| Trees casting a spell over spring landscape
Traveling around the Buckeye State the past few weeks, I have seen spring in a variety of stages, since from south to north there is about a three-week difference in plant development. In Brown County near the Ohio River almost two weeks ago, spring beauty wildflowers were flourishing, but I did not notice them starting to bloom at Johnson Woods Nature Preserve near Orrville until Wednesday of this week. Their five-petaled white flowers striped in pink wink up from the forest floor, which is still mostly brown from last autumn's leaves. Johnson Woods is beginning to change in a hurry; it was only two weeks and a few days ago that the golden leaves still clinging to beech twigs cast a magical spell with tiny teardrops of water frozen into ice at the tips after a sudden temperature shift.
City seeks donations for landscaping project
The city has kicked off a fundraising campaign to landscape a median that stretches from Almonte Boulevard in the south to Camino Alto in the north. The campaign is the second of two phases in a construction project aimed at improving the appearance of one of the main entrances into the city. The first phase, which will cost about $170,000, includes a new irrigation system. This phase will get under way about mid-June. The second phase will include adding soil and plants. Narrow parts of the median, according to city officials, will be covered with cobblestone while wider areas will be planted with drought-resistant plants and trees. The cost of this is estimated at about $40,000, which the city hopes to raise by Aug. 1 to begin planting. Checks can be made payable to the "City of Mill Valley - Miller Avenue Median Project" and sent to City Hall, Attn: Linn Walsh, at 26 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley, CA 94941.
Case Design Joins in Support of Hands on DC Event
BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. will join leading area businesses in support of the 2007 Hands on DC Work-a-thon, Saturday, April 28, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. This year's work-a-thon will feature hundreds of volunteers from around the region making improvements at more than thirty public schools across the city. Case will provide manpower from four of its DC-metro area offices and make improvements such as painting, landscaping and carpentry at the Payne Elementary School in Southeast, DC. Case President Mark G. Richardson, CR, stated that sponsorship of Hands on DC is a great fit with his company's Case Cares Initiative. "This type of event gives us a unique opportunity to invest in our city and the future of our children," says Richardson. "Our staff also gets the satisfaction of contributing to an outstanding cause and seeing the worthwhile results of community spirit and camaraderie." In 2006, Case adopted Payne Elementary as part of its Case Cares Initiative, which identifies and acts upon community initiatives by providing resources, volunteering staff time and donating money to community service organizations in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.
Get soil as soft as pasta
Liz Segler doesn't believe a gardener has to be a slave to the shovel, tiller and hoe. The 67-year-old garden enthusiast teaches others how to save a lot of wear and tear on the body with lasagna gardening. No, lasagna gardening isn't growing basil, oregano, parsley and other herbs often used in the popular Italian pasta dish. It's a method of gardening that maximizes nature and minimizes effort in creating a dig-free garden. Dig-free? "Yes," said Segler. "I don't make lasagna. I don't eat lasagna. But I grow a lasagna garden." Segler first became interested in gardening as a stressed-out teacher and coach. "It helped me unwind. I'd come out here and dig and talk to the plants and then I'd be ready to go in and meet my family and fix dinner," the now retired Segler said.
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