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Downtown project gets $350K state grant

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New planters, several blocks of streetlights part of facelift

Rick Tucker, Kearney Hub file

New planters, several blocks of streetlights part of facelift

Part of a $350,000 downtown revitalization grant will be used to plumb and electrify one or more parking lots in Downtown Kearney: The Bricks. Availability of water and electricity would help organizers of events such as Spirit at the Museum of Nebraska Art.


Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 2:00 pm
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Updated: 12:16 pm, Wed Jul 11, 2012.


Downtown project gets $350K state grant

By MIKE KONZ
Hub Managing Editor

Kearney Hub

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0 comments

KEARNEY — Energy-efficient streetlights and landscaping improvements will go forward in Downtown Kearney: The Bricks with a $350,000 downtown revitalization grant.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development awarded the money after the city of Kearney spent an earlier grant of $30,000 developing a master plan to revitalize downtown.

An official with DED’s Downtown Revitalization Division said Tuesday Kearney has been awarded the $350,000 because state officials believe the lighting and landscaping will fit well with Kearney’s master plan for redeveloping the downtown district.

“This funding is for the catalyst-type project that spurs other private and public projects downtown,” said Kevin Andersen, DED economic development consultant and a representative for the Downtown Revitalization Program.

“When you look at the World Theatre across from the Museum of Nebraska Art, it’s an opportunity to create some good event space and a draw into the downtown area,” Andersen said. “Hopefully, it will spill into more customers in The Bricks.”

Assistant City Manager Suzanne Brodine said last month she expects the improvements would be completed in 2013.

Part of the money will pay for new streetlights on Central Avenue from 22nd Street north to 25th Street. Some nearby side streets also will get new lights.

As for landscaping, it is anticipated that changing the configuration of in-ground planters will allow more space on sidewalks for activities such as outdoor dining.

In addition to streetlights and landscaping, grant money will allow for one or more downtown parking lots to be plumbed for water and wired for electricity.

The water and power would come in handy for events such as Cruise Nite or Destination Downtown, Brodine said last month.

Lots targeted for power and plumbing are at Cunningham’s Journal, the Museum of Nebraska Art and city hall’s north lot at Avenue A and 23rd Street.

The lighting, landscaping and parking lots with water and power are among the improvements that were charted for downtown Kearney using the earlier $30,000 planning grant.

Consultants envision a park on 24th Street between First and Central Avenues, as well as a long list of improvements to give downtown Kearney a major facelift. Some of the ideas are bicycle routes and way-finding signs.

Many of the consultants’ suggestions constitute public-private partnerships in which government money would help private developers with improvements such as upper story windows and small plazas.

Brodine estimated that pursuing all of the consultants’ ideas would span 10 years and cost more than $13 million.

Andersen agreed that $350,000 in improvements is just a beginning.

“We’re under the understanding,” he said, “that $350,000 isn’t going to go a long, long way in a downtown the size of Kearney’s, but considering some of the improvements Kearney is looking to undertake, this fits well into what they’re trying to accomplish.”

email to:

mike.konz@kearneyhub.com

More about Bricks

  • ARTICLE: Work to start soon on Brigham Lofts
  • IMAGE: Bricks in windows – gone
  • ARTICLE: Along with high-visibility changes such as park, revitalization plan includes more downtown, second-floor residences, better north-south unity
  • ARTICLE: Downtown parking time limit may be changed to 3 hours

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Wednesday, July 11, 2012 2:00 pm.

Updated: 12:16 pm.

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Great landscaping ideas

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Time for landscaping

Is it time for landscaping?

Call True Value Hardware Port Augusta.

True Value Hardware has a large range of landscaping products as well as number of accessories and features to make your garden the envy of the street.

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To finish off your work, have a look through the wide selection of plants, pots, wall art and garden features that will really make your garden something special.

There is something new every week, so come in and browse the extensive range of all things garden.

Improving the visual appeal of your yard can also increase your property’s worth.

True Value Hardware Port Augusta will make your garden or yard something to be proud of.

Jim’s has you covered

A well maintained garden provides a great look and feel to any home and increases the appeal of your property.

Jim’s can tailor a garden maintenance program to suit your garden’s needs or simply provide a once off visit.

Jim’s gardening care and maintenance services incorporate all aspects of gardening including:

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Call Jim’s mowing today on 0427 294 269 and let them to assist you towards a better yard.

