EELK RAPIDS NNEWS LK ERAPWIDS SElk Rapids Garden Club’s Garden Walk—“Color It Blue: Celebrate...
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1 July 5, 2018 NEWS NEWS ELK RAPIDS ELK RAPIDS PRESORT STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ELK RAPIDS, MI PERMIT NO. 10 Postal Customer SERVING THE ELK RAPIDS ALDEN KEWADIN RAPID CITY EASTPORT TORCH RIVER BRIDGE WILLIAMSBURG ACME AREAS COVER STORY continued on page 10 Volume XIII Issue No. 6 75¢ July 5 2018 When Joan and her husband purchased their Torch Lake property 25 years ago and decided to leave its shoreline alone, they had no idea they were forerunners of what would become an eco-friendly and environmentally trendy practice. They were just doing what comes naturally. “We both grew up on water, and we lived on water after we were married,” Joan said. “I always wanted beautiful landscaping, and trees are every bit as beautiful as water. But people cut them down, and I don’t understand that.” Their decision to maintain a “greenbelt” of native plants, tall grasses, shrubs and trees between the lawn and the water is the impetus behind the theme of this year’s Elk Rapids Garden Club’s Garden Walk—“Color It Blue: Celebrate Water.” Their property is one of six featured on the July 17 tour of area home gardens, all selected for the owners’ commitments to water-friendly landscaping. “We wanted a unique twist to a typical garden walk,” said Paula Jorge, one of three chairpersons of the garden walk. “We chose this year’s theme after visiting Joan and seeing how we could help homeowners become better stewards of water along with the land.” Four of the homes are located directly on Torch Lake, Elk Lake, or East Grand Traverse Bay, and two more are within steps of East Bay. Their gardens showcase not only stunning color from a wide array of perennials and indigenous plants, but also a variety of techniques and approaches to developing and preserving pristine shorelines and natural habitats for animals, birds, bees and butterflies. Each garden will also host a representative from area and regional environmental organizations including Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, Torch Conservation Center, Elk-Skegemog Association, GreenER, Barker Creek Nursery, Antrim Conservation District, and the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Center. They will share information on local efforts to promote water preservation and encourage all homeowners to move toward increasingly responsible practices. Peg Comfort will represent the Torch Con- servation Center (TCC), a non-profit whose mission is to “promote stewardship of the pre- cious land and water in the Torch Lake water- shed.” She says allowing natural vegetation to remain intact along shorelines is indeed the best thing waterfront property owners can do to minimize erosion and algae growth by prevent- ing sediment, nutrients and toxins from reaching waterways. She encourages those who may al- ready have altered or even eliminated the natural shoreline to “replant it” by simply leaving a “no mow” zone where native grasses and plants will return naturally. “Native vegetation has much deeper roots than typical turf grass, so they can absorb much more of the excess nutrients like phosphorous that percolate or run off the ground,” she explained. “They’re adapted to this climate, so they’ll easily take hold in that zone between yard and shore and do just fine.” Peg acknowledges that some homeowners may be uneasy about the unkempt look of a natural shoreline and fearful of losing some of their lake view. To ease those concerns, TCC has worked with local nurseries and landscapers to create manicured greenbelt garden designs that can enhance the view by framing it naturally while drawing in a variety of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. The need for water stewardship is not limited to those who live or vacation on waterfront property, she added. Everyone who lives in the Elk River and Chain of Lakes watershed has an impact on it. “People don’t understand how everything’s connected,” Peg said. “All properties are part of the same ground water system, and every little bit makes a difference. It comes down to individuals taking positive steps to show they care for the water. It’s really that simple. TCC is here to encourage and help people take small steps.” Peggy and Graham Martin have done just that in the five years they’ve owned a home on East Grand Traverse Bay. They describe their gardens as a collection of indigenous plants, trees and grasses accented by creative garden art. As garden walk- ers wander through the Grahams’ whimsical landscape, they’ll also notice redirected downspouts and rock creek dry beds that keep storm water on the land and away from the bay. The Martins spend their winters in Central Mexico, not far from the wintering reserves of the Monarch butterfly where they witnessed tree branches bowing under the weight of thousands of the endangered species. It left such a deep impression on the couple that they have encouraged milkweed—critical to the survival of the Mon- archs—to grow “anywhere it wants to” on their land. BY BARB MOSHER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER Paula Jorge, garden walk co-chair, discusses the benefits of leaving a greenbelt of natural vegetation between lawn and lake with Joan, whose gardens are featured on this year’s walk. Photo by Barb Mosher A greenbelt of native plants, shrubs, trees, and grasses can enhance the natural beauty of lakefront property. Courtesy photo Gardens on a mission Gardens on a mission
Transcript of EELK RAPIDS NNEWS LK ERAPWIDS SElk Rapids Garden Club’s Garden Walk—“Color It Blue: Celebrate...
