PLANET Day of Service 2012: At Work on the Jeff Wells Environmental Trail

Greenscape Inc. participated in the work on the newly renamed greenway trail in Fuquay-Varina named in honor of a former Commissioner
By Daniel Currin, President, Greenscape, Inc.

Green Team members with support from Davey Tree and John Deere Landscapes spent Friday, April 20, 2012 giving back to the community in honor of PLANET Day of Service 2012. This service day is an opportunity for green industry professionals across the U.S. to demonstrate environmental stewardship, improve the quality of life and give back to their local communities. For this years project, the team worked to create the landscaping master design and planted at the entrance and along the pathways of the Jeff Wells Environmental Trail in Fuquay-Varina prior to the trails dedication on Saturday, April 21st. The Day in Review Sixteen Green Team members arrived with a lengthy equipment list and an assortment of plants ready to start work at 7:00 a.m. Prep work started at the trail entrance and along the path. The team took down dead trees, cleaned up areas along the path, planted trees and flowers and provided the Park with a rendered, colored and mounted drawing of the presentation plan for the trail.

Some of the equipment we brought with us for the job included a wood chipper, stand-on skid steer, dump truck, blowers, brush cutter, gator, tillers, chain saws, weed eaters, pole pruners, rakes, shovels and bed edger. And all of the Green Team members remembered their safety glasses, earplugs, boots and gloveslandscape work can be tough on the hands!

The Plants Greenscape works to use both native plants and ornamentals together to best highlight the new entrances. We are fortunate to live in a location with native beauty and aesthetics, and our goal is to draw attention to the native plantings to show the local community how they can enhance the beauty of any environment and at the same time keep the maintenance required to a minimum. This is especially important in a park environment or on a trail where the plants will need to survive without frequent irrigation. Some of the plants we used for this project included Sioux Crape Myrtle, Kay Parris Southern Magnolia and azaleas.

Long-Term Partnership Greenscape is committed to a long-term partnership with the Town of Fuquay-Varina in North Carolina to provide a vision for the additional greenways that will be added over the next 5-10 years, ensuring continuity in the landscaping design and working with plantings native to the area.

Wrapping It Up The project wrapped at 4:00 p.m. with a job well done!

Wed like to thank the team members who worked so hard on this project. They include: Kim Holmes, Ximena Aponte, Melanie Mixon, Chris Ward, Michelle Hill, Brian Holden, Cesar Bernal, Jason Ward, Greg Smith, Nathan Beasley, Scott Evans, Leslie Herndon, Paul Brooks, Peter Kleinhas, Adam Southwell, Evan Barrows, Dick Novacek and Daniel Currin. PLANET is the Professional Landcare Network, an international association serving lawn care professionals, landscape management contractors, design/build/installation professionals, and interior plantscapers. Greenscape Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Holly Springs, NC, outside of Raleigh. Greenscapes Green Team consists of professional landscape architects, designers and horticulturists who specialize in residential and commercial landscape design/build, landscape management, and landscape specialty services including irrigation and landscape lighting. Under the Weed Man brand, Greenscape provides a full range of lawn care services customized for each property, including weed, insect and disease management, as well as aeration and seeding. Greenscape owns Weed Man franchises in the Triangle area and Wilmington, North Carolina. www.greenscapeinc.com