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GAINESVILLE, Ga., March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Sandra Mullin, owner of Sandra’s Landscape Supplies, located at 5114 Dawsonville Hwy., recently added U-Haul truck and trailer rentals to the landscaping business.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090622/LA34860LOGO-b)

Click here to download the photo accompanying this press release.

Families needing the finest in moving services now will have increased convenience and a shorter distance to travel when moving, which not only will make their move easier but also will have the positive effect of reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. U-Haul partnering with business owners across North America to increase convenience for customers while helping our environment is just one of the programs that support U-Haul Company’s Corporate Sustainability initiatives.

Sandra’s Landscape Supplies can now offer its customers a variety of moving equipment and supplies designed specifically for moving household furnishings, including moving vans, open trailers, closed trailers, furniture pads, appliance dollies, furniture dollies, tow dollies and auto transports. Sandra’s Landscape  Supplies also will offer sales items to protect their customers’ belongings and make moving easier, such as heavy-duty boxes, which are made of up to 90 percent recycled content and are available in a variety of sizes.

“U-Haul is proud to be partnering with a quality independent business such as Sandra’s Landscape Supplies,” exclaimed Patrick Spencer, president, U-Haul Company of Northern Georgia. “Sandra is a great example of the type of successful business relationship U-Haul has established in order to build and maintain a strong network of more than 15,000 independent dealers across North America.”

For more information, or to rent your moving equipment today, call 770-205-6594. Business hours of operation are: Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sat. 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

About U-Haul
U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up during the Great Depression. Tires and gas were still rationed or in short supply during the late 1940s when U-Haul began serving U.S. customers. Today, that background is central to the U-Haul Sustainability Program: “Serving the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  Our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle includes fuel-efficient moving vans, neighborhood proximity, moving box reuse, moving pads made from discarded material and packing peanuts that are 100% biodegradable.  Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/sustainability.

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the choice for the do-it-yourself mover. U-Haul customers’ patronage has enabled the Company to maintain the largest rental fleet in the do-it-yourself moving industry which includes trucks, trailers and towing devices. U-Haul also offers storage throughout North America. The Company provides industry leading moving and storage boxes and an extended line of packing supplies to protect customer possessions. U-Haul is the consumer’s number one choice as the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket. The Company supplies alternative-fuel for vehicles and backyard grills as one of the nation’s largest retailers of propane.

Contact:
Joanne Fried
Kelie Hale
U-Haul Public Relations
(602) 263-6194
(602) 263-6772 fax

SOURCE U-Haul

Native plants resources

Websites

USFWS Native Plant Center (nativeplantcenter.net): A searchable database, photos and loads of other information on native plants.

Va. Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries (dgif.virginia.gov): A list of plants for wildlife, instructions for creating a butterfly garden, information on habitat programs and a link to the downloadable guide “Habitat at Home.”

National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org): Information on the value of native plants, descriptions of them by geographic region and interesting factoids. Search on “native plants” on the site.

Books and Pamphlets

“A Field Guide to Eastern Forests: North America” (Peterson Field Guide) by John C. Kricher

“American Wildlife Plants: A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits,” by Alexander C. Martin, Herbert S. Zim, and Arnold L. Nelson; available in several print editions, or view online for free at Google Books (books.google.com)

“Bringing Nature Home,” by Doug Tallamy

“Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses,” by James H. Miller and Karl V. Miller

“Habitat at Home”; downloadable from the VDGIF website (dgif.virginia.gov) or call 804-367-1000

“Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards,” by Sara Stein

“Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping  –  Chesapeake Bay Watershed,” by USFWS; downloadable from nativeplantcenter.net, among other websites, or call 1-800-344-WILD

“The Wildlife Garden,” by Charlotte Seidenberg, with Jean Seidenberg

For more information about resources on the relationship between native plants and wildlife, go to nighthawkcommunications.net and click on the tab “Nature Resources,” then the link “Virginia Wildlife Habitat.” If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment on the website or contact me directly.

By mid-March, as I write this, spring is fully underway, about two weeks ahead of schedule because of the mild winter. Trees and shrubs are leafing out, early spring wildflowers, such Bloodroot, are blooming on the forest floor, birdsong fills the air at dawn and butterflies and bees are flying everywhere. If you’re planning habitat projects on your property, it’s time to get busy, and understanding the intricate relationship between plants and animals is critical in picking the right plants.

