I recently had the opportunity to leave behind the frigid temperatures of the Northeast, for a visit to Cabo San Lucas,

Aquascape Contractors on the beach in Cabo San Lucas

Mexico! Because Cedar Run Landscapes is a certified Aquascape contractor company, I was invited to be a participant in an Aquascape focus group,  helping them to fine tune their “Creating Opportunity with Sustainable Landscapes” Seminar which will be on national tour in January and February. This was an amazing opportunity to be a part of this small group of participants that met with Greg Wittstock, CEO of Aquascape, and Ed Beaulieu, their Chief Sustainability Officer, to discuss the content and presentation. I was asked to use my experience in rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, sustainable landscapes and business practices, and comment on how their presentation promoted these initiatives. The informal atmosphere gave us Aquascape contractors some time to get to know each other and learn more about the different approaches we take towards sustainability on a personal and business level.

Newly hatched sea turtles on the beach

Our meeting was held at the Marbella Suites En La Playa, which also is the host location for the American Leadership Academy a non-profit organization devoted to leadership training for college students. It is a beautiful spot along the Sea of Cortez with lots of wildlife -  we saw whales in the surf, a flock of  pelicans flying overhead in  V formation, and even helped a nest of emerging sea turtles to avoid being consumed by a large group of Bat Rays waiting for them to swim into the surf!

Stay Tuned:

I will be making some speaking appearances in January and February, presenting on our work in rainwater harvesting and gardens, the integration of permeable paver patios with rain water storage, and our Ponds For Kids program. Presentations will be sponsored by The Pa. Landscape and Nursery Association, E.P. Henry, The Penn State Agricultural Extension Service and Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture. Please let me know if you would like dates and times!

The "Rain Guy" inside the California Academy of Sciences

I just got back from a great trip to Northern California, beginning with a few days in San Francisco, and then traveling to Napa and Sonoma Valley for some wine tasting adventures.

In the Golden Gate city, I had the chance to visit the new California Academy of Sciences. They have an extraordinary “Living Roof,” which is a 197,000-square-foot rooftop that accommodates a living tapestry of native plant species; the rooftop plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, capture rainwater, and reduce energy needs for heating and cooling. Definitely worth the trip if you are in the area! They also have an exhibit on efficient water use. Check out their website for more info.

Next trip is to Cabo San Lucas for a Aquascape Green Community convention!

Cedar Run Supervisor Ken Roberts displays his Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist certificate

We are proud to announce that Cedar Run Landscapes Supervisor Ken Roberts has passed his exam for certification as a Pensylvania Certified Horticulturist.

Managing or working with a nursery, landscape or garden center business requires in-depth knowledge of plant growth and maintenance, landscape design and installation and retail operations. The Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist (PCH) program is a formal way for the landscape or nursery professional to test this knowledge.

Ken has extensive training in plant installation, plant health care and proper pruning techniques. He is also certified by the Pennsylvania Department Of Agriculture, as a Pesticide Applicator.

Cedar Run Landscapes is a registered  Pennsylvania Preferred Landscaping company, and we are very proud to have such a qualified and professional crew!

A very nice "thank you" from Montgomery Elementary School

The Grand Opening of our pond and rain garden at Montgomery Elementary school was a hit. The kids had a great time, showing their parents what they had helped to plant and build in order to complete the project. It was a great way to get the school and Cedar Run Landscapes together to celebrate the success of Ponds for Kids.

More pictures from the work on the project on Flickr!

Montgomery Elementary school students, working hard to help build their new rain garden

It was very cool to have Cedar Run Landscapes and the students at Montgomery Elementary on yesterday’s NBC 10 Show!  – check out a video of the broadcast online if you missed it… Today we’ll be back at Montgomery Elementary  installing an LED lighting system for the pond, landscape and waterfalls. We’ll  also  go over all the work the students did in the past two days to make any necessary adjustements – we want to make sure that the rainwater harvesting systems and plants grow successfully, and and also look great for the Ice Cream Social/Pond Grand Opening with the students and their parents on Friday night.

