2012 Day of Service
(Click on photos for detail)
 |
 |
| CALCP Volunteers | Finished Garden |
4th Annual Day of Service at Riverside Cemetery
Shortly after dawn on April 20th the trucks started their slow procession through the gates of Historic Riverside Cemetery, starting the 4th Annual Colorado Association of Lawn Care Professionals Day of Service. Excitement mounted as the to-do list for the day was reviewed: planting four acres of native grasses, a new CSU Plant Select Demonstration Garden, and three Ponderosa pines. The day’s activities also included removing numerous dead trees and pruning heritage trees. A tall order for one day’s work but for CALCP the Riverside Revival has truly become an example of community collaboration at its best and a passion.
Locally we had 31 volunteers participate at Riverside Cemetery for our 4th year to improve their landscape after they lost water rights in 2002-3. We felled dead trees, trimmed live trees, planted a new Plant Select demonstration bed at the main entrance, weeded and did general clean up. In 2012, CALCP purchased and donated a large 8X12 shed to their site for use in storage of their garden supplies. This enables their Master Gardener volunteers to get to the supplies when the office is not open on evenings and weekends. Lunch was provided by Riverside Cemetery to all volunteers. Donations were received from Alpha One, Winfield Solutions, Pawnee Butte Seed Company, L.L. Johnson Distributors, Helena Chemical Company, Welby Gardens and Little Valley Wholesale Nursery. Volunteers were from Davey Tree Expert Co, Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Co, TerraCare Associates, Covillo Landscape, Mountain High Tree Co, Green Mountain Lawn Care, Winfield Solutions, John Deere Landscapes.
Nationally more than 2,600 volunteers from 36 states and Canada and Puerto Rico participated in 150 projects, including landscaping elementary schools, city parks, monuments, playgrounds, group homes, and senior citizen homes as well as educating school children on the benefits of the green industry. It’s estimated that $675,000 in time and services was donated during this year’s Day-of-Service.
To insure that all the new plantings are well established, in 2011 CALCP donated three water tanks that hold a combined 4000 gallons of water: two stationary tanks and one trailer tank. In 2012, an additional 300 gallon tank and 8 x 12 ft shed were donated to enable the Fairmount Heritage Foundation volunteers to maintain the gardens and plantings.
In 4 years the Riverside Revival, through the combined strength of CALCP’s members, has planted: 13 acres of Blue Grama/ Buffalo grass, 5 CSU Plant Select Demonstration Gardens, two native tree and shrub borders, and a Heritage Iris Garden while pruning numerous heritage trees and removing dead ones.
2011 Day of Service
( Click on photo for detail)
|
|
|
CALCP's Earth Day Volunteers April 22nd |
Colorado Association of Lawn Care Professionals hosted our 3rd workday at Riverside Cemetery to revive the landscape that has been drought stricken since 2002-03. We had 29 CALCP volunteers who worked 5 hours for a total labor output of at least $5075.00 plus equipment and at least $1030 in purchased supplies and approximately $3600 in donated supplies/materials. Master gardeners also volunteered for several hours planting the Plant Select plants in the raised demonstration beds. The value of the Day of Service was at least $10,000.00.
Volunteers disrupted the soil and planted native grass seeds with fertilizer in an area of about 4 acres, felled and chopped up 6 large dead trees and used the tree trunks to mark a parking area, planted 700 Plant Select perennials in raised beds, dug and replanted irises in prepared and amended beds, planted 70 native trees and shrubs around the main administration building, and watered in the new plantings. CALCP donated 2 large water storage tanks (one on wheels) and Dan Schneider of Nitro-Green of Longmont donated a 3rd water storage tank so they now have capacity to store 4000 gallons of water on site to use in getting plantings established. A portable irrigation system was devised and tested. This 3rd annual Day of Service project is part of a national project sponsored by PLANET.