Some species of wildlife are obligated – depend on  –  one species of plant for food, reproduction, shelter, or all of these. Insects in particular may be highly specialized. The Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly, for example, lays its eggs only on our native Spicebush shrub, while Monarch Butterflies are obligated to milkweed species. Adult butterflies feed on the nectar of many plants, but some species have distinct preferences. Some plants benefit a wide variety of animals, such as Arrowwood Viburnum, which provides food to butterflies, songbirds and some mammals.

Derek Ramsey via Wikimedia Commons

A Monarch Butterfly feeds on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), a one of several milkweed species native to Virginia.

To attract some insect-eating birds, you need to provide plants that attract insects. While adult hummingbirds zero in on the blossoms of Trumpet Honeysuckle during the bloom season, they feed their young on protein-rich insects. And while the Eastern Kingbird may mostly feed on insects, it also takes advantage of dogwood berries to supplement its diet.

Most wildlife species time their reproduction with the availability of plants that provide food directly or indirectly, since the lives of the two kingdoms are inextricably entwined. If insect-eating songbirds have babies before insects are out and about, for example, their young are at risk.

Timing is one of the many areas in which nonnative plants come up short. Since our wildlife has not co-evolved with them, they rarely provide the right nutrition at the right time and can overrun native plants that do. In reestablishing habitat, it’s important, therefore, to replace invasive nonnative plants with natives that offer wildlife better value.

Plants live in communities, and most wildlife have evolved to live in specific spatial niches. In designing habitat projects, “the best thing someone can do is look at the structure of habitat, the layering horizontally and vertically,” says Carol Heiser, education program section manager and habitat education coordinator with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Heiser wrote a great guide on the subject, “Habitat at Home,” which covers important concepts in designing habitat and includes lists of native plants and their uses to native Virginia wildlife. (See the sidebar.)

In traditional landscaping, nonnative species are primarily used, particularly cold-season grasses  –  and even those are cut to the ground regularly, creating a green desert all but devoid of wildlife value. Comparing these endless sterile lawns and “foundation” plantings of a few species of nonnative shrubs with a meadow filled with native warm-season grasses and native shrubs is like comparing an empty plate with a banquet table filled with food.

 “Because animals directly or indirectly depend on plants for their food,” entomologist Doug Tallamy writes in his book, “Bringing Nature Home,” “the diversity of animals in a particular habitat is closely linked to the diversity of plants in that habitat.” Tallamy explains why it’s important to have habitat everywhere, including suburban backyards, and focuses on insects, particularly pollinators. Not only are they critical to the production of almost all the plant products humans eat, they serve as prey for many other animals. Tallamy notes that 37 percent of animal species are plant-eating insects.

Some plants provide a range of wildlife food. Fruit-bearing shrubs, for example, offer blossoms for pollinators and those that prey on them, and fruit for insects, birds and mammals. When it comes to woody plants (trees and shrubs), oaks top the list for being preferred by butterflies and moths  –  supporting more than 500 species of these important pollinators as well as providing mast (acorns) for Wild Turkey, Black Bear and other animals.

Bruce Jones

An Eastern Kingbird dines on the fruit of a Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia).

Although deer are native wildlife, their populations have exploded and they now threaten the health of native-plant communities by over-consuming many vulnerable species as well as damaging landscaping, so many gardeners search for the holy grail of plants  –  plants that deer won’t eat. Some references listed in the sidebar, such a “Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping  –  Chesapeake Bay Watershed,” indicate which plants are deer-resistant.

Whether your habitat project is small or large, a little research about wildlife and their habitat needs can go a long way to helping improve our native ecosystems. Beyond that, some trial and error and a willingness to adapt will help you meet your habitat goals.

   

This entry was posted on March 29 at 12:18 p.m. and is filed under Environment/Conservation, Featured This Week, Gardening, Nature, Wild Ideas nature column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Is it true that most homeowners don’t really like to garden, but all want front yards with curb appeal and backyards for family fun and relaxation? Well, today’s smart trend is moving to sustainable landscaping, which for us is “Gardening Central
Valley Style.”

Many have realized that it just isn’t cool anymore to have a bunch of gas-powered equipment droning on all day long in the neighborhoods.

Isn’t it about time to come clean with our own lawns and just put them where we really need them? It must be time to do a better job in choosing plants. It certainly is time to place plants where they can grow on our property without ridiculous pruning to keep them in size. Let’s be smarter about our Central Valley landscapes, because it matters.

Don’t get trapped thinking that it takes a lot of money to grow an appealing landscape, because it doesn’t. But it does take a functional landscape design. It does take a little smarts. And it definitely takes a critical look at what is really working in your yard and what isn’t.

Figure out: what gets to stay, what needs to go, what needs to be fixed. Then take action. Spring is a great time to get landscapes in working order before the summer heat drives us all to our lawn chairs.

