FGC Comm Newsletter Spring 2009
The Fockele Garden Award-winning landscape design, build and maintenance company. We create and install beautiful, environmentally friendly gardens throughout the Southeast including North Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Specialties include water features, stonescaping and lush, water smart, low maintenance plantings.
Content
ideas for Growing your Business
news from the garden
spring 2009
Employee spotlight
Mariano Urquiza crew leader
Mariano, who has worked for The Fockele Garden Company for nine years, has filled many roles for the company in both the installation and maintenance departments. He currently works as a crew leader for the maintenance department. Mariano was born in Tuzantla, Mexico. His parents and two sisters still live there and he enjoys a trip home occasionally. His family’s house is a stone’s throw from a beautiful river. In his spare time, he enjoys studying English and uses a course on CD called, “English Without Barriers.” Mariano appreciates learning something new every day. Mariano, who was employed by another landscaping company for five years, likes working for The Fockele Garden Company because quality work is appreciated. He likes the fact that his good work is rewarded with opportunities to take on more responsibilities.
The clear advantage
COLLECT RAINWATER FOR ECONOMICAL GARDENING
As part of the Anne’s Garden project at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, The Fockele Garden Company installed a 10,000-gallon underground cistern.
A
s Georgia, Florida and Alabama mire deeper in water ownership legalities, lakes hit record low levels and a growing populace further strains available water supplies, one thing is certain: abundant water is but a memory. To the business owner, this can be devastating news, or, it can be a chance to reinvent your landscape. “Our gardens can be as good or better than they’ve always been,” says Mark Fockele. “The water shortage (and resulting outdoor water restrictions) will force us into more careful usage, whereas traditional landscaping practices will grow prohibitively expensive.”
One of the best ways to reduce water needs (for now and later) is collecting and utilizing rainwater that falls on your property. With a cistern system, you can collect this water and redistribute it to areas of your garden or landscape that need it. Cistern-based water harvesting has been used for centuries around the world. “Until now, water was plentiful in the Southeast and we didn’t have to look for alternatives,” said Mark. Traditional practices, such as ‘throwing away’ rainwater in drain pipes, culverts, and stormwater systems and gullies is not
continued on page 2
“The Fockele Garden Company has made Lanier Village Estates into a showplace and has set a standard of excellence for other continued care retirement communities to set their sights on. Thank you for the personal attention you give to LVE. It has definitely made a difference in the curb appeal of that community.”
Tom Strader, ACTS Life Retirement Communities
Branding, p.3 | In this issue: Collect Rainwater, p.1 | | Landscapecan be good forSpring Maintenance Tips, p.3p.4 Commercial Awards, p.3 A garden customers and employees,
w w w. F o c k e l e G a r d e n C o m pa n y. c o m
Clockwise from top left: This 1,1 10-gallon cistern was one of nine installed at Gainesville Housing Authority apartment complexes. The cisterns collect rainwater for irrigation purposes and allow residents to keep the Melrose apartment complex’s beautiful gardens flourishing. Workers at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center help guide the 10,000-gallon cistern into place. The Fockele Garden Company employees install a cistern at Harrison Square Apartments. Rain is directed from the roof of the apartment building through a downspout into the cistern. The Fockele Garden Company planted colorful gardens at the Gainesville Housing Authority’s apartment complexes.
continued from page 1
only inefficient, but increasingly expensive both economically and socially. Wasting runoff water requires us to purchase treated drinking water from municipalities to use on our landscapes. Piping off large volumes of stormwater to our streams and lakes also results in erosion and degradation of these natural features. So, collecting and using rainwater provides all sorts of advantages: you can use rainwater any time, without regard to restrictions; once the system is in place, you do not have to pay for the water you use; and collecting the rainwater reduces storm surges in the municipal stormwater system, reducing erosion and pollution. To give you an example of how much water can be conserved, let’s examine two projects by The Fockele Garden Company.