Have you seen our rainwater harvesting Pond for Kids yet? What do you think about this project?

Watch for Cedar Run Landscapes on the 11 o’clock show on Channel 10 news – they’ll be broadcasting from our project at Montgomery Elementary!

Also, check out this video documenting the installation of Ponds for Kids at the school, produced by my nephew, Jonathan Kaufman – what do you think?

Montgomery Elementary class by their new pond project

Today, the Cedar Run crew and I led 12 classes for over 600 students at Montgomery Elementary School for our Ponds for Kids project, what a blast!

We started the project in August, getting the rough in work done and staging a lot of the materials in the courtyard. The students are really excited – they worked with us today and will continue tomorrow. Even the parents were working, too – they were there to chaperone, but some of them saw how much fun the kids were having and wanted to pitch right in.

I gave each of the classes a short lecture and question and answer period at the start of their session. We explained what we were doing in the courtyard, and then had them put on gloves and they did the planting, adding soil, grading, adding rock and gravel and on and on. Tomorrow we will plant the carnivore bog, along with daffodils and tulips, mulching, hook up the pump for the hose to tap into the stored water and plant more native wetland plants and, shrubs and perennials.

My voice is worn out, but the kids, teachers and my staff are having a great time.

Mr. Taylor, Principal of Montgomery Elementary, and Alden "The Rain Guy" Zove, preparing to dig a hole for the school rain garden.

Some exciting news! Cedar Run Landscapes has begun a new project – building a rainwater harvesting system at Montgomery Elemntary School.  The new ecosystem will include an underground Aquascape RainXchange rainwater harvesting cistern, an 8ft x 11ft pond, waterfall, stream, bog, and rain garden in the school’s courtyard.

The North American Water Garden Society (N.A.W.G.S.) established “Ponds for Kids” to help schools in find great contractors to create a multidisciplinary learning environment.  More information on the Ponds for Kids program can be found on the website www.nawgs.com.

We are donating the labor and encouraging students to help participate in the process by planting plants and laying stones, gravel, and mulch.  The courtyard was previously overrun by weeds and underutilized by staff and students.  This project will bring hands-on outdoor classroom  lessons in water conservation, ecosystems, and the environment. We think that both students and teachers will appreciate the time to learn important interactive lessons about water conservation in, while being outdoors: a win-win situation. Stay tuned for updates on this project!

A Grand Opening of the pond will be celebrated with Cedar Run Landscapes and the students, parents, and families on Friday, September 25^th from 6pm-8pm during the school’s Ice Cream Social.

Ponds for Kids underway!

The Alex’s Lemonade stand Pond Tour for the Cure was a great success! Cedar Run Landscapes, as well as several other Delaware Valley Aquascapers helped to organize the event with the Alex’s Lemonade Stand foundation. Over 200 people  toured our private and commercial ponds on August 1, and donations ended up totaling $8,109.07 – far more than our projected number of $3,000! A few photos from the event are now on Flickr

We were happy to be able to contribute to this very important cause. Check out the Alex’s Lemonade Stand blog, with pictures and videos from the event.

Cedar Run team members guiding visitors on the Pond Tour for the Cure

I came back from the Pondemonium 2009 and Extreme Green Makeover in Sugar Grove, Illinois two weeks ago, feeling really great about the work that we did there and the connections that I was able to make.

The event was the prototype and official launch of the green makeover concept. Myself and fellow Aquascape contractors worked on many types of projects going on at the same time including: LED garden and water feature lighting, over 20 rain barrels, 11 rainwater harvesting systems (some with waterfalls, some with bubbling fountains, and others with statuary). We also installed 2 permeable paver patio systems over the rainwater storage cisterns. One of the highlights was the installation of a shoreline native planting along a portion of the communities retention basin. This will help to create an habitat for wildlife along with reducing the goose problem on the basin.

Check out some great pictures from the event on our Flickr account!

Aquascapers building a rainwater harvesting system at the Extreme Green Makeover