More than three years after a pitched civic battle over the future of the Old Town Alexandria waterfront, the vision of a new front yard for this historic city is beginning to take shape.

The City Council last year adopted a $120million landscape design and project plan created by Olin Studios. But it may be years before residents and tourists see the lush parks and fountains in operation; Alexandrias plan is to focus on infrastructure and development first.

Residents told city officials over the winter that they wanted a solution to the notoriously flood-prone streets adjacent to the Potomac. The council will determine March3 what funding to allocate to flood mitigation. Storm-sewer work is underway, and planning officials are studying how to raise the grade of streets on the southern end of the waterfront area and build the bulkheads necessary for a waterfront walkway.

We have to get funding in place, we have to get the design done and we have permitting processes to complete, all of which could take three years, said Emily Baker, Alexandrias acting deputy city manager.

Meanwhile, the development plans of private parties who own several large pieces of land along the waterfront are working their way through the permitting process.

First to build probably will be the Old Dominion Boat Club, which last year accepted a $5million buyout offer from the city for its clubhouse and parking lot at the foot of King Street.

The boat club will move a few hundred feet south, to the site of the vacant Beachcombers building, which it will raze and rebuild as a three-story, 12,000-square-foot club with a roof deck and boat launch.

The old clubhouse will be demolished and will form part of a city park, dubbed Fitzgerald Square. The boat clubs architect told the citys waterfront commission last week that he hopes the facility will open in 18 months.

Designed to incorporate maritime touches such as outdoor stairways, the clubhouse probably will be built before the city creates the waterfront promenade, a walkway intended to connect the entire area. A fenced parking lot will be directly south of the clubhouse, and a temporary boat ramp will be used until the promenade is built and a permanent ramp is installed.

Five blocks north, the retail-residential-hotel project at 500 N. Union St. could be under construction by late 2016. It is on the site of the old Robinson Terminal North. City Interests LLC bought the property from The Washington Post Co. in late 2013.

See the article here:
Redevelopment of Alexandria waterfront is slowly moving forward

FIRST COAST Sierra Club Northeast Group hosts master gardener

Lassie Lee, master gardener, will be the guest speaker at the Sierra Club Northeast Group meeting 7 p.m. Monday, March 9, at Lakewood Presbyterian Church, 2001 University Boulevard West. For more, (904) 247-1876.

ORANGE PARK Lillian Kiernan Brown Womans History Month speaker

Recognizing Womens History Month in March, The Orange Park Womans Club presents Lillian Kiernan Brown, author of Banned in Boston: Memoirs of a Stripper, as guest speaker 11 a.m. Thursday, March 5th, at the Womans Club, 130 Kingsley Avenue. The meeting will be followed by lunch. For more, (904) 215-3730.

CLAY Kitten foster parent training

Clay County Animal Care and Control will hold a kitten foster parent training session 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, at its Fleming Island center, 1809-4 Town Center Blvd, Fleming Island. This session will help prepare interested foster parents for kitten season in the summer, when the center receives an increase of kittens to shelter for adoption.

ERNANDINA BEACH Florida Forest Service summer opportunity for teacher held in June

The Florida Forestry Teachers Tour will bring 45 teachers from across the state to Fernandina Beach on June 23-26 to learn how forestry works in Florida. Participating teachers will experience the planting and growing processes as well as the mills and learn about environmental issues and how foresters work to meet Floridas needs and the environment. Applications are accepted through March 9. To submit an application, visit floridastateforests.org/teacherstour.

NASSAU Council on Aging welcomes two new board of directors members

Rick Keffer, local automobile dealer, and Barry Holloway, former Nassau County commissioner, are the Nassau County Council on Agings two new members of its board of directors. Both were inducted and began their tenature at the annual meeting in January.

Original post:
Around the Region: Make a Bluebird house with Nassau County Extension Office and more

With bitter temperatures and a snowy landscape, February may feel a bit early to start planning your spring garden.

Not so, says Chuck Martin, horticulturalist at Dow Gardens. For 15 years, Martin has helped organize the annual Dow Gardens Know & Grow Seminar, an informational seminar for gardening enthusiasts and plant lovers alike.

We usually do this event in February, though a lot of others (botanical gardens) wait until late winter, Martin said. We hold the event in February to get people really excited about gardening.

The Know and Grow Seminar takes place this Saturday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Bullock Creek High School Auditorium, 1420 S. Badour. A $75 ticket will grant you access to listen to nationally known speakers on a variety of garden topics. The Midland Master Gardeners will also be on site, hosting a marketplace with items for sale from vendors across Michigan. Lunch is included.

This years event features a breadth of topics covered by well-known professionals in the horticulture world.