The company recently installed a 10,000-gallon underground cistern for the Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Anne’s Garden. Rainwater from a 26,000square-foot portion of the roof of the new North Tower feeds into the cistern through downspouts. It takes less than three-quarters of an inch of rain draining off the expansive roof to fill the 10,000-gallon cistern. Last summer, The Fockele Garden Company installed nine 1,100-gallon cisterns and gardens at five apartment complexes for the Gainesville Housing Authority’s Curb Appeal project. The project was part of a plan to improve the appearance of the areas around the apartment buildings and encourage the residents to maintain the gardens. Residents use water from the cisterns to irrigate the plants. The cisterns
help provide an ample source of water. In a one- to two-inch rain, the system easily collects 1,100 gallons of water from the roof of one apartment building. In addition to water harvesting, Mark offers other ideas for developing water efficient landscapes: planting trees for shade around homes builds organic content in soil, reduces runoff, recharges ground water, absorbs carbon dioxide, and releases oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees also create cooler outdoor spaces, cooler houses, and cooler parking lots. He also encourages arranging plants into groups with similar water requirements and replacing turf with various groundcovers and shrubs for maximum water reduction. In future newsletters, we will take a closer look at this topic.
2
Landscape Branding: A Consistent Look
From logos to uniforms, companies find a variety of ways to brand themselves. A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or company. A well-branded company projects an image of professionalism and competence. One area of branding that business owners might not take into consideration is their landscape. A business can establish a signature signature look in its six showroom stores. appearance for itself and execute it branding themselves in numerous ways throughout all its properties. This can be an enormous advantage for restaurants, and their landscaping is part of that.” banks and retail stores that have multiple The Fockele Garden Company has locations and want a consistent look. created a distinctive landscape look for companies like the UHS-Pruitt Corporation “You want your sites to look uniform,” and City Plumbing & Electrical Supply. The Fockele Garden Company General Their sites all over North Georgia have Manager Todd Brown explains. the same style of plantings, and with “Companies with multiple sites are
City Plumbing & Electrical Supply has used its
their signature building design, are easily identifiable. “Our landscaping ties in with our branding plan,” City Plumbing & Electrical Supply Corporate Showroom Manager and Vice President Sherri Hughes said. “It gives our stores a better appearance and makes them stand out. Our stores are on major highways and our overall look from the brick of the building to the landscaping catches people’s eye. When they see it, they know it is City Plumbing.” Consistency and quality are just a few of the aspects that business owners should consider when branding their companies through their landscaping. A well-maintained landscape makes a positive first impression and can certainly raise your company’s profile.
R
A few spring maintenance tips:
• Add fresh mulch or pine straw to your flower bed. It holds moisture, keeps soil temperatures more even and helps prevent weeds. • Fertilize your trees and shrubs with an appropriate fertilizer. • Limb up your trees and do heavier shrub pruning to promote healthy growth. • Spring blooming shrubs such as azaleas need to be pruned back after blooming is complete.
Commercial Awards – Design, Installation & Maintenance
New maintenance Clients
• Lanier Village Estates, Merit Award for Commercial Landscape Management
(PLANET Professional Landcare Network) & (Georgia Green Industry Association)
Grand Award for Landscape Maintenance
UHS-Pruitt Corporation Raleigh, NC and Norcross, GA Magnolia Trace ACTS Community Huntsville, AL Avery Dennison Flowery Branch, GA Brose Gainesville, Inc. Gainesville, GA
• UHS-Pruitt Corporate Office, Distinction Award in Maintenance
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
• Peach State Bank, Distinction Award in Installation
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
• American Freedom Garden: Distinction Award in Installation
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
Take an online tour of our Commercial Properties fockelegardencompany.com/ galleryhtml?gallery=COMMERCIAL
u
3
A Garden can be good for customers and employees
An outdoor garden area can be an attractive and welcoming addition for your business. Research repeatedly has shown numerous benefits for people having access to flowers, plants and nature. “There have been many studies done on the positive effects of a garden,” The Fockele Garden Company co-owner and designer Julie Evans said. “People are more productive, suffer less from depression and are healthier. Access to nature is revitalizing.” Consider placement of benches, tables, planters or flower beds in an area around your business. Shaded areas are cool during warm summer months when people like to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Plantings near business entrances, waiting areas, or employee gathering places can be attractive year-round with the right mix of plants. An outdoor fountain can add pleasant sounds. Plan your garden now so it will be ready for business.
Top: Benches and pots are welcoming. Bottom: Picnic areas encourage people to go outdoors.
