By Paige Brunclik

Posted: Aug. 28, 2012

David J. Frank used to stop by and visit with friend and industry colleague Tom Lied.

“When David was getting his business rolling, he would stop and talk with me frequently, and we exchanged ideas. I mentored him, and he became a good businessman, and we continued our friendship and idea sharing,” Lied said.

Those initial conversations decades ago set a foundation for many more recently as the two landscape experts this week announced the formation of Lied’s-Frank Residential Landscapes. Lied explained that his company will be folded into Frank’s, forming a new unit that has Lied as the president.

“What we’re doing is taking my talents and Frank’s talents to develop a special delivery for residential clients,” Lied said. He noted that Frank’s corporate landscaping will continue as its own company that Frank will run as president and CEO.

Like many landscaping businesses, Lied’s has been adversely affected by the recession over the last two years. In 2010, Lied’s announced it was closing its retail garden center and focusing on landscape design. Company president Robb Lied – Tom’s son – said at the time that the economy, a downturn in housing and changes with the consumer caused them to refocus their services.

Last September, Simpson Loan Co. filed a foreclosure suit against Lied’s for more than $2 million on four Lied’s parcels in Menomonee Falls and Lisbon. According to records, if the property is not sold by November it will go to sheriff’s auction.

Tom Lied said he and his son began conversations about the best way to move business forward.

“We were looking for the right combination to have our business move forward, but instead of going the route of being extraordinarily competitive, we chose to take a look at joining with someone. We took the best of what Lied’s has learned and what they have learned to combine and offer the best services for the client.

“That’s how it came to be. Decisions were based on a variety of issues. My son, Rob, is the third generation in the Lied’s company, and he and I have had lots of discussions on what to do next, and we put together this arrangement,” Tom Lied said of how the idea for the alliance came about.

Lied said the properties are already for sale. He said the goal is to move the lender out of the picture and sell the land and plant material on it.

“We will be having special sales for neighboring residents and clients (on the plants). That will be happening very soon. We have an accepted offer on part of (the land), and as pieces come together, operations will move to other DJ Frank existing locations,” which are in Glendale, Brookfield and Germantown,” Lied said.

Lied added that while Lied’s has nearly depleted its nursery staff, other employees have moved to Lieds-Frank. A news release announcing the alliance said 30 Lied’s employees have been added to the Frank landscaping team.

“We hope to be adding staff,” in the future with the new company, Lied said. “We’ll continue to do things as wonderful or even more wonderful. We’ll have more talent and more capability.”

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The landscaping ideas of a Mississippian who grew up on a ranch and a woman whose roots are in Cuba come together in a backyard on Hyacinth Avenue.

Bertha and Travis Taylor are lawyers, grandparents, dirty fingernail gardeners, recyclers and chicken keepers.

“Our grandson, Adler Rice, who’s 6, goes out there to ask the chickens to lay him a couple of eggs for supper,” Bertha Taylor said.

Taylor grew strawberries in pots.

“After I saw Adler pop a berry into his mouth,” she said, “I said, ‘OK, no more spraying.’”

The Taylors have a small, comfortable den, overlooking the yard, where they poured wine for visitors one Sunday afternoon.

As informal as that room is, when the couple lets their hair down they retire to a second den in the yard that Bertha calls “the parrot room.”

Stuffed cloth parrots and parrot electric lights honor the memory of Bertha’s Cuban grandmother and a parrot named Pépe.

“When I was a little girl, our city home was with my grandmother in Guantanamo,” Bertha said.

“We lived in Borjita and Los Canos — those are two small sugar mill towns I remember. My father was a sugar engineer, a mechanical engineer. He got his degree from Clemson.”

When Bertha was 10, her parents, Guillermo “Mr. Bill” Iturralde and Monserrat Iturralde, moved to Alma Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish.

As Bertha Taylor talked about her childhood, another part of her brain described the arrangement she’d just put together using pentas, roses, butterfly bush, zinnias, lantana, salvias and milkweed from the yard.

A huge hackberry tree and towering pines provide an open setting for camellias, azaleas, roses, wisteria, Mexican sage and the aforementioned cut flowers.

Scattered through the yard’s flower beds are vegetables, herbs and yard art that includes Bertha’s saint statues, antique watering cans and some of Travis’ birdhouses made from scavenged wood.

Travis uses his Explorer to collect from neighborhood curbside trash piles the materials he needs for constructing sheds, a greenhouse, the parrot room, rustic fences and gates.