Review your lawn: Lawn care is nobody’s favorite chore (except for maybe mine), but we sure seem to like them. Many of us bought our lawns with the house. Maybe we like them just how they are. Or maybe it’s time to change out a portion of lawn for a better living space?

Consider a small patio or sitting area, a barbecue spot, vegetable garden, grape vine arbor, flower bed, rock garden, a kid’s play house or a parent’s outdoor bar, or even a screen for the trash cans. Yes, the list is endless.

Many neighbors share a lawn between driveways that might be better suited to a row of small shrubs or a small picket fence to screen the parked cars.

Consider removing a swath of lawn and replacing it with a different ground cover. These alternatives would reduce mowing, noise, and water usage. Add some stepping stones or a dry creek bed. All these ideas will cut down on your work in the yard and add to curb appeal.

By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer

(l to r) Supervisors Brian Shuron and Jim Smith, and Sue and Roger McCarthy, owners of McCarthy’s Landscaping. Photo/Nancy Brumback

West Boylston – Adding a new feature to your patio or backyard can spice up your outdoor living space and make it more enjoyable.

McCarthy’s Landscaping Irrigation, a full-service outdoor construction and design company, can suggest ideas and do all the work.

Roger McCarthy and his wife, Sue, are the owners of the firm, which has been in business for over 17 years. Roger noted that with rising gasoline prices, people may choose to stay closer to home this summer and enjoy the outdoors in their own backyard. He offered several suggestions for simple projects that can greatly enhance a home’s outdoor space.

Adding a fire pit, either on a patio or just on the lawn, creates a natural gathering spot, suitable for cooking hotdogs, making s’mores or great conversation. Fire pits, he said, are generally a circle or square stone wall rising about 16 inches above ground level.

Another popular patio addition is a built-in grill area done in stone. It can be as simple or as “complicated” as the homeowner wishes, with the addition of stone countertops, a refrigerator or other options.

Water features also enhance a landscape; most use re-circulating water once they are filled. Roger suggested a koi pond for fish, with or without a waterfall. Another choice is a “pondless waterfall” with the water trickling over rocks, but no accompanying pond below the falls.

The pondless waterfall, he noted, provides the soothing background noise of a waterfall, but requires less room and, because the water is constantly moving, lessens the need to take measures to prevent mosquitoes.

Landscape lighting will also make outdoor living spaces more attractive. The low-voltage lighting can be added to patio areas, can make the front of the home more attractive and can accent landscape features at night with a subdued glow.

“It’s important for homeowners to choose the right contractor for these types of projects, and be careful of people who undercut pricing and end up cutting corners,” he emphasized.

“Homeowners should check how long a contractor has been in business, if the workmanship is good, and call references. They should make sure a contractor has workman’s compensation insurance so the homeowner is not liable if a worker is injured on a job. You have a right to ask for certification of insurance from a contractor,” Roger said.

When planning a new patio or additions to an existing patio, he recommended thinking first about how the family expects to use that space, and making sure the planned area can accommodate those uses.

“A good contractor should be able to help you figure out the right size for your needs,” he said.

McCarthy’s has examples of various installations on the grounds at the West Boylston office, and homeowners are encouraged to come and look at what the different types of stone look like and gather ideas for their own projects.

In addition to design and construction work, McCarthy’s installs irrigation systems and lighting, sells and delivers mulch, and does landscape maintenance work.

This past winter, with its extremely low snowfall amounts and warm temperatures, has created an early drought situation, he warned, and homeowners should be aware their lawns may need a bit of extra care. He also expects a bumper crop of crabgrass this year with the warm weather encouraging earlier germination.

McCarthy suggested homeowners have someone to assess their yard early in the spring, and check trees and shrubs for winter damage, some dating back to last October’s snowstorm.

The positive side of this early spring, he noted, is that McCarthy’s is ready and able to get started now on landscaping projects.

McCarthy’s Landscaping takes on construction projects just about anywhere in the state, and has done work from New Hampshire to Cape Cod. Landscape maintenance work with frequent visits is concentrated in Worcester County.

McCarthy’s is located at 133 Hartwell St. in West Boylston. Additional information is available on the website, www.mccarthyslandscaping.com, or call 508-842-7110. Sue McCarthy urged customers to visit the firm’s Facebook page as well for specials and advice.

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Posted by Community Advocate Staff
on Mar 29 2012. Filed under Business, Byline Stories, People and Places, Region.
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PlanWorx℠, a new online landscape design service powered by national landscape architecture firm Knäak Design Group (KDG), offers homeowners a progressive do-it-yourself solution to improve their outdoor living space, allowing them to add beauty and value to their home at a fraction of the cost.

