Marketing on a Shoestring

This educational program entitled "Marketing on a Shoestring" was held on October 29, 2005 at Garden in the Woods, Framingham MA and featured guest speaker Louise Sacco, Marketing Consultant, The Enterprise Group.

Every landscape business wants more customers, more revenue and more profit. With focus, planning and imagination, your shoestring budget can produce powerful results. This fast-paced educational session focused on practical ideas that you could use, without spending buckets of money. Our speaker has helped small businesses, including many one-person businesses for over 20 years.

This interactive session included proven approaches to help you increase sales and profits by using skills and assets we already have.

Louise Reilly Sacco of The Enterprise Group develops marketing strategies for small companies. Her primary focus is on cost-effective, high-impact strategies that bring both near term and longer range results, an approach she calls "Marketing on a Shoestring." She is a guest lecturer at Lesley College, Babson College, Framingham State College, Northeastern University, and Simmons College. She has been a speaker or panelist for Cambridge Business Dev Corp, New England Women Business Owners, MIT Enterprise Forum, and many more.

Thank You to Former Steering Member, Paul Carlson

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Paul Carlson for his service as an Underground Steering member. Paul is an original founder of this organization and he has been very instrumental in providing input and helping to establish our young group. He will be sorely missed!

The Underground Steering Committee

Organic Landscape Design - Project Site Tour

The guest presenter for this project site tour was Priscilla Williams, owner of Pumpkin Brook Organic Gardening. We looked at one of her recent design projects installed at a residence in Pepperell, MA.

Project Description: A log house in the woods of Pepperell, accessed by a private dirt road and with plenty of wildlife around, is our destination. The garage was completed in spring 2004 which required removal of 2200 square feet of woodland. This structure was surrounded by sand which was rapidly eroding downhill when I first visited the site in May 2004.

Pumpkin Brook Organic Gardening stabilized the soil with compost/loam mix and a cover crop; then we designed and installed a cutting garden in 2004. Stonework was completed in the late fall by Whole Earth Landscape and Design.

This past spring and summer, we added a bank stabilization planting, foundation planting and transitional planting to a woodland remnant at the street. Meanwhile the porch on the house was completely rebuilt and composite recycled wood decking connecting porch to stone terrace was completed. During this construction we kept working on site to recreate layers of woodland understory, taking cues from native plants existing on site and within a one mile radius. A low mow lawn mix has just been installed in late summer as a connection between areas of the property. Plans for 2006 include a raised bed of ferns at the garage and installation of climbing hydrangea to carpet the bank opposite the garage at the side of the driveway. Throughout the project, organic methods and materials have been used, per the NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care. This was a priority for the client.

Priscilla Hutt Williams is a founding member of the NOFA Organic Land Care Committee which developed standards for organic land care and the course which trains and accredits landscape professionals. She has a successful organic garden design/maintenance business, as well as a seedling sales business.