The parrot room is furnished with comfortable chairs and is partially shaded by an arbor draped with wisteria from Travis’ grandmother’s garden.

Travis’ parents, James and Mary Taylor, live on a cattle ranch in Hattiesburg, Miss.

A greenhouse tucked away in a side yard looks like a reassembled curbside trash pile.

“Really, anything I think I can stuff into the Explorer — lumber, pots, iron that I weld into trellises,” Travis said.

“People don’t take things off our trash pile,” he said. “They figure if we’ve thrown something away, it’s had it.”

The parrot room is an outside entertainment space and a portal to Travis’ childhood in the country. What appears at first glance to be a large painting of old gardening tools, is a doorway at the back of the parrot room that leads to Travis’ tool shed.

Fountains in sugar kettles and freestanding ones help mute the sound of traffic on Hyacinth.

The front yard is sparsely planted compared to the back which means fewer limbs to block float throws during the Southdowns Mardi Gras Parade.

“When the parade passes, everyone in the front yard ends up in the backyard,” Travis said. That can mean a hundred visitors to the garden. The Taylors have left plenty of lawn to accommodate the outdoor cocktail party.

At the moment, the parrot room opens onto a screen of okra beyond which is the chicken coop, home to Silkies, Dominique and Buff Orpington chickens.

Chickens that don’t lay or become too plentiful are shipped off to a friend who has a farm.

“Rita (a Rhode Island Red) needs to go into the cooking pot,” Travis said. “She hasn’t laid an egg in two years.”

“We don’t eat our pets,” Bertha said.

The Taylors have been married 17 years, each married once before.

“This place didn’t look like this when I was a bachelor,” Travis said.

Not much is done by design in the Taylors’ yard. Designs that do occur are usually the work of Bertha.

The easy answer to why they have chickens, Travis said, is “Bertha wanted chickens.”

For the first time ever, the Minnesota Department of Commerce has developed a home-sized energy efficiency exhibit for Minnesota State Fairgoers. Whether sorting through home lighting options, searching for the most efficient kitchen and laundry appliances, or assessing your home’s overall performance and needed upgrades, the Energy Solutions Home exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair (August 23-Sept. 3) will demonstrate the many ways homeowners can improve the efficiency, comfort, safety, and environmental impact of their home.

The Energy Solutions Home, coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce in cooperation with many exhibitors and partners, promises to help Minnesota homeowners learn how to improve their existing homes through a variety of strategies and options. It is located in about 7,000 square feet at the center of the Eco Experience, on the north end of the fairgrounds in the Progress Center.

“This exhibit is specifically designed to help Minnesota homeowners discover cost-effective ways to improve your home’s efficiency and save money,” said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman. “This exhibit is a partnership of state agencies, utilities, builder associations, private contractors, retailers, neighborhood energy groups, finance agencies, and others. Our shared goal is to help educate the public about some of the most prudent approaches to home improvement.”

Packed into the exhibit will be a number of displays and attractions:

• The Home Performance display features an interactive component where fairgoers will answer questions about statewide energy use and discover the environmental impact of the typical Minnesota home. By opening doors, windows and other devices on a model of a home, viewers will learn about their own home and opportunities to improve home performance.

• A Home Assessment feature examines the best way to ensure that you have considered your options before embarking on home improvement projects. Staffed by home auditors, the display will feature sample audit reports and information on where to get an advanced energy audit.

• The Home Envelope display provides interactive models of the challenges of a story-and-a-half home, wall and attic insulation examples, window and door retrofitting, advanced deep retrofit insulation options, and attic air leaks and ice dam solutions.

• A Home Lighting Options display showcases lighting selections for one’s home and helps consumers sort through the many new products and options for lighting your home. From brightness to color to efficiency to long life, fairgoers will see that there are many options to meet your lighting needs.

• The Saving Water area highlights the latest information on low-flow fixtures, faucets, showerheads, and repair and maintenance options for plumbing fixtures.

• The Green Materials and Efficient Appliances display provides important information about products that have a lower environmental impact. It highlights appliances that can save energy. ENERGY STAR kitchen and laundry appliances, low VOC paints and finishes, and recycled content cabinetry and counters will be on display.

• A Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) display showcases high efficiency products that can save energy and improve the indoor air quality in your home. It will provide direction on when it is time to replace HVAC equipment and the benefits of investing in efficiency.

