Second in a four-part series in which Steve Whysall looks at gardening and professional horticulture

Today: a look at a landscape course offered at UBC

Ron Rule, one of Vancouver’s most successful garden designers, has been running the Landscape Design certificate program at the University of B.C. for the past 14 years.

The six-month course appeals to people with a variety of interests and motivations.

Some students are keen to launch themselves into a career as full-time garden designers.

Others are already working in horticulture and have either landscape installation or maintenance companies and are eager to add design skills to their portfolio.

Avid home gardeners also take the course to learn more about the basics of good garden design so they can put the knowledge to work for themselves in their own gardens.

“We get about 35 to 40 students a year with ages ranging from the 20s to the 60s, although most students are about 35 to 40,” Rule says.

“We have made a policy from the beginning of trying to achieve as diverse a group of people as possible – doctors, nurses, computer people, pilots, graphic designers, architects. We like that. Some of our graduates have gone on to do landscape architecture.”

Started in 1997, the design certificate program came out of a garden history course that Rule was teaching at UBC. The Continuing Education department asked him to design a course because there was a lot of demand for it.

“We studied the top garden schools in North America and England and came up with a curriculum covering five basic modules. We basically took all the best ideas from all the different schools,” Rule says.

The five sections of the course comprise history and theory of garden design; drafting, design and communication skills; garden case study; hard landscaping (permanent features such as walls, paths and solid structures); and soft landscaping (planting).

The course takes 154 hours, but classes are spread over weeknights and weekends. The program takes six months to complete.

“Someone working full time could take a couple of weeks off work and still be able to do the program without having to quit their job,” Rule says.

The garden case-study part of the course requires students to work in teams of four to produce a design for an actual garden.

“We pick a typical urban garden and students have to come up with plans to suit the needs of the client.

“I find the presentation skills of our students are far beyond what I dreamed possible in a short course like this.”

At the end of the course, students are able to prod uce a design, complete with instructions for materials and planting.

Rule thinks the demand for competent garden designers is on the increase in B.C. and graduates of the design course are well equipped to meet the needs of clients. “A lot of people travel today and they are returning with ideas about how they want their gardens to be a place they can relax in.

“They are spending a lot of money on kitchens and bathrooms and automobiles and now they are looking at their gardens as a personal expression.

“The economy is fairly stable here in B.C., so I think the need for quality garden design will continue to be a growth industry for quite a while.”

swhysall@vancouversun.com

LOYALTON – When am I ever going to put this to practical use?

Students at Upper Dauphin Area Middle School (UDAMS) have a solid answer to that age-old question on learning.

As part of the “Real World Math Course” eighth-grade students have made improvements to the school’s existing courtyard, using their creativity, math and technology skills to spruce up their learning environment.

“I liked going outside and making what we planned on doing possible,” Bailey Maurer, a member of “The Constructioners” winning team, said. “The rendering of the site was probably the most difficult to do, because I had never done anything like that before,” said Maurer, of Spring Glen.

Teams of students were presented with a real-life challenge. Principal Michael Sim portrayed a potential customer, who indicated that he needed some help with the landscaping and re-design of the courtyard.

Students were tasked with the job of calculating the perimeter, area, and volume; the cubic feet of flower beds and how many yards of mulch would be required to fill each bed. Teams had to determine where to purchase the mulch, after acquiring quotes from local businesses.

They did a scale drawing of the plot on graph paper, designed a computerized rendering of their idea using Google SketchUp, and then presented their ideas and developmental drawings to district staff and administrators.

The final part of the 11-week project was to select a winning presentation and then have the students actually install the design in the courtyard, based on their calculations, and under the guidance of Technology Education Instructor Blake Dutweiler and Computer Instructor Dan Frake, who co-taught the class. This is the first year for the course, which was created to challenge eighth-grade pupils who scored well on their standardized tests and other benchmark data in the classroom.

Joining Bailey Maurer on the winning team were Ryan Strohecker and Jeff Klinger. “All three of us are good in math, our calculations were correct, and we had some good ideas,” said Maurer, when asked why his team’s design was selected. Other teams were: “The Trojans Landscaping,” “The Wild Flowers,” “The Mighty Morphan Flower Arrangers,” “Mulching Monkeys,” and “The Time Breakers”. Elements from several of the teams were incorporated into one, winning final design, which Maurer put together for the final computerized rendering.

