Water-Friendly Landscaping

This program was held at Green Meadow Farms in Hamilton, MA and was coordinated by Susan Quatemen. Thank you Susan.

The guest speaker for "Water-Friendly Landscaping" was Mary Whitney, Principal of Whitney Associates, Salem, MA.

The Water-Friendly Landscaping program explored approaches to water efficient landscaping. Attendees learned how to use a site’s natural features together with landscaping to protect local water resources by reducing storm run-off, preventing erosion, and increasing infiltration. Includes descriptions of lawn alternatives and what plants to include or avoid when landscaping for water health.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 26 billion gallons of water are used daily in the U.S., of which approximately 7.8 billion gallons (30 percent) are devoted to outdoor use. This program discussed natural landscaping approaches to using water efficiently, through reduced lawn areas, careful planning and design, soil analysis,
mulching, and appropriate plant selection. This approach not only saves water, but also reduces chemical use and can save time, costs, noise and pollution associated with mowing and lawnmowers.

The program provided suggestions and tips to consider when planning future projects or updates for a more water-efficient landscape. It suggested how you could beautify your landscape, keep your family safe, and help the environment using low-cost ways to preserve and protect our water supplies.

Mary L. Whitney is a Planner, Designer, and Educator for ecologically sound land use and Principal of Whitney Associates Landscape Planning | Design | Management located in Salem, MA. She is a member of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Low-Impact Development Working Group, promoting ways that residents, municipalities, and developers can protect local water resources and preserve open space, while fitting human use into natural systems.

Get Your Underground Merchandise at CafePress!

We would like to tell you about The Underground's new great looking merchandise available at Cafe Press. Get your shirts, caps, bags, mugs, posters and more.

• Keep the sun off with our sporty logo caps.
• Have that morning cup o' joe in The official Underground mug.
• Carry your papers and tools in our attractive canvas tote bag.
• Display our "What's Underground" poster in your office.
• From golf shirts to t-shirts and hoodies we have something for everyone.

A small portion of your purchase price will go directly to help The Underground fund more wonderful programs and other group activities. Some of these items were recently on display at yesterdays program.

We welcome you to show your support of our group by purchasing some of these fabulous products.

Check them out today by going to http://www.cafepress.com/the_undergrnd

Professional Methods for Estimating Landscaping Projects

From project conception to bid acceptance, the accuracy of your current working estimate is vital to landscape installation success. This informative program "Professional Methods for Estimating Landscaping Projects" explored professional methods for accurately costing out landscape construction projects.

Guest panelists included:
Mark Saydah, Whole Earth Landscape and Design, Inc., Harvard, MA
William S. Parker, Parker Garden Design, Nashua, NH

Attendees learned about the diverse methods and proven techniques for taking the guess-work out of producing construction bids and estimates. Our panelists described the processes they use for cost estimating and the steps involved in calculating quantity take-offs. They also discussed what a contractor/installer needs from a designer in order to provide the most accurate estimates. Basic materials formulas were provided and real-world examples of cost estimates for a variety of landscape projects were shown. Finally direct and indirect costs, profit margins, and other guidelines were also considered.

This program provided suggestions and tips to improve and streamline your landscape estimating methods. It also helped to demystify the cost estimating process so that you can work more effectively with your contractor/installer.

Mark Saydah is an entrepreneur with a business & horticultural background and has been running Whole Earth Landscape and Design, Inc. since 1989. He earned the MCLP certification in 1994 and the MCH in 2003. He is a past board member and co-founder of the ELA and a member of the MNLA. Mark is a local authority on the subject of landscape design and low-maintenenace landscaping and has been a speaker for various organizations including the Ecological Landscape Association (ELA) and the New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS).

Bill Parker has been landscaping in Southern New Hampshire for 25 years. In 1996 he started, Parker Garden Design. PGD is a full service design and build landscaping company with a focus on natural hardscapes and native plants. Bill has developed PGD into a well known high-quality landscape company. He oversees all design work and does all of the estimating, bidding and selling. Through his years of experience in designing and implementing landscapes, he has developed an understanding of what it takes to create accurate estimates.

Practical Wetlands Protection for Residential Landscape Projects: Working With Conservation Commissions

This informative program "Practical Wetlands Protection for Residential Landscape Projects: Working With Conservation Commissions" was held at The New England Wild Flower Society's Garden in the Woods, and was geared to help you make the right decisions when dealing with wetland protection issues.

Panel members included:
Ecological landscape designer and conservation agent Kale Kalloch,
DEP circuit rider Kathy Robertson
DEP circuit rider Jason Lederer

Healthy wetlands are crucial for maintaining water quality for humans, animals and plants. The Massachusetts' Wetlands Protection Act, administered by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), requires approval of certain activities by each municipality’s conservation commission before site work begins in the wetland buffer zone.