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) March 29, 2012

PlanWorx℠ is a new concept in residential landscape design that gives homeowner and investor in the United States and Canada a variety of options to tackle their outdoor living project through custom landscape design. All delivered by registered landscape architects, the virtual landscape design services are at a fraction of the cost compared to most custom designed projects delivered by the same professionals. Homeowners and real estate investors can reduce labor costs by up to 40% by buying the materials should they choose a DIY approach by handling the installation themselves. In addition to creating a custom landscape design that gives them guidance to plan their project, PlanWorx℠ helps the homeowners avoid the common mistakes that occur during do-it-yourself projects that cause delay and waste valuable dollars. KDG will also provide homeowners with scheduling options to help phase various parts of the project over time due to life events and budget constraints.

KDG’s experienced landscape architects offer homeowners a variety of custom landscape design options for their front yard or backyard that meet the homeowner’s style and budget, help give their outdoor living space a face-lift for personal enjoyment, or attract potential buyers in time for the hot selling season for those considering selling their home.

“With the recession, many homeowners are not in the best situation with the values of their homes. Times are tough, and people need to find innovative and efficient ways to add beauty and value to their backyard, without breaking the bank. We want to help restore the pride of homeownership that seems to have disappeared in the past few years,” says Robert Knäak, principal and founder of Knäak Design Group. “Landscaping is one home improvement that actually appreciates over time. Depending on the location of the home, high-quality landscaping can add from 5 to 12 percent to your home’s selling price.”

About Knäak Design Group, LLC

Knäak Design Group is a nationally recognized landscape architecture and planning firm, providing professional services to architects, engineers, builders, and homeowners looking for unique design solutions in the United States and Canada. To learn more about Knaak Design Group’s professional design services, please visit http://www.knaakdesigngroup.com or call 1-800-560-8361.

Knäak Design Group has offices in Dallas, Phoenix, and southwest Florida and provides services to customers throughout the United States and Canada. For more information about our online landscape design services contact Madison McClain or visit our website at http://www.onlinelandscapedesign.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/3/prweb9341618.htm

In 2012, the “Seacoast Forecast” series looks at how our region is planning for economic, environmental and social change.

Dover’s city-wide visioning sessions run with the theory that planning a community’s future should start with the citizens.

Dover is the Granite State’s oldest continuous settlement. But though the Garrison City will turn 400 in 2023, city planners are encouraging residents to get creative when they think about their future, and get involved in shaping what the city will be like 10 years from now. They recently launched “Dover 2023—Building our Tomorrow,” a community-wide project aimed at engaging residents in the process of shaping Dover’s destiny.

Similar initiatives have taken place in recent years in cities like Portsmouth and Rochester. Municipal planners have become increasingly receptive to organized public feedback on operating budgets, capital improvements, economic development, housing, education, sustainability and all the other issues communities must address.

“The approach toward planning is evolving nationally as well as right here in the Granite State,” says Robin LeBlanc of Plan NH, a non-profit that helps communities identify their goals and create a road map to acheive them. Nearby, they’ve worked with Lee, Hampton, Exeter and Stratham.

“There seems to be a yearning to be involved and be connected as an individual to your community. People seem to be looking at their community and seeing how the built environment affects how we can walk, how we live, how we work, how we play, and what it means economically as well as environmentally,” LeBlanc says.

The Dover 2023 project started with a city-wide conversation at the Dover Middle School on March 10 and continued with three neighborhood workshops.Three more workshops will take place in April, followed by a final city-wide meeting at the Middle School on May 5.

Jeremiah LaRose acted as spokesperson for his group during the neighborhood workshop at the Woodman Park School on March 14. His group proposed a phone app that would combine a historic walking tour with a guide to current businesses, as a tool for economic development. They also recommended adding more extracurricular programs to the city’s education system, launching a summer theater program in Henry Law Park, and installing a telescope on Garrison Hill.

Dana Lynch, acting as spokesman for another group, suggested replacing or renovating the high school, improving sidewalks and infrastructure, replanting trees around public facilities, and completing the city’s waterfront development project. “Basically, get it done as a mixed use development with green space,” he said.

Lynch also encouraged city planners to work toward increasing Dover’s appeal as a year-round arts and culture destination.

“So much of the season in Dover and in the Northeast kind of begs for indoor cultural activities, and a facility to have those kinds of opportunities would be a great enhancement in the life of Dover citizens,” he said. 

