate.

Many people are unsure about how to approach having less lawn. Some believe they are limited to a stretch of glaring white gravel with thorny cacti. The fact is, we don’t live in the desert (despite occasionally feeling like it) and there are many other beautiful landscaping options to match a wide range of personal styles.

Lawn replacement choices run the gamut from low-maintenance beds to welcoming patios, paths, dry creeks, water features, play spaces, gazebos and fire pits.

While xeric or drought-tolerant plants require less water, all plants need to be watered. Central Texas boasts a long list of native plants that, once established, can survive our rigorous conditions with less watering. When planted, they will require regular watering for several months to get them started, but will then be less thirsty than other non-native or adapted plants.

In addition to flowering plants like lantana, salvia, yellow bell, damianita, skullcap, plumbago, catmint, and blackfoot daisy, to name just a few, many xeric grasses and sedges also can be used in a smaller area en mass to create a grassy, nontraditional green space. Among the most successful grasses for achieving this look are Mexican feather grass, little bluestem grass, Texas sedge and Berkley sedge. Planting a small space with these grasses might also have the added benefit of appeasing some rigid homeowners associations.

Groundcovers and creeping plants also can be used to take up lawn space — some of those that work well here include Asian jasmine, sweet potato vine, silver ponyfoot, purple heart, wooly stemodia and a variety of thymes.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (www.wildflower.org) center maintains an excellent database of native plants

— their needs and characteristics — that grow well in Central Texas.

While removing swaths of grass and expanding flowing lines of landscape beds with water-wise plants is one solution, it’s not practical for most gardeners to replace an entire lawn this way.

Creating an attractive and inviting landscape usually includes an interesting mix of plants and paths, patios and other areas designed for outdoor entertaining and enjoyment.

You can replace lawn with sitting and entertaining space — using paths of mulch, decomposed granite or flagstone, patios of native stone or bricks, wooden decks and gazebos, creating an inviting garden space when combined with planting beds. Dry creeks can be added to meander through your landscape to address drainage issues or simply for aesthetic use as a textural contrast to plants and mulch. Water features from ponds to disappearing fountains in ceramic pots can add a focal point and invite wildlife into your garden. Playscapes, hammocks, washer pits and fire pits or chimenarias also can be placed on a variety of hardscape materials in lieu of grass.

Austin garden blogger, writer and author Pam Penick’s newly released book, “Lawn Gone! Low Maintenance, Sustainable Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard,” provides homeowners with practical solutions for gardeners wanting to replace some lawn.

The growing demand for lawn replacement options led Penick to write the book, which includes a section on top rated, regional plant recommendations to help gardeners put their ideas into action.

“So many people in our area want to replace their lawns with less thirsty, greener alternatives,” Penick said, “but they just don’t know how to begin. That’s who I wrote this book for. I want to inspire people with the options and show them how to do it.”

The book covers plant options, design considerations and extensive DIY information on the different methods for actually removing the lawn, including solarizing and lasagna gardening. It also includes a wide selection of inspirational color photos with examples of attractive no-lawn or reduced-lawn landscapes.

You don’t have to live with half-dead grass or pave your lawn over with concrete. With a little creativity and some sweat equity, you can create your own xeric lawn alternative landscape.

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