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Town to Consider Idea of Muti-Use Path Rather Than Sidewalk Next to …

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At its meeting Wednesday, the Board of Selectmen will discuss the idea of a shared-use trail, rather than sidewalk, along Lawton Road next to a new development area.

The change would facilitate continuation of the Farmington River Trail. Designed to be a full loop to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, it now runs from Farmington to the side of Best Cleaners on Route 44. Officials eventually hope to complete it through the rest of Canton and Simsbury. (See the general route here).

Although Konover Development Corp. of Farmington originally suggested building such a path on its property on either side of Lawton Road, logistical snares led to a sidewalk being part of the plan approved by the Zoning Commission last year.

However, Konover has again proposed to the Economic Development Agency and the town the idea of a multi-use path, rather than sidewalk, on the east side of Lawton Road, according to town documents.

The town would have to file a revised plan since it would own the trail easement but the property owner is willing to build it, the documents state. Town officials have also discussed the idea of extending it next to the neighboring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

While the existing rail bed starts on the opposite side of Lawton Road, there are several challenges to using the bed for the path to Simsbury, including some ownership and right-of-way issues and the location of at least one house on the trail itself.  

While advocates say some town- and state-owned land, along with the possibility of roadside trails, makes the idea feasible, the town does not currently have a study detailing the best way to proceed or which side of Lawton Road would be the best place to continue the trail, Town Planner Neil Pade stated in a memo to Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner.

Having the developer build a path rather than sidewalk next to the “CVS Plaza” would complete a portion of it at no cost to the town, Pade stated.  A sidewalk also does not allow for cyclists, Pade stated.

However, there could be some downsides to a path over the sidewalk, Pade stated.

The sidewalk was to be five feet wide while a path would be 8 feet and required about three feet of clear zones on either side. The additional width could require thinning planned landscaping along the road, Pade stated. However, some changes in the trajectory of the path and additional grass planting could minimize any impact, according to the memo.

Despite the concerns, the Zoning Commission believes the ideas is worth looking at and is considered holding a public hearing on July 18. The hearing is not required but would allow the public to provide input, Pade wrote.

The issue could be taken off the commission’s agenda if selectmen do not support the idea. 

Selectmen meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday and will also further discuss applying for a grant for the hydro project as well as a proposed ordinance that would ban most motorized vessels on the Farmington River. 

Click HERE to view the complete agenda.

Filed Under: landscaping ideas

Proper landscaping of Dighali Pukhuri sought

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Proper landscaping of Dighali Pukhuri sought
Staff reporter
 GUWAHATI, July 8 – Barely a kilometre away from the official city centre, Dighali Pukhuri is not just a physical feature, but a landmark that has not changed over the years. Now voices are emerging for the historic tank and its adjacent area to be showcased as a model of urban renewal where art, heritage and culture can come alive. Those who spoke to The Assam Tribune agree that Dighali Pukhuri can indeed be transformed into a tourist spot with a wide array of attractions.

Eminent academic Prof Dilip Barua believes that efforts to develop the area should not lose sight of the historic and cultural value of the landscape. “It can be an attractive tourist destination with proper landscaping and an aesthetically designed kiosk can dispense information to visitors,” he remarked.

The historian, late Dipankar Banerjee had once told this correspondent that the site of Dighali Pukhuri can easily be used to focus on the heritage of Guwahati. “A well planned open air exhibition can have information and artifacts on permanent display… temporary exhibits can attract more people from time to time”.

According to the historian who had also produced a book on the city’s heritage, the area around the ancient tank is ideally suited for tourists to have a glimpse of the art and culture scene. “The artist community can come up with great ideas to transform the space into something vibrant.”

For a long time, the Fisheries Department has maintained an office on the north bank of Dighali Pukhuri. It can play a role in highlighting the importance of water bodies inside urban settlements, mentioned an official of the department. “With insights from local experts, we can develop a large aquarium close to the tank that contains native fish species, some of which are already endangered.”

Engineer Hiten Sarma, a local resident who has spent more than four decades in a nearby locality, says that the historical roots of the tank should be revealed to all those who come to Dighali Pukhuri. Statues of Bir Bhagadatta and his daughter Bhanumati beside the tank with accompanying plaques can enlighten people about their historic links to the water body.

He also favours the idea of an orchid park and an artists’ corner, two attractions which will enthrall the old and young alike. Artists can even be encouraged to paint on location, something that is not witnessed in any part of the city till now.