1Elk Rapids NewsJuly 5, 2018
NEWS NEWS ELK RAPIDSELK RAPIDS
PRESORT STANDARDU.S. POSTAGE PAID
ELK RAPIDS, MIPERMIT NO. 10
Postal Customer
SERVING THE ELK RAPIDS ALDEN KEWADIN RAPID CITY EASTPORT TORCH RIVER BRIDGE WILLIAMSBURG ACME AREAS
COVER STORY continued on page 10
Volume XIII Issue No. 6
75¢
July 52018
When Joan and her husband purchased their Torch Lake property 25 years ago and decided to leave its shoreline alone, they had no idea they were forerunners of what would become an eco-friendly and environmentally trendy practice. They were just doing what comes naturally.
“We both grew up on water, and we lived on water after we were married,” Joan said. “I always wanted beautiful landscaping, and trees are every bit as beautiful as water. But people cut them down, and I don’t understand that.”
Their decision to maintain a “greenbelt” of native plants, tall grasses, shrubs and trees between the lawn and the water is the impetus behind the theme of this year’s Elk Rapids Garden Club’s Garden Walk—“Color It Blue: Celebrate Water.” Their property is one of six featured on the July 17 tour of area home gardens, all selected for the owners’ commitments to water-friendly landscaping.
“We wanted a unique twist to a typical garden walk,” said Paula Jorge, one of three chairpersons of the garden walk. “We chose this year’s theme after visiting Joan and seeing how we could help homeowners become better stewards of water along with the land.”
Four of the homes are located directly on Torch Lake, Elk Lake, or East Grand Traverse Bay, and two more are within steps of East Bay. Their gardens showcase not only stunning color from a wide array of perennials and indigenous plants, but also a variety of techniques and approaches to developing and preserving pristine shorelines and natural habitats for animals, birds, bees and butterfl ies.
Each garden will also host a representative from area and regional environmental organizations including Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, Torch Conservation Center, Elk-Skegemog Association, GreenER, Barker Creek Nursery, Antrim Conservation
District, and the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Center. They will share information on local efforts to promote water preservation and encourage all homeowners to move toward increasingly responsible practices.
Peg Comfort will represent the Torch Con-servation Center (TCC), a non-profi t whose mission is to “promote stewardship of the pre-cious land and water in the Torch Lake water-shed.” She says allowing natural vegetation to remain intact along shorelines is indeed the best thing waterfront property owners can do to minimize erosion and algae growth by prevent-ing sediment, nutrients and toxins from reaching waterways. She encourages those who may al-ready have altered or even eliminated the natural shoreline to “replant it” by simply leaving a “no mow” zone where native grasses and plants will return naturally.
“Native vegetation has much deeper roots than typical turf grass, so they can absorb much more of the excess nutrients like phosphorous that percolate or run off the ground,” she explained. “They’re adapted to this climate, so they’ll easily take hold in that zone between yard and shore and do just fi ne.”
Peg acknowledges that some homeowners may be uneasy about the unkempt look of a natural shoreline and fearful of losing some of their lake view. To ease those concerns, TCC has worked with local nurseries and landscapers to create manicured greenbelt garden designs that can enhance the view by framing it naturally while drawing in a variety of birds, butterfl ies, and other wildlife.
The need for water stewardship is not limited to those who live or vacation on waterfront property, she added. Everyone who lives in the Elk River and Chain of Lakes watershed has an impact on it.
“People don’t understand how everything’s connected,” Peg said. “All properties are part of the same ground water system, and every little bit makes a difference. It comes down to individuals taking positive steps to show they care for the water. It’s really that simple. TCC is here to encourage and help people take small steps.”
Peggy and Graham Martin have done just that in the fi ve years they’ve owned a home on East Grand Traverse Bay. They describe their gardens as a collection of indigenous plants, trees and grasses accented by creative garden art. As garden walk-ers wander through the Grahams’ whimsical landscape, they’ll also notice redirected downspouts and rock creek dry beds that keep storm water on the land and away from the bay.
The Martins spend their winters in Central Mexico, not far from the wintering reserves of the Monarch butterfl y where they witnessed tree branches bowing under the weight of thousands of the endangered species. It left such a deep impression on the couple that they have encouraged milkweed—critical to the survival of the Mon-archs—to grow “anywhere it wants to” on their land.
BY BARB MOSHER , CONTR IBUT ING WR ITER
Paula Jorge, garden walk co-chair, discusses the benefi ts of leaving a greenbelt of natural vegetation between lawn and lake with Joan, whose gardens are featured on this year’s walk. Photo by Barb Mosher
A greenbelt of native plants, shrubs, trees, and grasses can enhance the natural beauty of lakefront property. Courtesy photo
Gardens on a missionGardens on a mission