• A Renewables Siting area provides information through a hands-on solar siting display that allows fairgoers to simulate the action of the sun through the day and seasons to help determine if their home has good solar potential. Siting requirements for small wind and ground source heat pumps is also available, as well as information on how to design major renovations and additions to be renewables-ready.

• A Landscaping feature with mini-gardens demonstrates everything from rain barrels to pollinator gardens to drip irrigation to permeable pavers. Also included will be information about design and siting options for various landscaping features.

• A Paying For It feature offers information on financing and loan programs to pay for home improvement projects. It will feature an interactive link to a website (www.dsireusa.org) that lists all the available incentives and rebates for homeowners.

• A Sustainability Stage that provides a venue for presentations for the entire Eco Experience Building.

The Energy Solutions Home is part of the Eco Experience, the largest environmental event of its kind in the country with more than 25,000 square feet of interactive experiences. For more information on the Energy Solutions Home and for a complete description of the exhibits and the partners for each, visit the Minnesota Department of Commerce website or the Eco Experience website. The Eco Experience website includes a calendar of daily events and presentations for the entire Eco Experience. A Minnesota State Fair App also serves as a complete guide to the Minnesota State Fair.

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RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Some residents in the city’s largest landscape district say the idea of another election to determine a possible rate increase is uncalled for because people already decided on the matter last year.

But city officials said they’re giving residents another opportunity to decide whether to hold one because not enough residents were aware of the consequences if significant service reductions are made to Landscape Maintenance District No. 2.

LMD 2 is an L-shaped area of land bounded by Etiwanda Avenue in the east, the 210 Freeway in the north, the halfway line between Milliken and Haven avenues in the west, and south above Base Line Road and Church Street in the eastern part of the district.

Officials may consider either a rate increase or a service level reduction because maintenance costs have risen substantially. Rates have not changed since 1993, officials said.

The city, in the fall, plans to educate the public about the impact of service reductions in the run-up to a resident survey to be held in the spring of 2013 that will determine whether another election will be held.

Officials said the public engagement process would cost about $40,000 from LMD 2 funds.

The plan received sharp rebuke at a recent City Council meeting.

Ragusa Drive resident Victor Muniz said residents had already decided the issue when they voted in July 2011 against a rate hike. Of the 2,046 ballots returned to City Hall, 1,457 – or about 60 percent – opposed a $38 rate increase.

“You take your orders, do an about face, turn to and get the job done … that’s being responsive government,” Muniz said. “That’s what we’re looking for. We shouldn’t be up here to remind you folks that your responsibility is to the people and the people have already decided that for you. Your job is to carry that out.”

Resident Jerie Lee, of Palo Verde Place, said she was shocked over the potential for another election.

“The people did vote and now it’s up to them to come up with a game plan.”

Lee said she favors charging higher rates for residents within the district who have observably more landscaping needs than others who don’t.

Officials, at a recent community meeting, presented preliminary ideas such as increasing the annual rate by about $38 or decommissioning care for 1.5 million square feet of grass turf.

Assistant City Manager Lori Sassoon said the vast majority of property owners in the district – 70 percent – never cast a ballot in the July 2011 election. Sassoon said many of the residents at the meeting told city officials, “you need to really do a better job of communicating with us what the impacts are for our community.”

Sassoon added, “We did our best, but obviously we need to do better.”

Mayor Dennis Michael said that if the city allows the degradation of the district to take place, there would likely be even more criticism from residents. He added however that he would support the will of the people if residents reject the idea of another election through the survey.

“I don’t think it’s fair to assume that 30 percent speak for 100 percent and so we want to do a better job of outreach,” Michael said.

The cost for conducting the ballot process last year for LMD 2 was $26,000. Funds for that election were from the general fund, and the general fund would have been reimbursed by LMD 2 funds if it passed, Sassoon said. The cost would be about the same if residents choose to pursue another mail ballot process in the future, though nothing is budgeted at this time, she said.

Councilman Bill Alexander said he understand Muniz’s position, though while money could again be spent for another election, he said such a service elimination would be draconian and home values could be negatively impacted.

“Maybe we have to take some of the blame for really not getting the word out,” Alexander said. “Mr. Muniz has expressed a very valid concern, and I can tell you I have spoken to a lot of people that are saying, `If you feel there is more information that can educate me into what is going to happen and what I’m faced with before taking that action, it would be very much appreciated.”‘

Three neighborhoods, in recent years, held elections to determine their landscape service rates.