This panel discussion, with case studies, was designed for homeowners and landscape professionals who want to act responsibly to protect our threatened marshes, ponds, and streams. Attendees learned which landscape activities and resources are regulated; how to determine whether your project must be reported; and how to work effectively with your local conservation commission to avoid homeowner liability. This important seminar covered basic wetland identification and great native plants for buffer zones. Questions and site-specific issues were addressed.

Thank You to Our NE Spring Flower Show Volunteers

Thank you to Denise Pegrum and Debby McNulty for volunteering to help at this years New England Spring Flower Show.

Welcome New Members from LDSA

We would just like to take a moment to welcome new members from the LDSA yahoo group. This group represents landscape design students and alumni from the New York Botanical Garden.

To all of you from New York, please feel free to contribute links to favorite resources, take our online polls, add your contact information to our database, pose questions and share ideas. We want to hear from everybody and through your participation we will all grow.

Wishing you all a wonderful season ahead!

Software Shootout Software Discounts

Thank you all for coming to the Software Shootout yesterday. We were so happy you could join us for our first program of the new year - it was great to see you.

We just wanted to point your attention to some software offers the you may be interested in. For those of you who picked up a discount sheet for CADtools there is a code for 50% off the regular price for this Adobe Illustrator plugin which is good until March 15th, 2006.

Also if you contact Nick La Forest or Pablo Lora at Nemetschek and mention that you attended The Underground Software Shootout, they will be offering a discount on the purchase of VectorWorks Landmark.

Congratulations to our software winners yesterday - Mary, Ferris, Ted and Rolf.

For more information please contact us.

Software Shootout

Held at the Wellesley College Science Center, the first "Software Shootout" program explored cutting edge techniques to creating landscape plans and documents. The software presented ranged in price, capability and complexity.

Our guest presenters included:
Monica Fairbairn, Gardening by Design, Watertown MA
Mary Coyne, Coyne Landscape Design, Wellesley, MA
Bridget McManus, Lepidoptera Landscape Design, Framingham, MA
Andrew Buck, Not Yet Landscape, Jamaica Plain, MA

The software presented included MSPublisher, Autosketch, Adobe Illustrator, and VectorWorks Landmark.

Attendees learned the secrets to creating high quality, graphically rich landscape plans using your computer. Designers showed examples of their projects as well as described the step-by-step process for their implementation. They discussed their software products’ learning curve and the strengths and weaknesses from their personal perspective. Handouts provided additional information including tips and tricks, equipment requirements, costs and other special considerations and comparisons. The presentations were followed by a breakout session in which presenters demonstrated their software in
small informal groups.

Whether a novice or a seasoned landscape professional, this program gave you the information you needed to find the software that would work for you in your landscape business. It helped you to make an informed decision by giving you a real-world perspective of the products’ capabilities.

Welcome All Our New Members

We would just like to welcome all our new members to our group. Since our participation at NE Grows we have recruited 28 new members which brings our current total membership to 126 with more memberships coming in daily.

The following information may be helpful to our new members.

Our group operates via a Yahoo group and members connect via this group by email. All email messages posted to the_undergrnd@yahoogroups.com get sent to the entire group of 126 members. If you wish to respond to only the person who originally posted a message (and not the entire group) then please be sure to use their personal email address which will be found in the From field of the message.

The Underground has a number of nifty web features available for those of you who have set up their Yahoo ID's and password. To gain access to these features you must go to our Yahoo site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_undergrnd/ and sign in.

Once you have signed in you will have access to all the great features that are available. These features include:
Scheduling online chats with members
Sharing Files - upload and download them to the Yahoo file section
Sharing Photos - upload and download them to the photos section
Sharing links to great websites - we have 78 links so far in the links section
Sharing your contact info in our online database (member list and collaboration list) - listing is optional
Taking member polls about various topics
Adding your event to our Calendar and sending out automatic reminders to members

We encourage you to utilize all these features and participate.

Welcome to The Underground!

Thanks to Our NE Grows Volunteers

We would like to acknowledge the following people for so graciously volunteering their time to helping us staff our booth at New England Grows. All your hard work was so very much appreciated! You made our first show a success!

Thank you all so much!

Justin Kelleher
Susan Tuttle
Priscilla Williams
Erin McNeill
Susan Quateman
Seija Halva
Tom Ryan
Dori Smith
Mary Coyne
Katie Haried
Karen Fountain-Lantelme
Sally Naish
Denise Pegrum
Jennifer Campbell
Kathy Tunsley
Liz Evans
Ed Council
Melanie Neuman

Thank you.
The Underground Steering Committee

Happy 1st Birthday!