Any project to develop the area should address the issue of accessibility for the physically challenged and the elderly, asserts Arman Ali, executive director of Shishu Sarothi. “The layout should be such that all the amenities have inclusive designs which will be friendly to the disabled and the elderly,” he noted. Currently not many urban spaces in Guwahati are designed with the needs of the disabled and the elderly in mind.

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From Merril Lynch to quality landscape edgings, John S. Wink has come a long … – Gloucester County Times

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By Bob Shryock
nj.com/south

Self-employed in the residential landscaping business when he was a teenager, John S. Wink says he became frustrated over the scarcity of quality landscape edgings.

He noted that many edgings became dislodged, cracked and broken, or needed upkeep with a trimmer to manicure adequately.

So he says he trench-edged every job and called the work something “prisoners should not even have to do.”

After departing the landscape business and subsequent police work, Wink was hired for an entry level job with Merrill Lynch in Plainsboro. Transferred to Florida, he acquitted himself well in the workplace, earning several promotions, but left Merrill Lynch in 2008 when the market crashed and his entire group was eliminated, “devastating” him.

But Wink, now 38, had been a visionary.

In 2006, while still with Merrill Lynch, he started Novel Ideas, Inc. as a back-up plan, becoming its president and primary investor.

First venture: Development of a retail product, EcoBorder, a new, innovative garden border made from recycled tires. The young entrepreneur had started the business from an idea gleaned from his work as a landscaper years earlier.

Today, Ecoborder, one of four patents secured by Novel Ideas, is sold in 1,300 Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in North America and, by this fall, will expand to 2,400 Home Depots and 550 Lowe’s.

“We’ll also be in several European chains,” Wink says. “There’s a great deal of growth potential. It’s just fantastic what’s happening.”

Wink was raised in Washington Township. He played soccer and ice hockey at WTHS, graduating in 1992. After earning his associate’s degree from Gloucester County College in 1994, Wink transferred to Rowan University. He graduated in 1997 with a degree in business administration.

Meanwhile, Wink was working in the landscape business for himself (Smart Landscaping) and taking on a diverse new challenge as a Camden policeman (Rutgers University).

He decided that law enforcement wasn’t in his future plans and diverted to a new career path to work for Merrill Lynch, noting that he took a pay cut but wound up in a great move. Moving up the corporate ladder rapidly, Wink became a vice president in four years. He then took the position of investment wholesaler for the company’s southwest region with responsibility for $350 million in assets. He also earned his Florida insurance license and Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation.

In St. Petersburg, he met his wife, Ann. They have a daughter, Bella, 3.

When Wink left Merrill Lynch, he started Novel Ideas full-time, bringing in a partner and small group of supporters including his bookkeeper wife to help develop EcoBorder and its sister product EarthCurb, which Wink describes as being “bigger, heavier, and having a different look.”

To date, the investment equates to about $400,000.

“It’s tough when you have to start out with your own money,” Wink says. “But we’ve been able to pay off some debts.”

The product has been featured on FOX News, ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and DIY’s Yard Crashers.

Wink decided to develop a product around what landscape edging should be, addressing the need for a durable, attractive border to keep grass from entering landscape beds while preventing ground cover run-off during rainstorms.

The key was identifying the process of re-using rubber from discarded tires, leading to durable, flexible landscaping while helping fight pollution problems. About one billion tires are discarded each year, of which 80 percent wind up being recycled to become construction barrels, speed bumps, and more.

In just a few years, EcoBorder has reused more than 200,000 tires with an additional four million pounds committed this year.

“Automobile tires take more than 100 years to even start to decompose in a landfill,” Wink says. “Our recycling process gives old tires a new function while providing a simple-to-install solution that looks fantastic in any yard. We’re dedicated to doing our part to help preserve the planet and make our world a little more beautiful.”

To Wink, it was a solution that works as both an environmental and landscaping issue. He started by carving large crumb rubber ramps into edging by using a table saw. Says Wink, “We burned out three saws in that process.”

After numerous attempts, Wink had four-foot pieces of edging that could be bent to trim landscape beds. EcoBorder became a reality once the pieces were connected.

The product is manufactured in South Bend, Ind., and Riverside, Calif., as well as locales in Quebec and Ontario.

Wink said he has had offers to purchase his company but has no intention to sell.

For me, it’s all about bringing a quality product to the masses,” says Wink. “It’s a product that looks great, and nothing else on the market can capture its functionality. I know we nailed this. The dollars will follow.”

Contact Bob Shryock at 856-845-3300 or bshryock@southjerseymedia.com.

