By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Downtown flora is getting a fall make over.
The raised beds, which along with hanging baskets and stone planters are used for downtown plantings, were installed 20 years ago as part of the Heritage 2000 program. The perennials planted at that time have hung on through the intervening years. But a few years of downtown construction with water and gas lines and roads ripped apart, have taken their toll.
This week crews from North Branch Nursery have been busy putting in plants selected by Sue Wolf, of Wolf’s Blooms and Berries. Wolf has worked with Downtown BG on the plantings in the business district.
Tony Vetter, the director of Downtown Bowling Green, said that the work is a collaboration among the special improvement district, its foundation, and the city.
There are a dozen of these raised beds on both sides of the Main Street from the 100 block of South Main north to the beginning of the 200 block of North Main.
Many of the plants have outgrown their life spans, and “the construction was hard on them,” Vetter said.
All that was left were hedges and day lilies, he said. “All the color was gone.”
This spring more mulch was put in and flowers planted that add a splash of color. If that hadn’t been done, Vetter said, he surely would have heard complaints about how the raised beds looked.
Those plants will die with the first frost, he said.
So, the plants, except for a few trees, were all pulled out of the raised beds as well as the old mulch and a few inches of topsoil.
Vetter said the decision was made to plant in fall so the blossoms hibernate over the winter and will require less watering next year. If the work had been put off to spring, he said, they’d need more extensive watering throughout the summer.
Wolf selected a variety of evergreens –Blue Star Juniper, Common Juniper Compressa, Grey Owl, and Gold Cone Juniper; grasses – Golden Japanese Forest and Fountain “Piglet”; three types of hydrangea – Bobo, Little Quick Fire, and Strawberry Sundae; and a variety of sedum, Superstar Rock ‘ Grow.
These should add the desired color without the necessity of annual plantings.
The planters and hanging baskets are refreshed every year.