We thought you might like to know that The Underground Yahoo Group was established exactly 1 year ago today - December 16, 2004. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The group began a few short months before it's migration to Yahoo, and was formed by a small number of folks from the Clark University/Tower Hill program. The group has evolved over time to include many professionals, students and instructors from various organizations and institutions.

Thanks to all our members who have stuck by us from the beginning. And to all our newer members, we welcome your support. We will continue to offer some great educational programs and look forward to your continued participation!

We have a great line-up being planned for the coming year. Stay tuned for more information.

Ed Council joins as new treasurer

Today Ed Council has agreed to join our steering committee as The Underground's new Treasurer. Ed will keep all financial records and report to our committee on our status.

Thank you Ed.

How to Develop and Prepare An Effective Landscape Design Portfolio

This educational program "How to Develop and Prepare An Effective Landscape Design Portfolio", featured guest speaker Todd Richardson, founding principal, Richardson & Associates, Inc. It was held on November 30, 2005 at the Landscape Institute, Cambridge, MA.

Your portfolio is a career communication tool that creates a narrative about your landscape design talents and philosophy. It is a compilation of your best and most recent accomplishments and your primary marketing tool for obtaining new clients. Your portfolio is constantly evolving as you in turn, gain experience as a creative professional.

Todd Richardson of Richardson & Associates, an instructor at the Landscape Institute, guided us in preparing a new professional quality portfolio presentation or improve upon our existing one. Todd has offered to review individual portfolios so bring your portfolio with you to this very informative professional development program.

Whether you are a student or a professional, this program will provided an honest assessment of skills and techniques by objectively examining your portfolio's strengths and weaknesses and offering suggestions for refinement.

Todd Richardson MLA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; principal, Richardson & Associates, Inc., Saco, Maine; cited by the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study as Distinguished Radcliffe Seminars Instructor; former instructor, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Massachusetts, and Bowdoin College; registered landscape architect, Massachusetts and Maine; merit awards in design and
planning, Boston Society of Architects.

Welcome New Steering Member, Mary Coyne

We would like to announce that Mary Coyne has become the newest member of The Underground Steering Committee and Priscilla Williams has joined our Advisory Board.

Our Steering Committee Members

Mary Coyne
Bridget McManus
Denise Pegrum
Dori Smith
Susan Tuttle

Advisory Board

Priscilla Williams

If you would like to volunteer to coordinate a program, tour, or other educational event in your area, please let us know. We would appreciate any volunteer assistance you wish to provide.

We have several volunteer positions still available, so if you would like to help us to grow this organization, please contact us we would love to have you involved.

We also would like to acknowledge the following people for their volunteer efforts in helping to coordinate upcoming programs.

Mary Coyne
Susan Quateman
Sharon Davis

Thanks to all.
The Underground Steering Committee

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.

Welcome Denise Pegrum to Our Board

We would like to announce that we have a new Underground Steering member, Denise Pegrum. She joins the rest of our team who are working diligently on upcoming Underground programs and events.

Our Steering Committee Members

Paul Carlson
Bridget McManus
Denise Pegrum
Dori Smith
Susan Tuttle

Thank You to Former Steering Member, Andy Buck

We would like to thank Andy Buck for his service as an Underground Steering member. Andy provided some wonderful input in the formation of our organizational procedures. Thank you Andy. All the best in your endeavors.

The Underground Steering Committee

Tour at Cavicchio Greenhouses

The Underground tour of Cavicchio Greenhouses was led by Martin Grealish, sales rep at Cavicchio Greenhouses, Inc. We were given a rare opportunity to tour behind the scenes of one of the leading wholesale distributors of plant materials and landscaping supplies in New England. We toured the Codjer Lane facility of more than 9 acres of greenhouses and viewed the only completely mechanized planting room that exists in the country. We heard about the latest trends in plant materials, tools, and techniques, and learned about the water garden courses offered. Following the tour, we traveled a short distance to Cavicchio Nursery on Lincoln Road, where we saw an additional 35 acres of nursery products, specimen plants, and bulk materials.

Our topic of discussion was "How to work with your sales representative". We were guided through the step-by-step process — from initial quote to purchase and pickup of materials. We learned the best ways to build a relationship with our sales representative so that plant and material preferences, substitution suggestions, and budgets are always taken into consideration when filling our orders. These techniques can also be applicable to any wholesale distributors that you choose to work with. The importance of good record keeping practices and billing was also discussed. Cavicchio catalogs and credit applications were available for attendees to open accounts on the spot.