Working with nature to manage our church, educate the community, and expand healthy habitat is the mission of The Smart Landscapes Project. Begun in 2009 – under the direction of the local landscape architecture firm, Smart Landscapes – the Master Plan outlines proposed uses for church grounds while addressing stormwater management, low-maintenance landscaping, safety and mobility. More than a pretty face, the gardens around Epworth offer opportunities to the neighborhood: to meditate, to play, to gather, to be in nature. Workshops and interpretive signage extend knowledge on smart land practices to homeowners, teaching about living within our ecosystem and learning about the special beauty of our Georgia Piedmont region.
The Smart Landscapes Project is sponsored by Smart Landscapes, an Atlanta-based landscape architecture and environmental consulting firm, where outdoor living begins with sustainable design. We’re proud to lead Epworth’s sustainable make-over!
- The Master Plan (click to enlarge)
- Kid's Playspace: Bamboo Tunnel
- Building the Outdoor Parlor
- Farmer Robby tills the Kids' Veggie Patch!
Children’s Natural Playspace
Phase 1! August – October 2009 The kids and parents of Epworth Day School (at that time, Parents’ Morning Out) designed this fanciful, natural wonderworld for their toddlers at a Design Night in August 2009, guided by Elise Cormier, RLA and Gretchen Gigley of the Clean Air Campaign. Plants, pavers, sand, stumps, and everything else a kid needs to have fun in nature were donated by neighbors and church folks, and all pitched-in to install the plans. Now in its second year, the families of Epworth Day School feel at home in the playspace, creating a pumpkin patch and mini-vegetable garden – complete with cherry tomatoes! – for kids to enjoy. Edible plants, such as wood violets (high in vitamin C) and day lilies (100% edible!), give a fun twist to playtime. And the beach-like sandbox – doubling as a rainwater catchment to feed an old oak tree – is always the popular play spot! See the playspace plans! >>
ON THE WEB:
- Natural Learning Initiative: http://www.naturalearning.org/
- Children and Nature Network: http://www.childrenandnature.org/
- Landscape and Human Health Laboratory: http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/research.htm
- Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia: http://www.eealliance.org/
- Environmental Education In Georgia: http://www.eeingeorgia.org/
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (Richard Louv)
- Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places (Gary Paul Nabhan & Stephen Trimble)
- Plants for Play: A Plant Selection Guide for Children’s Outdoor Environments (Robin Moore)
- The Play For All Guidelines: Planning, Design, and Management of Outdoor Play Settings For All Children (Robin Moore, S. Goltsman, & D. Iacofano)
- Earth In Mind: On Education, Environment, and Human Prospect (David Orr)
{ resources compiled by Gretchen Gigley, Director of Education at the Clean Air Campaign }
Rainbarrel Workshop
November 2009 Sharing our “go green” discoveries with our neighbors is the name of the game at Epworth. When Candler Park neighbor Ted Pettus taught us how to make rainbarrels from recycled CocaCola syrup drums, we couldn’t keep the secret to ourselves! The neighborhood joined in the fun on a sunny November afternoon to make their own rainbarrel and to learn from our in-house rainharvesting expert, Elise Cormier, RLA, about smart and pretty ways to handle stormwater with raingardens, swales, and carefully placed rainbarrels. Other highlights of the day included a personal tour by owner Margaret Olson of Candler Park’s newest LEED-certified residence – located just across the street from Epworth Church! And the Friends of Candler Park introduced us all to the Candler Park Brook Restoration Project, many years in the making and now a lovely gem of wildlife habitat. And as if all that wasn’t enough, Zipcar came by to add to the excitement, signing up a few new folks for its terrific sustainable car-sharing program. What a day! Thanks for joining us, Lake Claire and Candler Park! Let’s do it again soon!
Trees for Atlanta’s Sustainability!
Phase 2! March – April 2010 Five gorgeous trees grace the edges of Epworth’s property, giving shade to passers-by, providing a perch for birds traveling over from the Candler Park greenspace, and giving the Epworth Day School a place to hang their holiday ornaments! In March, Epworth was awarded the first ever Trees for Atlanta’s Sustainability grant, offered through the City of Atlanta Arborists Division. The grant sponsored the delivery and maintenace of four Dawn Redwoods and one Tupelo. Lake Claire neighbors Jeff Ford and Robby Handley joined church folks Bill Wood, Andy Smits, and Elise Cormier to dig some mighty big holes and plant our lovely new trees. Also around the same time, Georgia Native Plant Society had the perfect plants for us: three Skyrocket Junipers. Mark Clement & his truck wenched clear a few declining shrubs to make room for our new junipers. These little guys – destined to grow tall – now flank the Sanctuary and Dobbins Hall doorways, identifying these entry points as special and sacred. A special thank you to John Truttier, who faithfully and sustainably watered all of our new trees several times a week, all through the hot summer and dry fall. We’ve all heard the saying: “It takes a village to raise a tree!”
- Building the Kids' Playspace
- Newly-Installed Rainwater Management!
- Installing the Outdoor Parlor
- Dedicating the Outdoor Parlor
Our Outdoor Parlor
Phase 3! June – November 2010 With a masterplan in place, Epworth was prepared to make the most of our response to a leaking basement and foundation wall. General Contractor Tony Citro of Architectural Millwork, Inc. and Elise Cormier, RLA of Smart Landscapes worked with the church Trustees to not only repair the basement leak, but creatively solve ongoing stormwater management problems with installation of gutters and an underground stormwater conveyance. All this functions beneath the pretty surface of a new outdoor parlor patio complete with handicap accessible picnic tables and native plantings. With the construction complete, Epworth’s volunteers pitched in to decorate the outdoor parlor with donated ornamental plants – lenten rose, oakleaf hydrangea, purple cone flower, and butterfly bush – in time for honoring J.C. and Hazel Manus by dedicating the Outdoor Parlor to this remarkable couple who have made such an impact on the life of Epworth and the Candler Park community. See the parlor project – from start to finish!>>
Up Next: Mell Avenue Wildlife Sanctuary
Phase 4! in the works…
Thank you to our Donors!!
These folks shared plants, building materials, and plenty of cheerful labor: Jacqueline McCrae, Betsy Abrams, Diane Moore, Sandra Clem, Faye Chasteen, Barcia Chasteen, Brenda Cormier, Michelle Hughes, Teri Stewart & Iris Hale, Janet Reeves, King and Keith House Bed and Breakfast, Ellen Buettner, Kathy Evans, Marty Peeler, Judith Simmons & Tom Blakely, Derek Meriweather, Ted Pettus, Tony Citro, Grady Whittle, Heidi Hill, Priscilla Werner, Lauren Owenby, Robby Handley, Jeff Ford … and so many more!
The Smart Landscapes Project is sponsored by Smart Landscapes, an Atlanta-based landscape architecture and environmental consulting firm, where outdoor living begins with sustainable design.
We’re proud to lead Epworth’s sustainable make-over!