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Grow more good food with edible landscaping

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With the exploding interest in growing backyard vegetables and herbs, the old idea of edible landscaping is back.

Gardeners are discovering they can grow more good food by landscaping with shrubs, trees and vines that are not only ornamental but productive, too.

Luckily, there are a number of plants that are up to the task. Blueberry bushes, for example. From white spring blossoms, to beautiful and nutritious blue fruit in summer, to the bright crimson leaves of autumn, and even the subtle beauty of the red sheen of the branches in the winter landscape, a blueberry bush is truly a shrub for all seasons.

You can choose half-high blueberries such as Northland and North Blue, which grow 2 to 4 feet tall, or highbush blueberries like Blue Jay and Blue Crop, which grow 5 to 7 feet tall. Planting two different varieties increases fruit set.

Blueberries are easy to grow throughout the Midwest, with a couple of caveats. One, you’ll need netting or other protection to keep birds from beating you to the harvest.

Two, if your soil is alkaline, you’ll need to amend it to provide the conditions blueberries require. For each blueberry plant, stuff a 5-gallon bucket of water with sphagnum peat moss. After the moss soaks up all the water, dump the bucket’s contents into the planting hole and mix it into the soil. Mulch each blueberry bush with pine bark chips, pine needles, or shredded oak leaves. Add fresh mulch as the old breaks down.

Every two years in winter, spread 6 ounces of powdered sulfur in a wide ring around each plant.

For those who have alkaline soil but don’t want to bother creating an acid soil for blueberries, serviceberry is an easy answer. An ornamental small tree or large multi-stemmed shrub, serviceberry is also beautiful in every season: white blossoms in spring, red summer fruits that turn black as the berries mature, excellent fall color, and smooth, gray bark for winter interest.

And the taste of the berries? “Better than highbush blueberries,” says woody landscape guru Michael Dirr.

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) is another great candidate for an edible landscape. It boasts white flowers in spring and showy, long-lasting, purple-black berries that remain on the plant most of the winter. In autumn, its wine-red foliage makes a fine show.

If frozen before eating to break down the tannins in the fruit, the richly-colored, flavorful fruit is delicious in smoothies, muffins and pancakes.

Currant and gooseberry shrubs and grapevines are also good candidates to consider for an edible landscape.

Filed Under: landscaping ideas

Landscaping to Sell A Home – Tips from Sibcy Cline Realtors – Virtual

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Attractive landscaping creates a positive, first impression and is an important component to selling a home. Put out the “red carpet” with a well-maintained yard that includes fresh mulch and attractive shrubs and flowers. By showcasing outdoor seating and dining areas, buyers will be even more impressed with what the home has to offer on the inside.

Cincinnati, Ohio (PRWEB) July 03, 2012

Landscaping is an important detail when selling a home. Especially during the warmer, “outdoor” season, pay close attention to the “outdoor rooms” — the front and back yards. Sibcy Cline Realtors suggests that the front yard should be the red carpet to one’s front door and will help create curb appeal. The rear yard can also make a positive, first impression with attractive landscaping. Remember, buyers need to be impressed by the outside before they will look inside a home.

Questions to consider about current landscaping when selling a home:

  • Is the yard well maintained with trimmed shrubs and attractive flowers?
  • Have weeds been pulled and mulch added?
  • Is a nice seating area available outside?
  • Is the deck or patio in good shape?

Not all buyers will be avid gardeners and may be looking for low-maintenance landscaping, but in general, most buyers see an extensively landscaped yard as a plus. (Remember, just don’t overdo it or buyers who do not want to spend hours in their yard may be turned off.)

Have a small yard? Don’t worry – even small green spaces can look appealing and attractive. Think more in terms of container gardening if there is no space for landscaping or flowers.

Smaller, starter homes with nice landscaping create more visual appeal that hopefully turn into purchase offers. For higher-priced homes, there will be an expectation of quality landscaping from buyers.

Showcasing outdoor sitting and dining areas is a plus when selling. Outdoor rooms are desirable to buyers and add to the list of amenities that a home has to offer.

Some ideas when updating landscaping:

  • Planting perennials offer a future low-maintenance solution to gardening.
  • Fresh mulch always has curb appeal and provides contrast to green or colorful plants.
  • Add lights! Lighting along a driveway, highlighting the home’s exterior or landscaping can create a beautiful aura to the home in the evening.
  • Pruning trees or bushes keeps the landscape looking fresh. Be sure to tailor back overgrown areas that block the front door or windows.
  • When adding shrubs, avoid “one of this” and “one of that” — masses of three or more look better and will smooth out the look of the landscaping.
  • Have a healthy lawn in the front.