The Terra Vista community voted for an increase in 2009, while the Caryn and South Etiwanda community voted against it.

The Caryn community in 2010 supported raising rates after a resident effort to hold a second election.

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Reach Neil via email, call him at 909-483-9356, or find him on Twitter @RanchoNow.

The Wayland Town Green Design Advisory Committee decided Thursday morning that it was comfortable moving forward with landscaping and grading design ideas for the public green in spite of a septic reserve area under part of the area.

Julia Junghanns, Wayland’s Director of Public Health, explained that the reserve area is a state mandated space that exists in case the leeching fields, which are located under nearby parking lots, fail.

Junghanns explained that no permanent structures can be erected on the reserve area and that the area would be cleared down to the original soil, including the removal of plantings and any grading material, should the reserve be needed.

“The risk would be how long the soon-to-be existing leeching area will last,” Junghanns said, pointing out that restaurants with their kitchen grease “are the No. 1 reason for premature failure of a leeching area.” She said with a flow as large as that proposed at Wayland Town Center — 9,990 gallons per day — a failure in about 10 years isn’t out of the question.

Still, should the system present a problem, Junghanns said, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the reserve area will be commissioned into service. If the issue can be mitigated in other ways, that will be considered and the town will have some say in how that mitigation is accomplished.

The Town Center Green Design Committee said that they understood the potential risk and wanted developers to investigate whether the shape of the reserve area could be modified while maintaining the necessary square footage. Re-orienting the reserve area could preserve the ground where the committee hopes to plant trees and create sidewalks in the Town Green.

Either way, the committee said it’s comfortable with its current plans and design.

“It is a risk, we understand the risk,” said committee chair Colleen Sheehan, “but we want to move ahead.”

Design

Once the decision to move ahead was made, the committee turned its attention to the specific design elements.

Twenty Wayland, the developer of Wayland Town Center, has agreed to plant 25 trees with calipers of 3.5 to 4 inches in the public green space. 

Committee member Kathy Schreiber suggested that the developer be consulted to determine whether they would be willing to plant fewer, larger trees as long as the bottom line budget was respected.

“We need to find out whether he cares if we buy a larger tree,” Schreiber said, pointing out that varying the size of the trees would give the area a more developed look.

Twenty Wayland has agreed to create the grading of two hills with a flat area between that the committee suggested. The plan at this point is to create the hills using fill from the greater Wayland Town Center project.

In addition to the trees the developer will install, an additional $100,000 from the developer is available, Town Planner Sarkis Sarkisian said, for the town to use in the development of the public green.

“Trees obviously are important,” Sarkisian said. “I think we should use the $100,000 we have and get the trees in.”

He added that the first phase would be the work the developer has agreed to complete, Phase 2 could involve spending the additional $100,000 to continue developing the space, and Phase 3 could call for a Town Meeting vote to appropriate additional funds needed to fully develop the space.

Long-term plans for the public green include a non-plastic equipment play area, some benches, walking paths, a bandstand and other ideas.

Programming

Confusion remains over who controls the programming of the public green as well as a larger question of who owns the space: Twenty Wayland as the developer or the Town of Wayland.

Recreation Director Nancy McShea said the Recreation Department would be capable of handling the scheduling and programming for the space in the same way it does for other town spaces, but it was critical to know who owned the area.

McShea pointed out that the developer could have different insurance expectations or rights to the space in mind than the Town of Wayland has for its owned recreational areas.

She said she would draft a recommendation to Twenty Wayland, to be looked over and potentially approved by the Recreation Commission on Monday, that would request programming rights and outline the Recreation Department’s desire for control of the space.

The committee’s design plan for the Public Green is on display at the Wayland Town Building. An additional display will soon be available at the Wayland Public Library.

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PORTSMOUTH — Phyllis Dow of Newmarket has been selected by Herald staff as the winner of the Yoken’s Sign Contest for her combination of humor and practicality.

“I think the sign should go to ‘American Pickers.’ Frank loves signs. The money could go to the towns for mosquito control,” Dow wrote in submitting her entry that earned a $25 prize.

The TV show suggestion gave us a chuckle and raising money for a local cause is always a good idea, but we do hope the sign can find an appropriate local home as the property is developed.

Several of the contest entries were sentimental, suggesting the sign stay put. Other suggested locations included Prescott Park, the new Memorial Bridge, the state border and Seabrook Station nuclear power plant. We appreciate everyone’s contributions.