Owners : Mark Fockele and Julie Evans Year Founded : 1989 | Employees : 40 Business Breakdown : 60% design/build, 40% maintenance Customer Breakdown : Mix of residential and commercial
4
P.O. Box 671 | Gainesville, GA 30503 | p: 770.532.7117 | f: 770.532.7245 | www.FockeleGardenCompany.com
P. O. B OX 6 7 1
•
G AINESVILLE, G A 3 0 5 0 3
news from the garden
spring 2009
Employee spotlight
Mariano Urquiza crew leader
Mariano, who has worked for The Fockele Garden Company for nine years, has filled many roles for the company in both the installation and maintenance departments. He currently works as a crew leader for the maintenance department. Mariano was born in Tuzantla, Mexico. His parents and two sisters still live there and he enjoys a trip home occasionally. His family’s house is a stone’s throw from a beautiful river. In his spare time, he enjoys studying English and uses a course on CD called, “English Without Barriers.” Mariano appreciates learning something new every day. Mariano, who was employed by another landscaping company for five years, likes working for The Fockele Garden Company because quality work is appreciated. He likes the fact that his good work is rewarded with opportunities to take on more responsibilities.
The clear advantage
COLLECT RAINWATER FOR ECONOMICAL GARDENING
As part of the Anne’s Garden project at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, The Fockele Garden Company installed a 10,000-gallon underground cistern.
A
s Georgia, Florida and Alabama mire deeper in water ownership legalities, lakes hit record low levels and a growing populace further strains available water supplies, one thing is certain: abundant water is but a memory. To the business owner, this can be devastating news, or, it can be a chance to reinvent your landscape. “Our gardens can be as good or better than they’ve always been,” says Mark Fockele. “The water shortage (and resulting outdoor water restrictions) will force us into more careful usage, whereas traditional landscaping practices will grow prohibitively expensive.”
One of the best ways to reduce water needs (for now and later) is collecting and utilizing rainwater that falls on your property. With a cistern system, you can collect this water and redistribute it to areas of your garden or landscape that need it. Cistern-based water harvesting has been used for centuries around the world. “Until now, water was plentiful in the Southeast and we didn’t have to look for alternatives,” said Mark. Traditional practices, such as ‘throwing away’ rainwater in drain pipes, culverts, and stormwater systems and gullies is not
continued on page 2
“The Fockele Garden Company has made Lanier Village Estates into a showplace and has set a standard of excellence for other continued care retirement communities to set their sights on. Thank you for the personal attention you give to LVE. It has definitely made a difference in the curb appeal of that community.”
Tom Strader, ACTS Life Retirement Communities
Branding, p.3 | In this issue: Collect Rainwater, p.1 | | Landscapecan be good forSpring Maintenance Tips, p.3p.4 Commercial Awards, p.3 A garden customers and employees,
w w w. F o c k e l e G a r d e n C o m pa n y. c o m
Clockwise from top left: This 1,1 10-gallon cistern was one of nine installed at Gainesville Housing Authority apartment complexes. The cisterns collect rainwater for irrigation purposes and allow residents to keep the Melrose apartment complex’s beautiful gardens flourishing. Workers at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center help guide the 10,000-gallon cistern into place. The Fockele Garden Company employees install a cistern at Harrison Square Apartments. Rain is directed from the roof of the apartment building through a downspout into the cistern. The Fockele Garden Company planted colorful gardens at the Gainesville Housing Authority’s apartment complexes.
continued from page 1
only inefficient, but increasingly expensive both economically and socially. Wasting runoff water requires us to purchase treated drinking water from municipalities to use on our landscapes. Piping off large volumes of stormwater to our streams and lakes also results in erosion and degradation of these natural features. So, collecting and using rainwater provides all sorts of advantages: you can use rainwater any time, without regard to restrictions; once the system is in place, you do not have to pay for the water you use; and collecting the rainwater reduces storm surges in the municipal stormwater system, reducing erosion and pollution. To give you an example of how much water can be conserved, let’s examine two projects by The Fockele Garden Company.
The company recently installed a 10,000-gallon underground cistern for the Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Anne’s Garden. Rainwater from a 26,000square-foot portion of the roof of the new North Tower feeds into the cistern through downspouts. It takes less than three-quarters of an inch of rain draining off the expansive roof to fill the 10,000-gallon cistern. Last summer, The Fockele Garden Company installed nine 1,100-gallon cisterns and gardens at five apartment complexes for the Gainesville Housing Authority’s Curb Appeal project. The project was part of a plan to improve the appearance of the areas around the apartment buildings and encourage the residents to maintain the gardens. Residents use water from the cisterns to irrigate the plants. The cisterns
help provide an ample source of water. In a one- to two-inch rain, the system easily collects 1,100 gallons of water from the roof of one apartment building. In addition to water harvesting, Mark offers other ideas for developing water efficient landscapes: planting trees for shade around homes builds organic content in soil, reduces runoff, recharges ground water, absorbs carbon dioxide, and releases oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees also create cooler outdoor spaces, cooler houses, and cooler parking lots. He also encourages arranging plants into groups with similar water requirements and replacing turf with various groundcovers and shrubs for maximum water reduction. In future newsletters, we will take a closer look at this topic.