Need inspiration for landscaping update endeavors? Look at homes already on the real estate market!

Sibcy Cline Realtors is a 75+ year real estate broker with 1,200 real estate agents servicing Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio; Northern Kentucky; and Southeastern Indiana. The company is the largest area real estate broker and offers home-related services including real estate, mortgage, insurance, relocation and title. The Sibcy Cline Home Services division connects home owners home-maintenance professionals, including landscapers and grass-cutting services.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/7/prweb9665382.htm

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Kunal Singh a creative teenager, as shown by sketches tendered to Max Sica …

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Ideas for summer home improvement projects – U

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Q: What are the most popular projects people do around the home in the summer?

A: There’s no end to the possibilities, if you are looking for projects to improve your home and yard. But here are a few that are great for these months when the weather is warm and dry.

Adding a Deck

Adding or replacing a deck in the yard is a great way to add a fun living space and also add value to the property. The return on your investment is more than 85 percent, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2004 Cost vs. Value Report; that means it will help increase the value of your home.

Gardening/landscaping

According to the Professional Landcare Network, Realtors report that homes with beautiful lawns and landscaping have higher property values. As the housing market continues to be slow, it’s more important than ever for consumers trying to sell their homes to maximize the value of their property.

In addition, creating a flurry of flowers and plethora of plants will brighten any outdoor living area. Whether for a front porch, backyard or deck, adding touches of color can add simple elegance to any home.

New flooring

New flooring or carpeting can have the impact of a renovation project, without the cost or hassle. Next to painting, new flooring/carpeting has the best return on investment. Flooring comes in five main categories: hardwood, laminate, carpet, tile and vinyl.

Within these categories, there are subsets of styles, color families, finishes, material compositions and textures, with their own characteristics and suitability for various uses.

Once you decide which flooring option is the best for you, installation is relatively easy.

Painting

Painting is one of the most popular home improvement projects. While it is relatively easy and there are not a lot of skills involved, there are steps to follow for preparing walls; picking the right brushes and rollers, and learning how to use them; plus tips and tricks for the actual painting.

Rick Carpenter is store manager of the Sports Arena Home Depot store. Email questions for him to homeandgarden@utsandiego.com

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A sustainable difference

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Balls and cones and spirals and boxes. That’s what many shrubs in greater Phoenix, Ariz., looked like before sustainability advocates like Asset Landscaping introduced more natural techniques. Back in the day, irrigation systems ran without restriction, too. That has changed, big time.

“Water conservation has come to light in the past five years,” acknowledges Matthew Johnson, co-owner and vice president of Asset Landscaping, which has a staff of 60 and primarily manages homeowners’ associations and commercial accounts like the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play.

Doing the right thing for the environment is a part of Asset Landscaping’s mission. And the right thing can look a little funny at first to property owners who are used to having their shrubs sculpted into perfect shapes.

“Some clients had no reaction – some kind of freaked out,” Johnson says of the way residents responded to renovation methods that involve letting a shrub mature and grow freely much of the year, then trimming overachieving branches. Serious renovation can leave a shrub naked, but only for a short time. It’s healthier to prune less often, Johnson explains to clients. “Every time you cut and shape plants, they have to regenerate and that uses more water,” he relates.

Client education is a key component of Asset Landscaping’s outreach efforts. The company distributes e-newsletters, holds lunch-and-learns for HOA property managers, and posts signs explaining sustainable techniques in the communities it serves.

Now, people are really starting to pay attention to these sustainable ideas, and awareness has resulted in a boon in business for Asset. “With water conservation being the right thing to do and more cities generating revenues from water bills, that has everyone’s attention,” Johnson says. “They realize they need to cut back on water and that savings can go directly back to the bottom line.”

That’s where Asset Landscaping steps in.

The cardinal rules. The Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale looks different than many professional sports environments. The trees grow lush canopies and shrubs branch out and bare their natural colors. Decomposed granite groundcover is foot-traffic friendly and has a low carbon footprint (it travels only as far as nearby mountains where it is harvested). After a harsh wind storm–common in this region–you won’t find large, mature branches strewn about the parking lot. In fact, there’s not a whole lot of tree damage at all. That’s because Asset Landscaping doesn’t force tree canopies into pedestrian-friendly umbrella shapes where branches are trimmed up, causing a weak, top-heavy tree.

