City Parks crews are out planting flowers and landscaping in several areas of Rapid City. Upwards to 15,000 flowers and shrubs will be planted.
(City Photo)
With a close eye on the calendar and the thermometer, City Greenhouse Specialist John Berglund is adding a little splash of color to the City's parks.
This week, crews from the City's Parks department begin planting upwards to 15,000 flowers and shrubs in the City's parks and entry points. For the past few weeks, City staff has been working to prepare park areas by mowing and sprucing up flower gardens and presentation areas.
The City's greenhouse off Canyon Lake Drive produced and nurtured approximately 15,000 annuals during the winter months. During the summer months, Parks crews will dedicate themselves to maintaining the flowers, plants, rose bushes and shrubs. The various flower gardens and frontage areas also include 2,000 rose bushes, which are winterized each fall then uncovered and maintained during the summer months.
"There is a lot of work that goes into growing the plants and preparing them for planting," said Berglund. "As a staff, we take great pride in growing the plants and bushes, getting the areas ready for planting and then maintaining them during the summer for the enjoyment of our residents and for the visitors to our city."
Getting much of the planting attention between the late May and mid-June period will be Halley Park, Wilson Park, Sunken Gardens, Formal Gardens, Omaha Street at the East Boulevard and West Boulevard intersections, St. Joe Street, and the Promenade/Legacy Commons area.
As with most gardeners, Berglund isn't beyond experimenting with new plants or trees. He plans to place four banana trees in the Formal Gardens area and see if they flourish.
City Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Biegler says Parks employees take great pride in their work to beautify the City.
"One of the many summer duties of the Parks crews is maintaining the flower gardens," said Biegler. "It takes considerable time and effort but our employees and summer crews appreciate the end result and we know the community does as well."
Much of the planting should be completed by mid-June and crews will continue maintaining the areas throughout the summer.