2
Landscape Branding: A Consistent Look
From logos to uniforms, companies find a variety of ways to brand themselves. A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or company. A well-branded company projects an image of professionalism and competence. One area of branding that business owners might not take into consideration is their landscape. A business can establish a signature signature look in its six showroom stores. appearance for itself and execute it branding themselves in numerous ways throughout all its properties. This can be an enormous advantage for restaurants, and their landscaping is part of that.” banks and retail stores that have multiple The Fockele Garden Company has locations and want a consistent look. created a distinctive landscape look for companies like the UHS-Pruitt Corporation “You want your sites to look uniform,” and City Plumbing & Electrical Supply. The Fockele Garden Company General Their sites all over North Georgia have Manager Todd Brown explains. the same style of plantings, and with “Companies with multiple sites are
City Plumbing & Electrical Supply has used its
their signature building design, are easily identifiable. “Our landscaping ties in with our branding plan,” City Plumbing & Electrical Supply Corporate Showroom Manager and Vice President Sherri Hughes said. “It gives our stores a better appearance and makes them stand out. Our stores are on major highways and our overall look from the brick of the building to the landscaping catches people’s eye. When they see it, they know it is City Plumbing.” Consistency and quality are just a few of the aspects that business owners should consider when branding their companies through their landscaping. A well-maintained landscape makes a positive first impression and can certainly raise your company’s profile.
R
A few spring maintenance tips:
• Add fresh mulch or pine straw to your flower bed. It holds moisture, keeps soil temperatures more even and helps prevent weeds. • Fertilize your trees and shrubs with an appropriate fertilizer. • Limb up your trees and do heavier shrub pruning to promote healthy growth. • Spring blooming shrubs such as azaleas need to be pruned back after blooming is complete.
Commercial Awards – Design, Installation & Maintenance
New maintenance Clients
• Lanier Village Estates, Merit Award for Commercial Landscape Management
(PLANET Professional Landcare Network) & (Georgia Green Industry Association)
Grand Award for Landscape Maintenance
UHS-Pruitt Corporation Raleigh, NC and Norcross, GA Magnolia Trace ACTS Community Huntsville, AL Avery Dennison Flowery Branch, GA Brose Gainesville, Inc. Gainesville, GA
• UHS-Pruitt Corporate Office, Distinction Award in Maintenance
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
• Peach State Bank, Distinction Award in Installation
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
• American Freedom Garden: Distinction Award in Installation
(Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association)
Take an online tour of our Commercial Properties fockelegardencompany.com/ galleryhtml?gallery=COMMERCIAL
u
3
A Garden can be good for customers and employees
An outdoor garden area can be an attractive and welcoming addition for your business. Research repeatedly has shown numerous benefits for people having access to flowers, plants and nature. “There have been many studies done on the positive effects of a garden,” The Fockele Garden Company co-owner and designer Julie Evans said. “People are more productive, suffer less from depression and are healthier. Access to nature is revitalizing.” Consider placement of benches, tables, planters or flower beds in an area around your business. Shaded areas are cool during warm summer months when people like to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Plantings near business entrances, waiting areas, or employee gathering places can be attractive year-round with the right mix of plants. An outdoor fountain can add pleasant sounds. Plan your garden now so it will be ready for business.
Top: Benches and pots are welcoming. Bottom: Picnic areas encourage people to go outdoors.
Owners : Mark Fockele and Julie Evans Year Founded : 1989 | Employees : 40 Business Breakdown : 60% design/build, 40% maintenance Customer Breakdown : Mix of residential and commercial
4
P.O. Box 671 | Gainesville, GA 30503 | p: 770.532.7117 | f: 770.532.7245 | www.FockeleGardenCompany.com
P. O. B OX 6 7 1
•
G AINESVILLE, G A 3 0 5 0 3