Planning consultant Roger Hawk urged everyone at the workshop to generate as many ideas as possible.

“Really, the whole idea is to get your ideas on paper,” he told the crowd of about 15 people. “Tell us what your dreams are. Come up with as many ideas as you can. Be as restrained or as wild as you feel you want to be.”

According to Hawk, there was a time when elected leaders rarely consulted their constituents before making decisions.

“It used to be that people thought elected officials were the ones that knew it all,” he said. “The people know it all. They’re the ones that really have the answers, and the city government needs to be listening to what the community is talking about.”

The city hired Hawk, of Hawk Planning Resources, to serve as a consultant for the Dover 2023 project. A resident of Concord, he’s been involved in similar efforts in communities throughout the state, including recent planning projects in Sandwich and Rindge. He said the most outlandish idea he’s ever heard came from Nashua, where one resident recommended enclosing the entire city in a giant dome.

“Frankly, I think doing this visioning process is the most fun part of doing master planning, getting people to brainstorm,” he said.

Assisting Hawk with the project is Christopher Parker, Dover’s director of planning and community development. There’s also a Dover 2023 steering committee that includes both residents and city leaders.

The project’s mission statement is: “To fully engage the community in a discussion about what Dover’s core values are and what community changes need to happen to achieve a new, long term vision for Dover’s future 10-20 years from now.”

Dover’s process will feed into its master plan, which coordinates the city’s built environment with its geographic qualities and the needs of the people who live there—where they live, what natural resources they use, how they move around, what services are necessary, what they value—and ties it all to a budget process.

When it comes to the built environment, Randall Arendt, an author of books on conservation planning  and nationally known advocate for smart growth, says that for communities trying to envision the future, it’s hard to see beyond the physical space we’re currently living in to imagine new ways of doing things.

New England’s small cities tend to reflect our industrial and agricultural heritage, but also mid-20th century thinking, the rise of automobile culture and the emergence of the big box store. Fifty years of standard zoning has produced relatively standard landscapes. “We drive past them, and they’ve become such a part of our familiar landscape, it’s hard to get distance and look at them critically,” Arendt says.

On April 12, he will lead a planning workshop at Wells Reserve at Laudholm on “Strengthening Town Centers and Transforming Commercial Corridor Strips.” The focus is the landscape along a community’s well-traveled roads. In his workshops, Arendt leads the audience in a visual preference survey—dozens of slides flashing by at six seconds each, showing different types of landscape design, “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Inevitably, the audiences prefer the same things, whether they live in Maine or Texas or North Carolina, Arendt says. Parking lots and sprawl are out, and walkable communities are in, as are mixed use neighborhoods, native landscaping, better transit and a vibrant business community.

“Let’s write our standards to encourage what people want, and discourage or prohibit what people don’t want. If you look at the zoning ordinances that produced what’s out there today, that people don’t like, it’s amazing that communities have institutionalized in their zoning the very things that people rate negatively,” he says.

Near at hand, the Seacoast boasts communities that are getting it right. Plan NH features Exeter on its new website of ideas and projects from around the state that contribute to vibrant, healthy communities, www.vibrantvillagesnh.org. Arendt, who once worked for Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission, points to Kittery and York.

“On a recent trip to Maine, we drove through that strip in York on Route 1. I’m thinking ‘Wow, there are trees. There are nice signs. The buildings are notable. There’s not one ugly building there. The Hannaford is in a grove of trees,’” he observed.

He contacted the town planner, whom he had not met, to get a copy of their design standards so he could learn from them. The town planner told him the planning board was still mainly applying the design standards he wrote while working at the regional planning commission in 1982. “If you wait, sometimes 10, 20 years, things gradually improve,” he says.

The built environment was very much on the minds of about 40 people who attended Dover’s initial city-wide conversation on the morning of March 10. The participants broke into groups to discuss what they like about the city and its biggest challenges. Curiously, downtown was the top result for both categories. While people like the downtown’s historic character and mix of uses, they worry about maintaining that feel while making improvements to parking and traffic patterns.

Among the city’s other strengths, according to participants, are its strong community spirit and its recreational opportunities and open space. Among the other foremost concerns are municipal issues like an aging infrastructure, community service programs and high property taxes.

Organizers recapped the results of the city-wide meeting during the neighborhood workshops before again breaking into small groups. This time citizens were asked to develop their vision for the city’s future. At the end of each workshop, Parker conducted an electronic poll in which he asked specific questions and instructed participants to rate the city in a number of categories, including its shopping options, employment opportunities, variety of housing, public education and more.