We’d like to share the rest of entries:

• I think the sign should … remain with beautiful landscaping around it and serve as a billboard of sorts. Companies can pay to have their sentence or two on display and the money given should go toward Blue Ocean Society. — Regan Bowlen, Portsmouth
• The whale wall in Portsmouth! — Leeanne Carr
• Cover the “Y” and “O” and have bids to open a restaurant called “KEN’S.” — John Squires, Rye
• Put the sign in Gilley’s parking lot as both are two of the most recognizable eateries in Portsmouth and then move Rosa’s Restaurant sign there also. — John Pearson, South Carolina (formerly of Portsmouth)
• The Yoken’s sign should be placed on the front lawn of the Edgewood Centre, so future generations can drive by and experience what it was like to drive by the landmark restaurant while it was still open. — Mike Boulerice, Portsmouth
• Moving the sign is inappropriate. It should be refurbished and used in the new development. If that is not possible, please do not relocate it to Prescott Park or someplace like that as it would be so out of place. So it would have to go to a beach location, perhaps the parking lot entrance at Wallis Sands or Jenness Beach. But the best solution is for its refurbishment and re-use at its original location. — Bonnie Ward, Exeter
• Relocate it to New Castle Commons and turn it into a fort for the kids. Or, if it’s unsafe, try Wood Island at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. This is the island with the old house, just off shore from Gerrish Island/Fort Foster, Maine. It would be good for the tourists and whale watch boat customers to see. — Rick Elwell, Manchester
• I think the Yoken’s sign should beckon Seacoast residents and visitors to the new shopping center planned for the sign’s original location. Why not call it Yoken’s Corner? Anyone with any legitimate tie to Portsmouth would know exactly where they were going! — Kori Romig, Portsmouth
• Having been a fan of both Yoken’s locations, Danvers, Mass., as well as Portsmouth, I think the sign should be remembered and displayed proudly. I say it belongs at Strawbery Banke. — Carol Short, Lynn, Mass.
• I believe that the Yoken’s sign should stay put. Have the people build around it, and put up one of the New Hampshire historical signs next to it like they have at other points of interest in New Hampshire. Why should the sign move? It was there first! — Katherine Gamblin, Hampton
• I think it should go on the roof of the nuclear power plant in Seabrook. — Jill Gordon, North Hampton
• Blow, blow thar she goes, in the recycle bin of memories where she’ll be. — Veo-Dao Nu Bunnag, Portsmouth
• The area to be developed should be called “Yoken’s Plaza” and the sign should become a focal point of that new development. — David Tufts, North Hampton
• A whale’s place, where else, but by the sea! The Thomas Laighton, another land mark, could use the sign for their entry way, as the boat blows its horn to depart and perhaps see a whale on its journey. — Elizabeth Rawding, Rye
• I vote the iconic Yoken’s whale should go on top of the new Memorial Bridge or right where it is on the corner of Lafayette and Peverly Hill roads, as it was a directional landmark for us locals and tourists! — Kat Anania, Portsmouth
• Put the sign down by Wallis Sands. — Monique Couillard, Dover
• Call the new development “Yoken’s Mall” — everyone already knows where that would be. Use the sign as is (rehabbed though), just change the “good things to eat” to “Mall.” — Gary Cohen
• What to do with the sign? That’s easy. It should be left in place, refurbished and the proposed site should be called “Yoken’s Plaza.” — Pat Crawford, Portsmouth
• Leave the sign where it is and name the development Yoken’s Plaza. Upgrade the reader board under the whale to reflect the new businesses. — Nanci Bertogli, Portsmouth
• As a kudo for his investment in our fair city, perhaps the sign should be offered to the owner of the Beach Plum. It could also serve to add a little “bling” to the Gateway Project. — Martin J. Shannon, Portsmouth
• The Yoken’s Sign ortin’ ta live on forerein th’ lass’ original birth place. If we removed th’ lass’, we would only confuse th’ vacationers who still pull into th’ old lot wonderin’ ‘ere th’ Whale restaurant sailed.’ Oh, and for those who can’t speak Pirate: The Yoken’s sign should live on forever in her original birth place. If we removed her, we would only confuse the vacationers who still pull into the old lot wondering where the Whale restaurant went. — Kim Drew, grew up in Portsmouth, currently located in Tampa, Fla.
• Considering whales aren’t really good things to eat, send it to the West Coast, where Leno could get a good chuckle. No one advertises an eatery with a whale anymore! — Wes Janvrin, Amesbury, Mass.
• Changing the name to “Tokens” and moving it to Hampton beach is fitting.— Wes Janvrin, Amesbury, Mass.
• Yoken’s Mini-Mall new sign with alterations. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• Move to a local park for children using the whale as a motif or theme with other associated rides and facilities with small changes. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• Sell it to a mini-putt golf business along highway 1 or other businesses with maritime themes. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• Relocate/sell to the Hampton Beach ballroom with modifications and night lighting for a roof display facing the ocean. Or some arcade in need of a sign. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• Sell to a seafood restaurant who needs a new name with lore and pizazz. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• Sell it to “American Pickers” (TV show). The show would be aired and local tourism and antique shops would be involved in it. Give the money to local charity or other local projects or public facilities. It just takes a phone call. — Mike Lacelle and Ann Dunn, Ottawa, Ontario
• I think the Thar She Blows sign should be installed above main Plaza Sign — just the whale and the Thar She Blows! A topper for the new project will still have nostalgic people calling it “The Yoken’s Plaza.” Removing the Yoken’s name and “good things to eat” might be wise for the builders. — Catherine Edison
• For all the people who grew up in this area — we know how much Yoken’s Restaurant and Gift Shop were a huge part of Portsmouth. People came from all over to go to Yoken’s. Many functions were held at this location and the sign is an amazing icon for Portsmouth. What a lovely tribute to a small piece of history of Portsmouth, to the people who owned this restaurant and to all the Portsmouth residents who grew up with Yoken’s if the sign could be built into the new bridge. I think it would be fun for folks — local and tourists to be able to view that sign each day. — Suzi Higley, Portsmouth
• I think we should put the sign in Prescott Park! I think it would be a great addition and it would be near the water where the “whale” belongs 🙂 Prescott Park is one of the major historic landmarks in Portsmouth and the sign is a piece of our history. … I think we should put it in a place that everyone can see it. Long after it leaves its space on Lafayette, people will still be giving directions based off “The Old Yoken’s Sign”… I know I still do. — Gillian Fournier, Portsmouth
• My top one and probably my favorite one is the center of the Portsmouth traffic circle — since it’s such an iconic sign — place it in the middle of the traffic circle and beautify the area around it by landscaping and adding some shrubbery/flowers, etc. — Jason Raft, Hopkinton
• Second suggestion would be right next to the Welcome to New Hampshire sign at the Massachusetts border — in the vicinity — and you could also landscape around the sign and beautify the area around it. — Jason Raft, Hopkinton
• The sign should be maintained on that corner after development of the site. Make minor change to sign to read: “Thar She Blows — YOKEN’S CORNER.” Please keep the picture of the whale on the sign. — Mary J. Bailey, Portsmouth
• I think the best thing to do with the sign would be to leave it where it is, restore it and name the plaza either “Yoken’s Plaza” or “Thar She Blows Plaza.” — Bob Hopley, Greenland