Donations for this year’s Day of Service came from:
|
L.L. Johnson Distributing, Inc. |
Dingo machine for soil prep |
|
Alpha One Inc. |
organic fertilizer |
|
Winfield Solutions |
organic fertilizer |
|
Arkansas Valley Seed |
buffalo and blue grama grass seed |
|
Pawnee Butte Seed |
buffalo and blue grama grass seed |
|
Applewood Seed Company |
buffalo and blue grama grass seed |
|
Sharp Brothers Seed |
buffalo and blue grama grass seed |
|
Professional Tree & Turf |
water tank parts |
|
Organix Supply |
compost |
|
Bowman Construction |
landscape fabric |
|
Renewable Fiber |
landscape fabric |
|
Helena Chemical Company |
weed control chemicals |
|
John Deere Landscapes |
irrigation supplies |
|
Revive |
wetting agent for seeded areas |
|
Ray Daugherty |
funds for grass seed |
|
Welby Gardens |
Plant Select® plants |
|
Rocky Mountain Native Plants |
native shrubs |
Companies that brought volunteers include:
|
Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape |
|
Davey Tree Expert Company |
|
Terra Care Associates |
|
Covillo Landscape |
|
Centennial Property Maintenance |
|
Last Chance Lawn Care |
|
Green Mountain Lawn |
|
Master Gardener volunteers |
( Click on photos for detail)
|
2010 Day of Service
CALCP returned to Riverside Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Denver, for our 2nd Annual Day of Service on Thursday, April 22. We removed dead trees; rototilled and fertilized a large 30’X30’ bed for planting iris bulbs; rototilled, prepared and planted 3 raised beds with Plant Select Plants as demonstration gardens; aerated, fertilized and seeded 2 acres of turf area with Buffalo and Blue Grama Grasses; and planted about 100 trees and shrubs donated from Rocky Mountain Native Plants. 32 volunteers worked in the rain, the snow, the sunshine and cloudy weather to accomplish all of the tasks.
Donors included: Buffalo grass and Blue Grama grass from Arkansas Valley Seed Solutions and Pawnee Butte Seeds, equipment from L.L. Johnson Distributors and Davey Tree Expert Co, Fertilizer from Agrium Advanced Technologies, John Deere Landscapes and Alpha One Inc, weed spray from Helena Chemical Co, compost from Organix Supply, trees and shrubs from Rocky Mountain Native Plants, Plant Select plants from Welby Gardens, Little Valley Nursery and Ft. Collins Wholesale Nursery, a financial donation from Scotts Lawn Service, and equipment and laborers from these companies: Fertek, Inc., Davey Tree Expert Co, Green Mountain Lawn Service, Out West Weed Control, master gardeners and Heritage Foundation
( Click on photos for detail)
2009 Day of Service
CALCP participated in our first Day of Service on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at the Riverside Cemetery—the oldest cemetery in Denver located at 5201 Brighton Blvd, Denver. This cemetery had its water supply cut off during the drought of 2003 and has had no outdoor supplemental water available since then. Their board of directors developed a plan for a sustainable landscape with the help of Ray Daugherty, instructor at Front Range Community College. The plan called for 13 small plots of native grasses and wildflower mixes.
On the Day of Service dead trees were felled and chipped, live trees were pruned, and 13 test plots were aerated, fertilized, raked and seeded with different mixes of seed. Hand watering will get the seeds germinated and help to get the plants established. CALCP hopes to make this a long term project with the staff at the cemetery once it is determined which mixes of seed do best in their sandy soil with no supplemental water.
The seeds for the project were donated by Arkansas Valley Seed, Sharp Brothers Seed, Western Native Seed Co, High Country Gardens, Pawnee Buttes Seed Co, and Beauty Beyond Belief. Organic fertilizer for the whole project was donated by Alpha One, Inc. Helena Chemical Co donated week killer, while Chem Way and John Deere Landscapes donated cash to be used for the signage installed.
Volunteers from Cyn Mar, Fertek, Inc., Green Mountain Lawn Care, Jim’s Pride Landscaping, and 3 branches of Davey Tree Expert Company donated their time and equipment.
Stay tuned for progress on the development of seeds in the test plots and the cemetery project.
Mission | Code of Ethics | Denver Map | Member Directory | Select a Professional | Day of Service | Monthly Tips | Educational Programs | Employment Opportunities | Links | Contact Us