Organizers are consolidating the results in preparation for the next round of workshops in April, during which people will develop a strategy for implementation. There is also a community survey available at www.dover2023.com.

“We’re using a bunch of different techniques to try and pull ideas out of people as much as we can,” Hawk said. “Hopefully it will give us a very good sense of what the average person in the community is thinking.”

At the final meeting on May 5, participants will review and finalize the vision and implementation strategy. All the documents and ideas generated throughout the process will be available on the website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, where members of the public can make further comments. 

The final results will be used to guide the city’s new master plan, budgets and capital improvement programs for the next decade.

Separately, Dover recently offered a survey on the city’s website called “Dover Dollars,” seeking public feedback about budget priorities.

Hawk said he and Parker would also be speaking at high school civics classes to get young people involved in the planning process.

“We feel it’s important to capture the attention of young people, because even though they may not be thinking about it and may not know it, what we’re doing now is going to impact them more than these people like me that have gray hair,” he said.

Parker said the idea for the Dover 2023 initiative emerged as the city was preparing to craft its new 10-year master plan. The Planning Department wanted to engage the public and decided to use the upcoming 400th anniversary as a selling point.

“It’s not my community, it’s not the Planning Board’s community, it’s the community’s community, and the community really needs to be invested in this and really needs to come out and tell us how it wants to shape its future,” Parker said.

That sentiment is shared by other communities across the region. Portsmouth Listens formed in the late 1990s and has been holding city-wide dialogues on a number of issues ever since, including violence in schools, school redistricting, police-community relations, strategic community planning and sustainability. The group has also held a number of deliberative candidate forums.

Jim Noucas, a local attorney and co-founder of Portsmouth Listens, said city leaders have generally been receptive to the group’s feedback.

“It’s varied from time to time, but overall I think there’s been strong support from the city to obtain the information from the dialogues,” Noucas said.

When Portsmouth Listens held dialogues about the city budget process, some city councilors attended and spoke to the groups. From 2007 to 2009, Portsmouth Listens held a series of discussions on the controversial topic of whether to renovate the Portsmouth Middle School or build a new one. Most of the public preferred the idea of renovating the building, and that’s what the city ultimately did.

“The point of the process is not to replace the judgment and responsibility of the city council. The point of the process is to supplement the information process before the decisions are made,” Noucas said. “We fully and completely respect the city leaders’ autonomy and responsibility for making decisions.”

In 2010, Portsmouth Listens was a finalist for the Reinhard Mohn Prize, an international award issued by the Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation in Germany. The theme of the competition was “Vitalizing Democracy through Participation.”

Portsmouth city manager John Bohenko told the Reinhard Mohn evaluation team there is now “an expectation that we’ll be consulting people” on community issues.

The first section of Portsmouth’s 2005 master plan, called “A Vision for Portsmouth,” presents a summary of residents’ aspirations for the city’s future. The summary arose out of Portsmouth Listens dialogues on the topic.

Unlike its neighbors, Rochester updates its master plan one piece at a time, updating different chapters of the document every couple of years. The last cycle of updates began in 2001. According to chief planner Michael Behrendt, the next cycle will begin within the next year or two, starting with a chapter on land use.

“Once we start, we’ll have a whole public involvement procedure as part of that, probably similar to what Dover is doing,” Behrendt said.

Rochester has also been rewriting its zoning ordinance since 2003, and Behrendt said it is finally close to completion. He said the city has held numerous public meetings and committee hearings on the rezoning process. 

“After that’s done, then we’re going to start this whole master plan process all over again,” he said.
That process will likely include a couple of large, facilitated public forums and several smaller exercises to gather public feedback.

“The Planning Board then takes all that raw information, and they distill it into a refined set of issues and goals and objectives,” Behrendt said.  

The Planning Board is responsible for adopting Rochester’s master plan, but they seek an endorsement from the City Council. The plan is not legally binding, but it is intended to guide public policy for the following decade.

“The key end product is a set of tasks or strategies, which you then hope to implement in the coming years,” Behrendt said.

Dover is working to ensure that its end product reflects the will of its citizens. Parker encouraged people to remain involved every step of the way.

“We don’t set the stage, the community sets the stage,” Parker said. “The community is behind this visioning process.”

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For Dover residents and business owners

If you live in Dover, there’s still time to get involved in the Dover 2023 project. Here are some dates to keep in mind:

neighborhood workshops—making it happen
• Tuesday, April 10, 7-9 p.m., Woodman Park Elementary School
• Thursday, April 12, 7-9 p.m., Garrison Elementary School
• Monday, April 16, 7-9 p.m., Horne Street School

city-wide conversation—bringing it all together
• Saturday, May 5, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Dover Middle School

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Delray Garden Center of Delray Beach, FL has been honored with a recognition by South Florida Business Journal in its selection of “Top Landscaping Companies.”