All of these qualities make this NFL stadium sustainable, which resulted in Asset Landscaping earning the Arizona Landscape Contractors Association’s (ALCA) 2011 Sustainable Landscape award.

“Ultimately, a successful partnership toward sustainability relies on the customer’s openness to a discussion toward sustainability,” Johnson says. “It is fairly easy to explain the cost savings of proper irrigation, however when the discussion turns toward arbor maintenance or proper shrub pruning, the real education begins.”

On this project, Asset Landscaping worked with NFL professional groundskeepers who were advocates of the firm’s sustainable approaches. “From the very beginning when we were provided the maintenance specifications, nearly every point was in line with what we now refer to as SLM–Sustainable Landscape Management,” Johnson says.

And compare to the bidders that wanted this job, Asset’s approach most closely fit the stadium’s mission. “One of the biggest items on their list, which I believe scared a few companies, was that very little gas-powered shearing could be used,” Johnson says.

Hand-pruning saves gas and actually requires less manpower, Johnson explains. “A lot of people believe that power pruners are a real time-saver, but I think we have proven that they are not,” he says. “You can trim a lot of shrubs quickly in a lot of shapes with power trimmers, but then you have to clean up the mess. When hand-pruning, you hold the [plant] clippings in your hand.”

Hand-pruning generally means cutting longer branches rather than shearing off shrub tips to form a shape. “That debris blows into other parts of the property and it’s more debris to put in the landfill,” Johnson points out.

The most notable aspect of the stadium property: “It’s not all balled up,” Johnson says simply. “You can see the textures and colors of the plants.”

For this project, Asset Landscaping also won the Sustainable Maintenance award from the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). “This award was a great honor from another well-respected horticultural association,” Johnson says, relating the importance of professional affiliations.

In fact, Johnson is a certified sustainable landscape management professional–a designation derived from the book, Sustainable Landscape Management by Janet Waibel. Johnson was involved in giving Waibel feedback on the book and recommendations that could be adopted by Arizona ALCA for ways to manage desert landscapes in the state.

From that, a five-hour certification class approved by the state ALCA’s board of directors was implemented. “The class is more about sustainable practices as they relate to landscape maintenance and the reasons why,” Johnson says. “This sets you up to train employees and educate customers about the benefits and methods used.”

And as Johnson knows, this education is critical for gaining buy-in from clients of any caliber.

A matter of mindset. As a board member of Arizona ALCA, Johnson takes the job of promoting sustainable practices seriously. “We need to show professional contractors how to educate their customers,” he says. “Some companies have practiced these methods for years, and some are just learning the benefits.”

Asset Landscaping is somewhat of a pioneer, seeking out relationships to provide sustainable solutions to customers. One important rapport is with the Salt River Project (SLP), which supplies water and electricity to much of the Phoenix area. Asset collaborates with SLP on water conservation programs.

SLP provides technology that is costly for landscape firms to access, such as GPS systems that can probe ground moisture and print detailed charts showing heavily saturated areas vs. dry areas. “They’re teaching us how to take that information and rebalance irrigation systems so they more evenly distribute water,” Johnson shares.

In turn, Asset is able to promote and execute SLP’s mission to conserve water. “If you don’t have the landscape companies on board with what’s going on with irrigation, every time companies see [landscapes] dry up their natural reaction in the past has been to turn up the water,” Johnson says. “But that is not a fix. If you have a dry area that means something is wrong with your irrigation system and that needs to be addressed rather than turning up the water everywhere.”

This, too, calls for a client lesson. “You can make a simple repair or adjustment to the system and see better results with less water usage,” Johnson explains to property managers.

With pruning, it’s a matter of shifting clients’ mindsets – and explaining why their shrubs aren’t cut into geometric shapes. Sometimes, signs hung throughout the planned communities Asset maintains will do the trick. “The more calls you can reduce, the easier your job is as a manager,” Johnson points out. “And we try to make property managers’ jobs easier by giving them several methods to communicate to residents, whether giving them access to our Web site, guiding members to our newsletters or posting information on billboards or near mailboxes. That way, people are not surprised and making calls to management saying.”

Once people understand the sustainable methods, they appreciate those techniques, Johnson says. “If people truly want a healthy landscape, it needs to be maintained in a proven manner that uses less power equipment,” he says. “That means using less fuel and emissions – and proper pruning uses less water, which of course, saves money.”
 

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