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The newest designs for kitchens and baths are just the beginning as the Southern Ideal Home Show celebrates its 28th year this weekend. Local experts and vendors in building, design, renovation, landscaping and more will be on hand offering ideas and know-how to help create your ideal home.

The show runs from noon- to 8 p.m. Friday with $5 admission and free parking after 5 p.m.; from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Park Expo and Conference Center, 2500 East Independence Blvd.

Tickets are $9 at the door; kids 15 and under get in free with an adult. Parking is $6 per day. Register online before you go for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree to use at the show.

Cari Cucksey – treasure hunter, appraisal expert and host of HGTV’s “Cash Cari” – will appear on the Lifestyle stage Friday and Saturday.

National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) members have created the entrance feature, with a living roof and other highlights of sustainable living and green solutions for building, landscaping and remodeling.

New this year is the Brews and Brats tasting, featuring samples of craft beers and brats from Kind Beers, Kickstand, Loco Lime and The Peach Stand Butcher Shop.

Details: www.southernidealhomeshow.com.

Hilary Trenda

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Peachtree Corners, Georgia (PRWEB) August 22, 2012

In today’s world ‘green’ can mean different things to different people. For some it’s about environmental causes. For others it’s about the installation and maintenance of plants. Career opportunities for those with green thumbs are many and varied. It’s one of the reasons why Ashworth College (http://www.ashworthcollege.edu/), a leading online school, introduced an online resource/forum for professionals and enthusiasts interested or enrolled in Ashworth’s landscape design course.

