Trust and honesty help retain employees

Colorado law requires landscape professionals to have a valid nursery license

Denver’s St. Charles Park gets revamped

In business 39 years, Western States Recla­mation, Inc., (WSR), Frederick, has contin­ued to grow and diversify. “To this day, we are a family- and employee-owned company staying true to our values of always deliver­ing what was promised to our customers and building incredible natural environments,” says Adam Bappe, business development and project manager.

“WSR got to be a part of a unique project that benefited a great neighborhood,” states project manager, Joe Schneider. And the com­pany received the 2021 Gold ELITE Award for Commercial Landscape Construction.

Reimagining a north Denver neighborhood park

In a north Denver neighborhood, St. Charles Recreation Center serves as a refuge for neighborhood youth. With new development coming, in 2017 a partnership was created with community members to reimagine the park and make it a shared space for all members of the community. Valerian Landscape Architecture helped bring the vision together with a youth group that formed—St. Charles Ambassadors —to ensure direct community representation through the design process.

This third phase, culminating in 2021, of a multi-year project, constructed by West­ern States Reclamation, includes three nature playgrounds, swings, climbers, log borders and boulder walls, decorative gateways with light­ing, new plantings, trails, a new recreation cen­ter entrance and more.

Pink Cotton is soothing in the garden 

Designscapes Colorado’s gift program changes children’s lives

During the 2021 ELITE Awards reception held last November, Designscapes Colorado, Centennial, was honored with the Community Stewardship award for their “Angels Among Us,” project. The project gives a present to pre-K, kindergarten, and first- and second-grade students who may not receive one during the holiday season. It started six years ago. Participation is offered to each employee, who can opt to take a child’s name from the list and donate a wrapped present with a spending limit of $25. Designscapes  Colorado has donated gifts each year to more than 100 students, along with a hat, glove and scarf set. The program demonstrates to th community that there are people who care about them and want to help, and it has become a major tradition for the company. 

“The Angels Among Us program here at Designscapes Colorado is one that I am most proud of,” says Charlene Farley Chacon, residential team manager. “It is such an amazing feeling to see the support and enthusiasm from all our team members who are truly happy providing so many children with gifts during the holiday season! It reaffirms the goodness in people, especially when at times the world and our lives are challenging.” Chacon recognizes that children are our future, and they don’t have a say in the economic situations they are brought up in. 

“Some of these children may not be able to experience the dreams of Christmas we see in the movies or envision providing for our own children,” she says. “One of Designscapes Colorado values is to ‘Build and Shape a Better Future’ and helping children feel love, joy and happiness is a way we are supporting this value.”

The Angels Among Us program not only positively affected many children, but impacted many teachers, changed the lives of the organization directors, and shaped the hearts of  Designscapes Colorado employees.

Successful annual CNGA women in horticulture luncheon

On Thursday, October 6, 2022, this year’s annual CNGA women in horticulture luncheon took place at the Denver Botanic Gardens. This event is a wonderful tradition to celebrate women in the green industry.

There was plenty of networking and a wonderful lunch buffet was served accompanied by wine. There were also gifts and door prizes for all. This was the perfect social event to attend and a great reward for employees who have helped CNGA achieve another successful year.

Following lunch, a panel of women spoke on their stories of success in the horticulture industry. 

By Steve Steele, Steele Dynamic Services, LLC, Golden

Shift. Change. Innovation. Three words define how companies will need to navigate still-murky post-pandemic waters, which may be impacting their ability to thrive or even survive, in the uncertain market conditions that see now. While hope remains that “the Fed” (Federal Reserve) will navigate a soft landing economically—cooling consumer demand without massive job loss—there is general professional agreement that recession will occur in some form.

Dictionary.com defines shift as “a slight change in direction, position or tendency.” Change is “to make something different; alter or modify; replace something with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better.” Finally, innovation is “a new method, idea, product, etc.” The key to success is properly balancing all three.

I recently visited Pisa’s Leaning Tower in Italy, an area largely unchanged over a millennium. While wandering the complex, I noticed a small machine docked on beautifully manicured turf. Closer inspection revealed an electric powered, robotic mower. In that moment, I realized this exact balancing act of shift, change and innovation was working here.

How Changing Landscapes met homeowner goals
Foothills Terrace is the Boulder property for which Changing Landscapes, Inc., Longmont, received the 2021 Gold ELITE Award for Residential Landscape Construction. Paul Hartman, president, says his clients bought the property and moved from Texas. “They scraped the existing house and started over.” When Hartman and his team started constructing the landscape, the new house was mostly built but not complete, so coordination between the builder and Changing Landscapes was a necessity.

Access
In addition to the steep slope, access to the back of the property—where the outdoor living features were to be located—was limited. The general contractor assisted Changing Landscapes in accessing the area by boarding up a basement window and filling the window well and surrounding area with soil, to create a path for the skid steer—the only equipment Changing Landscapes’ team could utilize to get to the back. Albeit the skid steer was a large one that could lift up to 2.5 tons.

The skid steer got a workout! Up the back (and front) slope it cautiously hauled 100 tons of boulders, delivered by semi-trucks in four loads over the span of a month. Additionally, the skid steer moved 15-20 tons of soil from the house construction to help retain and stabilize the boulders. Some of the excavated soil was amended and used in planting beds. All the soil from home construction was put to use in the overall landscape.

Plants
“We installed water-wise xeric and native perennials throughout the landscape, including ground covers, grasses, trees and shrubs,” Hartman says. “We also planted the clients’ pots with dianthus for a burst of summer color, alongside succulents—sedums and ice plants—to display vibrant winter color.” The homeowners planted the vegetable garden.

CNGA women in horticulture luncheon

On Oct. 6, the 2022 CNGA Women in Horticulture Luncheon took place at the Denver Botanic Gardens. This event is a wonderful tradition to celebrate women in the green industry. More than 174 people registered for this event. 

 LatiKnow Leadership Committee kick-off event

The ALCC LatiKnow Leadership Committee held a kick-off event at Raices Brewing Company in September where over 25 up and coming Latino industry leaders came together to network and discuss the future of the industry. The committee will leverage feedback collected during the event to shape the direction of their work.

ALCC has made it a priority to attract and engage more Latinos, including both Latino-owned businesses and Latino employees across the industry, and established the LatiKnow Leadership Committee, which participants named.

"The happy hour was a great success in introducing our mission and initiatives of the LatiKnow Committee. We managed to bring a diverse group together from various companies and positions. The information we obtained from our attendees was so valuable and is going to be used as a tool to help fortify our mission with ALCC. This event gave us the inspiration to keep moving forward to establish our committee as the growing voice of the Latino landscape community here in Colorado." - Committe member Marisol Medrano