Then, the class put their plans into action and began the actual upgrades.

“I like being outside and playing in the dirt,” said Morgan Maurer, of Elizabethville. (No relation to Bailey.) “I like to do ‘guy’ things and I’d rather be out than sit inside,” she said. As a member of the Mighty Morphan Flower Arrangers team, Morgan Maurer said doing all of the math calculations was the toughest part of the course. She was the only team member, according to her instructors, that was confident enough to use the power edger while making the necessary improvements at the site.

“Instead of just talking about it, I liked that we actually got to do it ourselves,” she said.

Another classmate, Brittany Kinney, of Elizabethville, thought the effort to do the calculations and proper pre-planning was well worth it. “It’s a lot neater and cleaner now,” she said.

Keegan Kerstetter, meanwhile, thought figuring out the patterns and doing the rendering was the most challenging aspect of the course. “Finishing it up and putting the final touches on the courtyard, and deciding what type of plants that we’d use was my favorite part,” said Kerstetter, of Elizabethville.

Strohecker could see the practical uses of the course.

“I think it can help you in the future. One day when you have your own home, you can figure this out for yourself,” said Strohecker, of Spring Glen.

Some of the improvements made at the site included: adding walkway stones leading to a bridge in the center; power-washing and clean-coating wooden picnic tables there; re-designing the layout and including spaces for mulched flower beds, bird feeders, and a maple tree. Staff members donated items for the class, and also held dress-down “jeans” days to help raise funds for the improvements, which students had estimated to cost around $600.

“Once they got the hang of things, it went well,” said Frake. “From the start to the end of the project, they’ve enjoyed it and want to do more of this. They’ve executed it very well.”

“I was extremely surprised with how it turned out,” Dutweiler added. “There were limited items that needed to be fixed and their work ethic was ten times harder, I think, knowing that this (courtyard) will be here when they move on to the high school,” he said.

Another rotation of eighth-graders will be making similar improvements to the front of the school building grounds, Sim said.

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A developing story: Pismo Beach’s development conflict shifts from Price Canyon to downtown

BY RHYS HEYDEN

It’s halftime in Pismo Beach.

In one locker room, developers are icing their injuries, wondering what went wrong, and trying to draw up a better game plan for the second half.

In the other locker room, opponents of mega-development are happy to be ahead for once, but scared to lose their lead, and searching for the magic plan to put the game out of reach.

The City Council and city staff are the frustrated referees who feel like they’ve been impartial—but both sides seem to think that those in power have called a terrible first half.

In the hotly contested game that is Pismo Beach development, everyone wants to do what they think is best, and there’s a lot of money at stake. As allegiances shift and strategies change, the next stage of the development game is set to play out in Pismo’s downtown core.

“I don’t want us to be distracted by what could be—we need to focus on developing what we have,” Pismo Beach City Manager Jim Lewis told New Times. “Now is the right time for development downtown. I think this community could finally realize the vision we’ve had for the past 20 or 30 years.”

While the City Council and many developers seem to share Lewis’ enthusiasm, others in the Pismo community are more skeptical, while also experiencing whiplash from the city’s lightning-fast pivot from Price Canyon—proposed site of several hotels, housing, a golf course, and more—to downtown.

“It’s nice to see the abandonment of the ‘manifest destiny’ attitude; the city has realized that we have our backs to the ocean and we need to polish up the jewels that we have,” said Sheila Blake, one of the leaders of local activist group Save Price Canyon. “At the same time, they’ve been trying to make the downtown push for decades, and they’ve accomplished very little.”

Save Price Canyon’s Spanish Springs referendum a few months back was a major reason why the council rescinded the environmental impact report and broader general plan amendments, stalling that specific proposed development—which carried plans for housing, two hotels, and a golf course—for at least 12 months.

While the activist group is still focused on protecting the Pismo Beach hills from the specter of stalled or dead mega-developments like Spanish Springs, Pismo Ranch, and Los Robles Del Mar, City Council members and Lewis said that while they understand the concern, the city’s focus has completely shifted.