Ashworth’s nationally accredited online skilled trades programs are among its most popular, including its professional landscape design course. And its Landscaping Community Group currently serves nearly 1,000 landscape design course students as well as non-student members (August 2012). This group is part of the nearly 130,000 member that make up the online Ashworth Community.

“Landscapers are known for creating inviting outdoor spaces for residential as well as commercial clients,” said Ryan Rode, Interactive Services Manager for Ashworth College. “Our Landscaping Community Group is a great resource for gathering professional information, networking and sharing ideas with other students taking a landscape design course.”

Ashworth has been educating working adults for more than 25 years, and with the launch of the Landscape Design Group, the online school provides a state-of-the-art resource that shares professional content with non-students, as well as providing social networking opportunities for existing students enrolled in the landscape design course. Group members and visitors will find:

   •      A network of motivated and engaged students and professionals who are willing to encourage others by sharing personal, professional and educational insights and successes.
   •     Online study groups comprised of current students enrolled in a landscape design course. Members readily offer assistance with landscape design course lessons and provide moral support to group members.
   •     Insights from practicing professionals. Subject matter experts often host live events to answer questions on how to start a landscaping business.

Successful landscape designers are appreciated for their knowledge of plants and of how well plants grow in different environments, in addition to their ability to integrate walkways and structures into the overall plan. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for landscape designers are favorable with employment projected to grow as much as 20 percent through 2020.

“I’ve been taking the landscape design course for the past month,” posted Landscape Design Community Group member A. Rodriguez. “I find it very interesting and there is a lot of very helpful information that you can apply to applications on the field. It’s also helping me a lot with my studies while taking the landscape design course.”

About Ashworth College
Celebrating 25 years of Educating Minds and Changing Lives, leading online school Ashworth College has built a tradition of excellence by offering students worldwide an extensive range of online college degrees, online certificate programs, career training and online high school diploma options that are affordable and fit the busy schedules of working adults. Ashworth offers military education as well as specialized programs for corporate partners and homeschoolers.

Headquartered in Peachtree Corners, GA, Ashworth is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The Accrediting Commission of the DETC is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Ashworth is parent to James Madison High School which is accredited regionally by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), an accreditation division of AdvancED and further provides career training and vocational programs in the fields of health, business, technology, education, and skilled trades through sister schools PCDI Canada, New York Institute of Photography and Sheffield School.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/Ashworth_College/Landscape_Design_Group/prweb9812476.htm

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RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Some residents in the city’s largest landscape district say the idea of another election to determine a possible rate increase is uncalled for because people already decided on the matter last year.

But city officials said they’re giving residents another opportunity to decide whether to hold one because not enough residents were aware of the consequences if significant service reductions are made to Landscape Maintenance District No. 2.

LMD 2 is an L-shaped area of land bounded by Etiwanda Avenue in the east, the 210 Freeway in the north, the halfway line between Milliken and Haven avenues in the west, and south above Base Line Road and Church Street in the eastern part of the district.

Officials may consider either a rate increase or a service level reduction because maintenance costs have risen substantially. Rates have not changed since 1993, officials said.

The city, in the fall, plans to educate the public about the impact of service reductions in the run-up to a resident survey to be held in the spring of 2013 that will determine whether another election will be held.

Officials said the public engagement process would cost about $40,000 from LMD 2 funds.

The plan received sharp rebuke at a recent City Council meeting.

Ragusa Drive resident Victor Muniz said residents had already decided the issue when they voted in July 2011 against a rate hike. Of the 2,046 ballots returned to City Hall, 1,457 – or about 60 percent – opposed a $38 rate increase.

“You take your orders, do an about face, turn to and get the job done … that’s being responsive government,” Muniz said. “That’s what we’re looking for. We shouldn’t be up here to remind you folks that your responsibility is to the people and the people have already decided that for you. Your job is to carry that out.”

Resident Jerie Lee, of Palo Verde Place, said she was shocked over the potential for another election.

“The people did vote and now it’s up to them to come up with a game plan.”

Lee said she favors charging higher rates for residents within the district who have observably more landscaping needs than others who don’t.

Officials, at a recent community meeting, presented preliminary ideas such as increasing the annual rate by about $38 or decommissioning care for 1.5 million square feet of grass turf.

Assistant City Manager Lori Sassoon said the vast majority of property owners in the district – 70 percent – never cast a ballot in the July 2011 election. Sassoon said many of the residents at the meeting told city officials, “you need to really do a better job of communicating with us what the impacts are for our community.”

