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Written by Mary Weaver
Monday, 30 August 2010 08:57
Brad Minnick was raised on a farm in Northern MO and told his parents that farming isn't what he wanted to do. He started working at the age of 15 at a golf course. His career kept him in the golf industry for 20 years working at various courses as a golf superintendent. From there he went to Lawrence and started working with Capitol Concrete, he received a Bachelor's degree in Plant Science and as his career continued with CCP, hardscapes became his specialty. Brad has worked on various sized projects from small to extreme. An example would be Free State High School & Lawrence High School - both projects included a stadium bleacher section made from Versa-Lock blocks - 130,000 of them!! Versa-Lock has a 50-80 year life time as opposed to concrete which can chip and crack. The block project turned out to be more cost effective than aluminum bleachers. Bob Saathoff said he has been to Free State and it really is an awesome display of what can be done with blocks in a hardscape.
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Ray's retirement party

Monday, 30 August 2010 08:53

Ray Schroeder shows off the plaque from TAWGS that Floyd Gruver presented to him at Ray's Retirement Party.

Floyd suggested that the city rename the Botanical Gardens "Ray Schroeder's Botanical Gardens"since Ray has spent over 40 years working on the gardens.

Several TAWGS members enjoyed the good food and fellowship at the party which was held August 6th.

New ideas for rain gardens and rain harvesting

Friday, 30 July 2010 16:36
Kip Walker gave an interesting power point presentation at the July TAWGS meeting when he talked about new technology for rain gardens and rain harvesting. Kip said that he has been working with Eric Wood with Complete Aquatics to learn the leading edge of technology in that area. He said a lot of new technology has been developed in recent years because of the increased interest in reducing storm water run off, especially in larger cities, and in improving the water quality of the water that ends up in our waterways. One way to reduce water runoff from roofs is to place a rain barrel under the down spouts of the house. One half inch of rain falling on a roof can easily fill a 55 gallon rain barrel. The barrel not only helps reduce the amount of water that is dumped into the storm water system, it also allows it to be harvested later for watering plants and landscapes, providing two benefits for the homeowner.
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Ray Schroeder leads tour of Ward Meade gardens

Tuesday, 06 July 2010 10:27

ray-tour Ray Schroeder, former Topeka Parks and Rec. employee, gave TAWGS members a tour of the gardens at Historic Old Prairie Town following their June meeting.

Ray said the gardens were more exotic at first, with unusual stuff for many years, but now it is a mature garden and it has changed a lot over the years.

Walking past the newly installed streambed that many TAWGS members helped build, Ray pointed out the largest pecan tree in northeast Kansas. He said it has been struck by lightning six times during its lifespan. Ray said you can hear the American Linden tree in the spring because it is full of bees. Other trees that we walked by were the Caltalpa, Moerheim blue spruce, Katsura, Golden bamboo hedge, Osage orange, park hedge, Sycamore, Magnolia, Witch Hazel (it blooms in the spring and is used for water witching) and Weeping Purple Beech.