Roy Diblik, author of the book The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, will speak on the topic, Creating Your Perennial Plant Community: The Know Maintenance Approach. A noted plantsman and designer, Diblik has spent more than 30 years cultivating a career focused on plants, designing such well-known gardens as the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in Chicago.

(Seminars like Know & Grow) are like a pep rally, Diblik said. Its helpful to have these discussions and get everyone emotionally charged up in the mid or late winter because everyone is dreaming about that first 45 or 60 degree day when you can smell green. Its good to have these discussions so people get motivated and theres that thought process and inspiration for your garden.

Best-selling and award-winning author Niki Jabbour will give a presentation titled Year Round Vegetable Gardening. Jabbour will discuss maintaining a year-round vegetable garden and methods of extending your harvest season. Vegetable gardening year-round is a gardening trend gaining popularity, Martin said

Jabbour, who wrote The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, hosts her own radio show and currently writes for such publications as Fine Gardening, Garden Making, Birds and Blooms, The Heirloom Gardener, and Horticulture. She said her passion for gardening dates back to her childhood.

When I was a child, we had a family veggie garden, but it was strictly a May to September garden, Jabbour said. It was, however, enough to pique my interest and by the time I was a teenager, I had taken over the plot and never looked back.

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Dow Gardens presents Know & Grow Seminar

MAHOMET Village trustees got an update this week on when a landscape waste drop-off site might be available to Mahomet residents.

With two-year contracts about to expire, trustees voted to advertise for bids for the leaf and limb pickup programs.

Both contracts were awarded to Mahomet Landscapes two years ago and expire in April.

Leaf disposal costs the village about $6,000 per year. The contract for limb and yard waste pickup, with its labor and equipment costs, is pricier the previous contract was not to exceed $11,875 for each of six yearly collections.

But officials say those costs are likely to go up, as more residents opt to leave their brush on the curb for pickup. More participants mean more work hours and more material to process.

"The good news is that more people are using the program," Public Works Director Gary LaForge said. "The bad news is that it's costing more."

Village Administrator Patrick Brown said each collection could reach $13,000, as well as budgeting for an additional special collection in case of a strong storm.

LaForge and Brown presented several options for the next two-year contract, but the one that trustees opted to approve was for five scheduled pickups, plus additional funding for the proposed drop-off site at the new public works facility on Lake of the Woods Road.

LaForge said the drop-off could be available by April, depending on how soon gates can be installed at the site.

Public Works staff plan to make the manned drop-off available at scheduled times each month, possibly a Saturday morning.

Link:
Mahomet board updated on landscape waste disposal, recycling

Provided by Networx.com

Light up your landscape ... and your life. Add lighting to your outdoor space for all the very best reasons -- beauty, safety, and increased property value. Find out all about the "whys" and "whats" of lovely landscape lighting.

Why

Safety. The No 1 reason to install landscape lighting is for safety's sake. You and your family, and especially guests who are not familiar with the layout of your yard, will be gently guided as to the location of pathways, steps, and abrupt slopes. Specialized lighting for your pool and its surround will enable you to swim more safely at night (just make sure any lights which come into contact with water conform to the localsafety code).

Security. Shedding light on dim areas around your home's perimeter will discourage loiterers and burglars, who prefer to work in the dark.

Beauty and fun. There's nothing like the charm of a gorgeous garden or an attractive outdoor seating and activity area ... except when it's made even more appealing by a well-planned lighting installation.

Usability. Outdoor living is the best, no matter how short or how long your local warm-weather season may be. Use landscape lighting to extend the hours you can spend enjoying your yard, garden, patio, pool, and/or outdoor room.

Highlighting. Accent lighting can be designed to show off an exceptionally lovely flowerbed, water feature, or piece of statuary.

Convenience. Task lighting makes food prep in your outdoor kitchen or grilling area a lot simpler and pleasanter. It may also encourage would-be chef's assistants to join you.

Property value. Although having a landscape contractor install lighting is a relatively inexpensive home improvement, you'll reap a generous return on your investment: more enjoyment and utility from your property, a distinctive new look and increased curb appeal.

Here is the original post:
Landscape lighting for beauty, safety and value

Carol O'Meara CSU Cooperative Extension

If you go

What: High Plains Landscape Workshop

When: Feb. 28, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Where: The Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins

Cost: $59, including coffee, light refreshments and bagged lunch; benefits Gardens on Spring Creek

Info: fcgov.com (type High Plains into the search window) or Spring Creek at 970-416-2486

Ready to dig into seminars that make you eager for spring? Don't miss the annual High Plains Landscape Workshop, Feb. 28 at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. Like the first robin of spring, the workshop kicks off the season for planning and preparing for a blooming great summer.