“When it comes to Price Canyon, we’re at zero, and we’re going to be at zero for quite a while,” Lewis said.

In an afternoon meeting with New Times, Lewis and Community Development Director Jon Biggs enthusiastically detailed the wide range of development in the city that is underway, concretely planned, or hoped for but hypothetical.

Affordable housing units (both condos and homes), a 110-room national hotel, and a national restaurant chain will be taking root at the former Orchard Supply Hardware store off Oak Park Boulevard. Sixteen new homes and 16 town houses are being built at the corner of Wadsworth and Price. Shell Beach Road will be adding separate bike and pedestrian paths while PGE is undergrounding its utilities. Many businesses are applying for remodels, upgrades, and additional seating.

As Biggs and Lewis excitedly gestured at a blown-up map of Pismo’s downtown core, Lewis ran through his grand vision: a seaside amphitheater, new lighting and landscaping, upscale restaurants and bars galore, a plaza to replace the pier parking lot, different themed districts—high-tech, restaurants, shopping—and even a Ferris wheel.

“I know it can seem a little over the top, but we’re dreaming and thinking big,” Lewis said. “We’re talking with literally hundreds of people, soliciting advice and input from everyone, and all of this is coming together.”

Lewis said city staffers hope to progress the downtown development plans so they can bring some items to the council in the spring of next year.

Biggs said increased transient occupancy tax revenues, substantial interest from the private sector, and a unified council dedicated to improving downtown make this a golden opportunity for the city—previously a victim to political fractionalization and economic downturns.

At a Nov. 13 community workshop set up to brainstorm ideas for downtown development, roughly 40 people showed up. Lewis said he had hoped for 75 to 100.

Blake attended the workshop and said she—and many of her Save Price Canyon compatriots—support the idea of development in downtown Pismo, but she still wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.

“I just will wait to see what they do with this,” she said. “I’m kind of cynical about these workshops, because, at times, it can seem like a ‘feel-good exercise’ where everyone goes home and nothing changes.”

For their part, Save Price Canyon organizers have also started holding workshops of their own. The group played host to its first fundraiser on Nov. 2, which ended up netting more than $8,000.

Group representatives said the funds will largely go toward covering legal fees for the group’s planned ballot initiative. The group is looking for a more permanent strategy than City Council disinterest to preempt what they deem “rampant overdevelopment” in Price Canyon.

The initiative is in the final stages of its drafting, and, for now, will likely land on Pismo’s November 2014 ballot.

Though the overall development focus has undeniably shifted to downtown, Save Price Canyon and City Council members are still nursing old wounds and occasionally igniting lingering conflicts left over from the years of scuffles over planned mega-developments in the Pismo hills.

On the day before Save Price Canyon’s fundraiser, SLO County code enforcer Harley Voss was called in on an anonymous tip to evaluate the gathering’s legality. Voss told New Times he wasn’t at liberty to name the tipster, but he determined the event was perfectly legal.

“I am just so paranoid now,” said Save Price Canyon member Marcia Guthrie. “It’s been really been disillusioning with the city government.”

Speaking at the Save Price Canyon fundraiser, Guthrie and fellow activist Richard Foster said they feel tolerated by the City Council and city staff, but not listened to or respected. They also said they feel misrepresented by labels like “NIMBY” and “anti-development,” both of which they disavow.

“When the facts aren’t on your side, you start calling people names,” Foster said. “We aren’t opposed to development, we are opposed to massive development.”

In response, City Council members said they are fully aware of Save Price Canyon, and respect their point of view just as much as anyone else’s opinion.

“I think we’re doing our due diligence and doing it right,” said councilman Ed Waage. “Listening to our residents and getting feedback are key. We need to have a robust development debate.”

“Change is difficult, and it can seem scary when change is proposed,” said Mayor Shelly Higginbotham. “It’s sometimes hard to explain the benefits of development when we like our neighborhoods the way they are, but cities have to grow.”

Councilman Kris Vardas, on the other hand, said that activist accusations of “cavalier” and “renegade” behavior on the council with respect to development were unfounded and unfair.

“There are a good number of people that don’t want to see the city change or grow, and one way to do that is to make false statements or accusations like these,” Vardas said. “It’s entirely unfair.”