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Announcing a special recognition appearing in the August 2011 issue of South Florida Business Journal published by American City Business Journals, Delray Garden Center was selected for the following honor:

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120327/DC77470)

“Top Landscaping Companies”

A spokesperson from Delray Garden Center commented on the recognition: “This is quite an honor for us. The fact that South Florida Business Journal included Delray Garden Center in its selection of ‘Top Landscaping Companies,’ signals that our constant efforts towards business excellence are paying off. We are proud to be included in this recognition.”

About Delray Garden Center:

Centrally located at 3827 W Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach, Delray Garden Center is a full service Landscape Design Center that offers you the luxury of extending your indoor living space to seamlessly include your outdoor living areas. Our experienced staff will create and install your personal oasis turning your dreams into reality. Our services include everything from Pavers Pergolas, Walls Waterfalls, Fountains Fire Pits, to Lighting the Landscape of your dreams. Please come see us at our Beautiful Retail Garden Center and stroll through OUR oasis.

Following the publication of Delray Garden Center‘s selection for South Florida Business Journal‘s Top Landscaping Companies list, American Registry seconded the honor and added Delray Garden Center to the “Registry of Business Excellence™.” An exclusive recognition plaque, shown here, has been designed to commemorate this honor.

For more information on Delray Garden Center, located in Delray Beach, FL please call 561-243-6869, or visit www.delgarden.com.

This press release was written by American Registry, LLC with contributions from Delray Garden Center on behalf of Delray Garden Center and was distributed by PR Newswire, a subsidiary of UBM plc.

American Registry, LLC is an independent company that serves businesses and professionals such as Delray Garden Center who have been recognized for excellence. American Registry offers news releases, plaques and The Registry™, an online listing of over 2 million significant business and professional recognitions. Search The Registry™ at http://www.americanregistry.com.

Contact Info:
Delray Garden Center
Phone: 561-243-6869
Email Address: dgc@bellsouth.net

SOURCE Delray Garden Center

Landscape America, Inc. is still seeking input from the community for ideas to beautify Wrentham town property as part of their annual Day of Service on April 20. The deadline to submit an idea is March 30, and residents are invited to weigh in on the suggestions by visiting Landscape America on Facebook.

A number of great ideas have already been submitted. Here are a dozen suggestions (in no particular order) submitted for consideration.

1. Clean up the town boat landing, add some plantings and benches, remove basketball court.

2. Perform a general spring clean-up and plantings at the Wrentham Senior Center.

3. Enhance and beautify the island at Rte. 1 south off-ramp to 140 (next to Chace’s Hardware).

4. At the old Center School Lot at the intersection of Route 1A and 140, fill in pot holes, enhance area around sign with plantings and mulch, or a berm or fence.

5. Enhance the area around the flag pole in the center of town.

6. Install and fill window boxes in the storefronts of Wrentham Center.

7. Mulch and beautify the elementary schools. Maybe the children could help!

8. Revitalize the Memorial island (dedicated to Vietnam Veteran, Eric Hatch) at the corner of Rt. 121 (West St.) and Sheldon Road.

9. Spring clean-up and enhancement at Sweatt Beach so we can enjoy it all summer!

10. Install a little park or playground at the corner of West St and Spring St.

11. Beautify the new 9/11 Memorial being designed by Troy Neubecker?

12. Enhance the area around the snack shack or elsewhere at the town soccer fields with landscaping, even a patio area with picnic tables.

Landscape America is part of PLANET, Professional Landcare Network, a group that encourages members to give back to communities through volunteer landscaping, lawn care, tree care or interior projects. The landscape company is seeking ideas for this year’s project, which will take place on Earth Day on April 20.

The criteria for 2012 project proposals are as follows:

May include any landscaping, hardscaping, tree care, or other service offered by Landscape America.

Must be a project that can be completed in one day with 7-8 people.

Must be in a public space in Wrentham.

Must be approved by the DPW and/or Board of Selectmen.

It may be possible to partner with other vendors for materials.

Ideas must be received by March 30.

In previous years, Landscape America has improved the grounds around both the Wrentham town hall and the Wrentham town common by cleaning, edging, mulching, and installing plantings in partnership with other local companies.

Landscape America is using facebook as a community forum to discuss the project proposals. Post idea(s) on Landscape America’s facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Landscape.America) before March 30, or visit the page to see and weigh-in on others’ suggestions.