A fundraiser for the Gardens on Spring Creek, the event gets down to earth about real-world gardening with a mix of design, pollinator protection, troubleshooting and an exploration of fruits to satisfy your sweet tooth.

"I'll be talking about gardening for pollinators, what they are and what is around," says John Murgel, horticulture coordinator for the Denver Zoo who has a background in ecology and evolutionary biology. "Everyone thinks about honeybees, but I'll focus on native pollinators and what you can do to help them. Things like planting food for the adults and larvae, plus providing nesting material."

Go here to read the rest:
High Plains landscape workshop boosts spring

Matthews, North Carolina (PRWEB) February 10, 2015

Founder Ryan Ray at SecureTurf, Charlottes landscaping experts announces Mr. Eric Smith as the latest member to the landscape design and installation division. Mr. Eric Smith has been named the new Project Coordinator in the expansion of their landscape team at SecureTurf. This will ensure that the clients at SecureTurf receive the highest quality of service from their landscape design and installation division.

Mr. Eric Smith has been in the landscape design industry for almost two decades. Mr. Eric Smith has overseen many large scale landscape projects as a manager with past employers, in charge of six to ten crews at a time. As a local man of the Charlotte community, he understands the conditions of the environment in the Charlotte metro area. This should be a great addition to the SecureTurf landscape design and installation division as the Project Coordinator. Mr. Eric Smith is considered an expert in the field of hardscapes and backyard landscaping for a great enhancement to SecureTurf's team of experts.

SecureTurf is a full service landscape company, rated A+ with BBB for 20 years in the Charlotte Metro area. They will not only transform a yard and make it beautiful with their landscape design and installation division. Their lawn care division has great programs too. To have lush, greener lawn and help in maintaining a yard, they are the local landscaping experts. The lawn care division has hired new technicians to keep up with the demand and the important structure at SecureTurf, Charlottes landscaping experts. For more information about SecureTurf please visit SecureTurf.com.

Originally posted here:
SecureTurf Hires Mr. Eric Smith for Landscaping & Landscape Design

by Amanda Goodman

azfamily.com

Posted on February 9, 2015 at 6:45 PM

Updated yesterday at 11:17 PM

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The City of Tempe is rolling out a new program it says will help residents win the war on weeds in their yards.

It's called Tempe Landscape Referral.

"The City uses its, basically, bulk purchasing ability to get you the best rate possible," said city council member Kolby Granville.

Using that power, the City of Tempe has contracted with three landscaping companies to offer discounted rates for basic yard upkeep.

"You contract with them, they do the work. You pay on a monthly basis: $35 a month for the front yard and $70 a month during the summer months," Councilor Granville said.

Each company has been pre-screened and has agreed to a pre-negotiated price. That's the extent of the City's involvement unless a dispute arises.

Read more from the original source:
Tempe rolls out landscaping referral program

Serving the Western & Northwest Suburbs of Greater Chicagoland

A.G. Landscape Materials, Inc., located in Roselle, IL in Chicagos Northwest Suburbs, is a company that evolved from A.G. VanGundy Landscape, Inc., which is a company that was started in 1980 as a design/build firm. Throughout the years of working on landscape projects we have gained 1st hand knowledge of landscaping materials. Weve worked with it all, from fill dirt and grading to high end award winning brick paving and plant installations. Because of our experience with landscape materials on a vast variety of projects, weve become one of the Chicago areas leading resources for landscape materials.

Our customers can have us deliver their materials to their driveway or they can come to our yard, located in Roselle, IL and pick it up themselves. We pride ourselves on getting our bulk customers into our yard, loaded with their material and on their way to their job within a matter of minutes while providing friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable service.

Not sure which type of material you need? A member of our staff is available to help walk you through your project. We can help with everything from assisting you with your planning to getting you the right materials. Our inventory includes (but isnt limited to):

Topsoil, GO Compost, Garden Mix, Fill Dirt

Several Types of Mulches (Premium Hardwood Bark, Double Ground Hardwood, Dyed Red, Dyed Brown, and Aromatic Cedar)

Gravel

Decorative Stone

Sod & Seed

Weed Control Fabric & Erosion Control Fabric

Read more:
Chicago Western & Northwest Suburbs Landscape Design ...

The recent storms have dumped a load of snow across Nebraska, but the warmer temperatures are welcome. Take advantage of the warm weather to scout for potential issues in your landscape.

Heavy snow and ice build-up on plants can cause some problems. Extensive build-up can lead to limb breakage or even splits on limbs and trunks.

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Originally posted here:
Warm days a good time to check yard for storm damage