Spanish Springs representative David Watson said he feels the development has now addressed all of the issues brought up by the City Council, and said he hopes the council will return to Spanish Springs soon.

Representatives for Pismo Ranch did not return calls for comment as of press time. 

 

Staff Writer Rhys Heyden can be reached at rheyden@newtimesslo.com.

One year ago

Nov. 21, 2012

• For over four years, Central Arizona Raceway at the Pinal County Fairgrounds sat all too quiet on Friday and Saturday nights. But that is about to change. The speedway is holding its grand reopening this weekend, hosting about 100 racecars that will be fighting for first place from Nov. 23-25.  

• Rarely do governing board meetings for Coolidge Unified School District, a monthly time to discuss budget items, but this month Mountain Vista Principal Denise Taylor fought back tears when speaking about a student who had recently died of cancer. And she talked about how her students made that student feel special in their last days.

• Renovations begin on Highway 87 in an Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) project that was in cooperation with the Gila River Indian Community Department of Transportation, which will consist of repaving, widening and making intersection improvements to the highway.

10 years ago

Nov. 19, 2003

• The steaks were juicy and the service was excellent at the new high school culinary arts building last Wednesday where a joint district meeting was held. Governing boards from the Coolidge Unified School District and the Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology (CAVIT) attended the meeting.

• This holiday season, as family members gathers at Eldon Woods’ home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Woods will savor the joy of life and give thanks that he’s able to share this time with his family. This year had more than enough heartache for Woods. In the span of four months he attended four funerals.

• Natalie Bagnall was among the people demonstrating different home improvement and crafts ideas at the Community Expo at Coolidge Grain and Warehouse on Nov. 1. Among the demonstrations at the expo included landscaping, gemology, swine nutrition and other subjects. The plan is to continue to the expo every year.

30 years ago

Nov. 23, 1983

• Not only are the Coolidge Bears the top of Class A football team in Arizona, Coach Larry Delbridge was named Coach of the Year in the A-South polling of teams in the conference. Delbridge’s Bears beat Mohave 6-0 to take the championship Friday night, and Delbridge was announced as all-conference coach Saturday.

• The federation of libraries in Pinal County says they aren’t receiving the services they want from the county’s library and Thursday rejected a list of goals and objectives proposed by County Librarian Melvin Sappington. David Snyder, Casa Grande library director was a vocal critic of the library services.

• A new policy regarding the public display of affection by students on the Coolidge High School Campus was approved Nov. 17 at the Coolidge school board at their regular meeting. The policy states “The first time students are caught necking on campus” the students will be given a warning. If they are caught again, it will be a five-day suspension.

 

40 years ago

Nov. 22, 1973

• “At Wit’s End” an Arizona State University production featuring Coolidge High School graduate Sid Cotter is scheduled to appear on television today. Cotter, 21, is the son of Phil Cotter, formerly of Coolidge and the brother of Betty Jones, a Coolidge resident. Cotter is majoring in radio and television broadcasting at ASU.  

• Coolidge merchants will kick off the Christmas shopping season Friday with a parade and visit from Santa Claus with treats for the kiddies, and Santa will ride through the downtown area in the fire truck. Youngsters are invited to decorate their bikes and ride behind the truck and Santa.

• Coolidge concluded a frustrating season on a losing note, as the Bears locked horns with the Snowflake Lobos and fell to defeat, 26-15, Friday night in the northern city. Coolidge rushers were held to minimal yardage in the encounter. The Bears leading rusher was Wayne Johnson with 36 yards.

50 years ago

Nov. 20, 1963

• It is now unlawful to park or drive automobiles and trucks between curb lines and property lines.  A new ordinance, No. 40, governing parking, and also another new ordinance regulating shooting of fire arms within the city limits, were passed as emergency measure by the Mayor and City Council.

• The number “5” will be a talisman in this year’s annual Boy Scout finance drive, hopes Brad Sizer, Jr., in charge of the 1953 campaign to kick off November 30. The drive will last only 24 hours, with reports and monies due the next day. Each canvasser will be responsible for contacting five persons for monetary gifts.

• The second bridge tournament at the Hohokam Country Club was held Wednesday night. Mrs. A. L. Nowell of Coolidge and Mrs. Twain Clemans of Florence are tournament chairmen. Winning couples were Mrs. Dalton Cole and Mrs. Nowell. In second place was the team of Mr. Twain Clemans and John Zellweger.  

