FAMILY TREE NURSERY

Keep Kansas City Beautiful Dreamscape Makeover

(**Spoiler: This is a "toot our own horn" type of post.  Sorry.  Our charitable contributions help a very good organization do more good things! Read on...)

An organization called Bridging the Gap (check them out on FB or their website) spends much of every year working to help green-up Kansas City.  One of its missions (just one of many) is to clean up abandoned urban spaces, empty lots and also help homeowners install green, sustainable landscape options (like rain barrels, bioswales, native plants, etc).  Keep Kansas City Beautiful is one of its banner programs.  Here is its mission: "Keep Kansas City Beautiful works in partnership with individuals, businesses and governments to create a cleaner and more beautiful Kansas City."

But really, here is the fun part--- the Dreamscape Makeover! Every year, KKCB hold a raffle.  The prize is a $10,000 home landscape makeover; your very own sustainable beautification.  For the last three years, Family Tree Nursery has contributed most nursery stock for each winner.  Last year, we donated spruce, hollies, viburnums, liriope, perennials galore, roses, juniper and more!  Other entities who have donated their time, energy and product include Audrie Seeley, House of Rocks, AGrand fertilizer, Michael Ashley Landscape Architecture and Missouri Organics.   

This year was pretty great too.  August 20th and 21st was the installation at Brett Bogan's home.  Brett, the winner and homeowner, was excited and involved.  He, along with an army of volunteers, helped install the rain barrels, the bioswale/ rain garden, the rainwater reclamation system, the trees and shrubs.  This year features (from us at least) a lovely columnar white pine, a gorgeous Nyssa sylvatica (Blackgum) to absorb some excess water in a wet area.  We provided some redbud trees, oakleaf hydrangeas, arborvitae and lots of other plants. I can't believe the devotion of the volunteers or the engagement of Melanie, the project coordinator!  It was certainly exciting....

Wouldn't it be amazing to win something like that yourself?  I fantasize about stone paths in my yard and a wonderful green patio- an outdoor, indoor sitting area with room for a sculpture!  Oooo, and I also have always wanted to install a natural bioswale in the low part in my own yard.  Water just rushes right through during rainstorms and I'd love to get a drain and install all sorts of rain garden plants... ah, I can just see it now!  How about keeping that sort of mindset but bringing it into the present, into reality.  Here is something you can do: choose one neglected spot in your yard and try to make it beautiful!  Think about it's use: do you see it everyday? How do you view it (while driving by, from the street or when your are on your front porch maybe)? What would your wildest fantasy include?  And how can you incorporate a little of that in a real-life, real-budget version??  Figure out what you want.... if you need help or sound advice, give us a holler!  Everyone at FTN is here for a reason- for most of us (hopefully all of us :), that reason includes love of plants and people.  We want to help you make your own landscape a beautiful one!