Sassoon added, “We did our best, but obviously we need to do better.”

Mayor Dennis Michael said that if the city allows the degradation of the district to take place, there would likely be even more criticism from residents. He added however that he would support the will of the people if residents reject the idea of another election through the survey.

“I don’t think it’s fair to assume that 30 percent speak for 100 percent and so we want to do a better job of outreach,” Michael said.

The cost for conducting the ballot process last year for LMD 2 was $26,000. Funds for that election were from the general fund, and the general fund would have been reimbursed by LMD 2 funds if it passed, Sassoon said. The cost would be about the same if residents choose to pursue another mail ballot process in the future, though nothing is budgeted at this time, she said.

Councilman Bill Alexander said he understand Muniz’s position, though while money could again be spent for another election, he said such a service elimination would be draconian and home values could be negatively impacted.

“Maybe we have to take some of the blame for really not getting the word out,” Alexander said. “Mr. Muniz has expressed a very valid concern, and I can tell you I have spoken to a lot of people that are saying, `If you feel there is more information that can educate me into what is going to happen and what I’m faced with before taking that action, it would be very much appreciated.”‘

Three neighborhoods, in recent years, held elections to determine their landscape service rates.

The Terra Vista community voted for an increase in 2009, while the Caryn and South Etiwanda community voted against it.

The Caryn community in 2010 supported raising rates after a resident effort to hold a second election.

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Reach Neil via email, call him at 909-483-9356, or find him on Twitter @RanchoNow.

David J. Frank Landscape Contracting Inc. is partnering with Lied’s Nursery Co. to form a residential landscape division, company officials said.

Lieds-Frank Residential Landscapes began operating this month as a division of Germantown-based David J. Frank Landscape Contracting.

“It’s a significant step forward,” said CEO David J. Frank, who founded his landscape contracting company in 1959.

David J. Frank is the largest landscaping contractor firm in Wisconsin, with locations in Milwaukee, Madison, Brookfield, Glendale, the Fox Valley and an office that serves Racine and Kenosha, in addition to its Germantown headquarters.

The company has added about 30 Lied’s employees and has grown to 300 employees as a result.

“With this partnership, we have hands-down created the best talent pool in the state of Wisconsin,” Frank said. “No one has the horsepower or manpower that we now have and our customers will directly benefit from that.”

Changing market conditions, including financial trouble that occurred as the economy crashed, had Lied’s looking for a partner, said Tom Lied, a second-generation family owner of Lied’s.

“David is a dynamic entrepreneur and a very positive person,” Lied said. “He and I did lots of talking when our companies were smaller, and we learned from one another back then. We’re now sharing all that we have learned since.

“It became obvious that our thought patterns were similar and that we could and should merge and blend our ideas because we were on similar tracks.”

An example of the similarities is both families have sons who followed their dads into the family landscape business. “We love that we have passionate fathers and sons working alongside one another,” Frank said.

Weak commercial development and the virtual disappearance of new residential development cut into Lied’s business.

“We were overproducing nursery stock for the market that has existed the last many years,” Tom Lied said. “We were investing too much in controlling and maintaining and growing the plant material without having enough market to sell those beautiful things we were producing. That created for us some financial problems in caring for the inventory and carrying it,” he said.

That trouble culminated in a foreclosure action last month involving four of Lied’s properties – two each in the village of Menomonee Falls and the Town of Lisbon, according to Waukesha County Circuit Court records. The properties are for sale and will be sold at a sheriff’s auction if a buyer isn’t found by Nov. 4, the documents show.

As the economy has continued to stumble along, firms across the U.S. landscape industry have been joining together, said Thomas R. Tavella, president-elect of the American Society of Landscape Architects, a trade association based in Washington, D.C.

“It’s not like it was back in the late 1990s or early 2000s, when work was just pouring in left and right,” Tavella said. “You really have to strategically think about how you’re going to go after a job.

“We’re seeing more partnering and teaming up among firms than we have ever seen before,” he added. “Collaboration is becoming more and more of the way to go.”

Continuity is important when companies combine, Lied said.

“Our clients would be dealing with an organization that has a different name, has more resources and has many of the same people that they’ve been accustomed to working with,” he said. “The bonding of clients to staff members is extremely important.”

In addition to residential services, David J. Frank Landscape Contracting offers commercial landscape management as well as renovations, design/build landscape architecture services and water management services.