60 years ago

Nov. 21, 1953

• Dr. J. T. O’Neil of Casa Grande, member of the Pinal County Junior College Board, spoke on behalf of the proposed college where he appeared as guest speaker at last week’s dinner meeting of the Coolidge Lions Club. Dr. O’Neil urged members to get out and vote in the county elections.

• October 21, 1963, is an important date in the life of Eid Sweis, Coolidge High School mathematics and physics teacher, and one he is not likely soon to forget. That was the day Mr. Sweis, together with about 30 other persons from various parts of the world was sworn in as a United States of America citizen.

• Coolidge square dancers who attended the first Pinal County Square Dance Festival in Casa Grande Nov. 15-17, report it was a whopping success. About 100 Coolidge dancers, including two callers, attended the festival at the Francisco Grande. A highlight of the evening was a performance by an Indian dance group from St. Johns.

Purchase photos

11/19/2013

By MATTHEW KENWRIGHT

mkenwright@dailynews.net

The grass might not be greener on the other side if the Hays Area Planning Commission approves changes to irrigation system regulations.

The nine-member group met Monday to debate a range of options intended to conserve water. Nicholas Willis, stormwater/water conservation superintendent for the city, shared a presentation with the commission.

Toby Dougherty, Hays city manager, said the changing nature of local water use should be addressed. The drought revealed the perilous state of the city’s water source, and Hays is looking at sustainability 20 to 30 years in the future, he said.

“We went from crisis in 1991 to the leader in the state of Kansas in wise-water usage,” Dougherty said. “What we have discovered recently as a staff is that we have been riding that high, and we’ve kind of lost touch with the realities of exactly how our residents are using water.”

Willis unveiled several plans that seek to prevent future shortages. Most of the regulations would apply to new construction projects.

One approach mandates 30 percent of a commercial property be xeriscaping, a landscaping arrangement that needs minimal water. They could have 10,000 square feet total of irrigated area, and 5,000 square feet can be irrigated turf. Two thousand square feet, or 30 percent of that turf, could be cool season, whichever is less.

Residential properties could have 5,000 square feet of irrigated turf, and 2,000 square feet could be cool season. They could have 10,000 square feet total of irrigation, with a balance in xeriscaping.

There were alternate ideas. One would require a 5-foot buffer where overhead irrigation is not allowed between vegetation and hardscape. Another would require submission of landscape plans for all construction, including for one- and two-family units.

A third would mandate submission of irrigation plans because half of water usage receives no review, and many sprinkler installations exceed maximum water use.

One option was to cease approving future residential lots larger than 7,000 square feet. It also would cap the size of the irrigated area on commercial properties.

Another idea was to ban future private wells and change water rate structures to achieve savings through economic incentives.

Additionally, there was an option to consider steep fees for water rights acquisitions and require developers to bring good water rights, or conservation in lieu, before allowing development.

The commissioners voted to send the proposals back for further consideration until its Dec. 16 meeting. The commission most have a public hearing to discuss regulation changes before they are approved.

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Young people from Dover who have turned their lives around with help from The Prince’s Trust will find out this week whether they have won an award.

The group, which has been nominated for an award at the youth charity’s annual ceremony which takes place this Thursday, worked on a community project in a disadvantaged area of Dover.

The group is one of three from across London and the south east shortlisted for the Morgan Stanley Community Impact Award at the Prince’s Trust and Samsung Celebrate Success Awards which take place at the Emirates Stadium and will be hosted by Kiss FM DJs Neev and AJ.

Idris Elba, who has previously presented an award at the ceremony’s national final, said: “The Celebrate Success awards show that with the right support – through organisations like The Prince’s Trust – it is possible to achieve your dreams. I am living proof of that.

“I left school at 16 with dreams of attending the National Youth Music Theatre but was disheartened when I realised how much it would cost. The Prince’s Trust gave me a £1,500 grant and, in doing that, they set me on the path that would eventually change my life.”

When 16 unemployed young people, all facing their own life barriers, began brainstorming ideas for a community project, they collectively decided to create something that would appeal to people of all ages.