Residents can also email dmcduff@landscapeamericainc.com or call 508-660-3002. All ideas are welcome and will be considered.

Ideas sprouted at Seven Generations Ahead’s recent Food Forum, signifying yet another big step toward expanding the availability of responsibly raised food in the Oak Park area.

“It’s food for thought, literally,” said Gary Cuneen, executive director of Seven Generations Ahead, the environmentalist Oak Park-based nonprofit. Three groups present their ideas to a packed-house crowd at the Oak Park Conservatory on Thursday. They included:

• Gardner and carpenter Bill Sieck presented his plans for a robust and colorful “learning” garden filled with produce that’s categorized by nutrient. The idea, Sieck said, would be to offer camps and courses for kids to learn about the science behind food. “I can even see vegetable gardens in the shape of [vitamin] letters,” he said. Sieck also offered his vision for the garden, perhaps on university land, that’s outlined by apple trees, with open seating areas nestled into the patches of produce.

• Cheryl Munoz and Jenny Jocks Stelzer outlined their vision for a northeast Oak Park food co-op — called “The Sugar Beet” — which would be supported by membership but open to the public. Though they’re a year or two away from making the co-op a reality, they already have visions of people “stopping by the Beet” to pick up items like organic milk, poultry and granola, as well maybe offering a pick-up service for community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Editor’s note: The folks behind Sugar Beet are blogging on Patch.

• Seamus Ford, co-founder of Root-Riot, discussed plans to expand the “micro-enterprise” program, which has already seen success on Chicago’s West Side. Among other learning opportunities, the micro-enterprise program teaches students how to design, build and sell cold frame boxes, which allow for year-round gardening, and to create simple greenhouses built from repurposed windows.

Thursday’s forum was part of SGA’s PlanIt Green initiative, the joint civic effort to put Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding areas on a roadmap toward sustainability. Through feedback surveys, the community set priorities for nine separate areas, from energy reduction to green transportation.

The goal for the plan’s sustainable food portion is three-fold: using more local land to grow more food, increasing the availability of local and regional food throughout the year and building more healthy soil around town for growing.

Like many in the room, Sieck views food as a pathway to universal learning — there’s geometry in the landscaping, photography in the gardens, world history and economics in the produce.

“I can’t think of anything I can’t teach with a vegetable garden,” he said.

Monash university students (left) Bianca Jewell and Ali Majokah plan to tranform this paddock into a farm. Photo: Joe Armao

IF ALI MAJOKAH’S plan succeeds, an empty paddock in Melbourne’s south-east will become a sprawling city farm tended by an army of volunteer students.

Monash University has allowed a group of students to use the vacant land in Clayton, which they will turn into a community market garden.

Once complete, it could be one of the biggest city farms in suburban Melbourne. The students will start in a small section of the sloping field, which is bigger than four football ovals, and fan out across the property.

Mr Majokah, the Monash University Community Farm’s convener, said it would provide organic produce to students, staff and restaurants on campus.

”We’ve got a strong, passionate team of students who really want to make it work,” he said.

Mr Majokah, a 23-year-old arts-science student from Berwick, said students would volunteer in return for fruit and vegetables.

”One of the key ideas behind the community farm is for it to be a welfare service,” he said. ”Many students are quite poor and find it difficult to get healthy food.”

The Monash Medical Centre could also use the farm as a therapeutic tool to help rehabilitate patients.

Paul Barton, Monash University’s sustainability director, said the university supported the project but students needed to prove they could run a viable small-scale farm before using the entire site in coming years.

He said the university would harvest water from nearby office buildings for the students to use.

Co-convener Bianca Jewell, a 22-year-old arts-science student, said plans for the farm were inspired by a similar project at Yale University in the US. In 2003 a group of students started the Yale Farm where they volunteer with staff and residents to grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Ms Jewell said the Monash students will start with herbs and leafy vegetables. They also plan to grow heirloom fruit trees and vegetables such as artichokes.

The farm’s design will draw on permaculture principles, a landscaping technique designed to minimise environmental impact.

The students will work with the Notting Hill Residents Association to help manage the farm during university holidays.

Association spokeswoman Marian Quartly said the land was fertile and ideal for a community farm. ”Everything is growing like mad in this weather,” she said. ”It’s a lovely spot.”

Cultivating Communities project officer Hannah Moloney, who helps manage 20 community gardens, said the project could become one of the largest city farms within close proximity of the CBD if it reached its potential.

Ms Moloney said long waiting lists for plots at community gardens showed Melburnians supported communal agricultural spaces.