They succeeded as the work they did will enhance the lives of residents in the St Radigund’s area of Dover for years to come.

Taking part in Team, a Prince’s Trust programme that gives unemployed young people the skills and confidence needed to move into work, they were determined to make a positive impact on their community and set about redeveloping the outdoor space at Triangles Community Centre at Poulton Close.

Carefully planning their week to ensure all their tasks were completed, the group fund-raised for materials, sourcing donated items wherever they could.

The Team repainted the community centre’s outdoor shipping containers, branding them smartly with the logo. They added interactive games such as a word search, noughts and crosses and snakes and ladders to encourage children to use the space in a positive way. And they cut the grass back for families to use for picnicking and playing games.

Making full use of a Team member’s previous experience in landscaping, they also overhauled the centre’s front garden, planting new plants, painting a fence and reinforcing and weatherproofing the benches, hoping to encourage more senior members of the community to enjoy the space.

Once that was complete, they focused their energies on the patio area, designing and installing an imaginative sensory garden. They re-laid the paving stones to include a hopscotch pattern and added birdfeeders and wind chimes.

 

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Public Spaces

McMillan plans show expansive new recreation spaces

by Aimee Custis   •   November 18, 2013 11:46 am

Opponents to redeveloping the McMillan Sand Filtration Site often say it’ll result in a loss of recreation and park space. But a recent video of the proposed plan by development team Vision McMillan Partners shows a compelling vision of a site with a large park and recreational component.

The newest plan, which the Historic Preservation Review Board called “very tangible and commendable” earlier this month, consolidates the site’s green space, and ensures it’s available to the whole neighborhood, rather than as piecemeal private yards.

While the fight to get redevelopment moving at the 25-acre site is far from over, winning HPRB approval is one more major hurdle cleared in bringing a 6-acre public park with pool and rec center, dedicated new affordable housing, and rowhouses and apartments to the long-shuttered site.

Aimee Custis is the Communications Manager at the Coalition for Smarter Growth. A policy wonk by training and a transit advocate by profession, she moved to DC in 2008 to learn everything she could about walkable communities and public policy. Also a photographer, she photoblogs at aimeecustis.com. 

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We guess LeFrak-side just did not have the same ring to it.

The LeFraks, a family of heirs to a real estate fortune worth billions, have given Prospect Park’s long-awaited ice skating mega-plex, formerly the Lakeside Center, a cash infusion of $10-million on the eve of its opening and, as a result, will get their parents’ names plastered across the facility. It is unclear just how the money will be used, but park administrators say that it is bound to last a good long time.

“The generous LeFrak gift will help ensure the building remains a citywide attraction for the next 100 years,” said Farrell Sklerov, spokesman for the Prospect Park Alliance.

The rec complex is set to open in December as the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Center, named after the late parents of real estate and oil tycoon Richard LeFrak and his three sisters, who Forbes ranks as the 74th-richest Americans. The gift comes at a time when all of the $78-million budget for building the park addition has been secured, but the managers of Brooklyn’s backyard say they have some ideas about what to do with the extra bundle.

Sprucing up the entrance road and maintaining the surrounding areas are among the projects being considered, Sklerov said.

The long-awaited pond project will take up an area the size of 20 football fields and will boast indoor and outdoor ice skating in the winter, roller skating in the summer, a huge water fountain, and year-round educational programs. The only work left to do before the grand opening is additional planting and landscaping, Sklerov said.

Samuel LeFrak grew up in Brooklyn the grandson of a real estate developer and attended Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush. His family’s company made its fortune building middle- and working-class housing en masse, erecting some 200,000 houses and apartments in the New York metro area over the course of the 20th century. Today, his son Richard LeFrak heads the family real estate company, the LeFrak Organization, which owns 2,500 apartments in Brooklyn alone, a spokesman for the family said.

“Our family is proud to honor, through this gift, the memory of our parents, who would have surely embraced this magnificent Prospect Park redevelopment project that will bring so much joy and happiness to the people of Brooklyn,” Denise LeFrak said in a statement.

The LeFraks’ names are already stamped on a theater at Queens College, and a 4,600-unit development in Queens called LeFrak City, famously home to street rap pioneer Kool G Rap.

©2013 Community Newspaper Group

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