Back to Square One

March 1st, 2011, 8:19 pm

Well after our eye-opening midterm presentation our wise and wonderful professors reminded the Lot group of our origional purpose!

Our origional assignment was to remodel the Wildflower Garden and get all of the supplies ready for next semesters group!

So with a new determination the group set to creating ideas for the new design for the garden. The origional design, although well thought out and extremely appealing did have a few flaws, which needed to be addressed. These were the paths which weren’t wide enough for more then one person at a time, and the fact that the garden got a bit our of hand over the summer.

With these factors in mind, and the Wildflower Group’s Legacy Report in hand we got to work!

Our first design was very similar to one the past group had considered.

It’s a simple design which utilizes the square-foot gardening concept which the last group decided to use. The paths are nice and wide and we decided to incorporate a sitting area in the center of the lot which we believe would encourage the use of the area.

Our second design took into consideration the shape of the “cap” we were considering placing on the birdhouse pole.

This design created more beds which could be planted, in a more defined way. It also also allowed for a pathway to the Green House which is currently being researched and priced by our Green House Team. We also decided that planting some trees along the back of the lot will give the area more of a private feeling. It was suggested that we use fruit bearing trees.

 Our Third Design used the idea of concentric circles for the design with one very wide pathway leading into the area.

Our group thought that this design was an effective example of the square-foot gardening concept. We also believed that it would allow us to plant all the types of plants which the Wildflower Group proved would thrive! We believe that with the mulch which already covers the lot, we would already have a jump on keeping those pesky weeds down!

After consulting with our professors, it was suggested that we also consider a more organic design for planting. Making the height of the plants the key element in suggesting where they would be placed. Our fourth design is an example of this.

Using the idea of the different lengths of grass on a golf course the group created a design which uses the heights of the plants to create visual interest in the lot. This design makes would make the viewer believe that the lot itself is not flat, but has small hills and valleys in it.

These are just a few ideas which we have come up with. We are still researching which plants would be best suited to our area, as well as those which are self-sufficient for the most part. We have come a long way, but we can’t see the finish line yet!

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From Poster to Post!

June 17th, 2010, 3:12 pm

Playing around with the Birdhouses and Birdfeeders

It was a busy night this past Tuesday! Since it was the last working day of class, we had to get everything done and started to prepare the final presentation. During the first two hours of Tuesday’s class, our group combined everyone’s parts of the legacy report and did some minor editing and formatting in order to print the report on Wednesday.

After that, we began to finish up the work we left last Thursday—putting bird feeders and bird houses on the post. We punched holes on the sides and bottoms of the bird houses so that they could be screwed onto the post with ease. We went to the Ecohouse site; the concrete base was quite solid. Consequentially, it was time to put our bird houses and feeders against it and see how it would look. Rod gave us advice on how it is important to keep in mind the various angles one can examine the post from. Every angle represents a distinct meaning and focus of the post. At that point, we purchased more bird houses, and we attached them in various positions and angles in order to see how everything would fit together aesthetically. Moreover, we received a picture of a bird perched at the top of the post! Although we did not have enough time to attach the bird houses on permanently, we have left detailed plans in our legacy report on how everything will fit together. It will be a minor project for the next group of students to take on and should be completed within several days.

Mission Accomplished! That's a bird on top of the post...



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Jumping Out Of The Box!

June 12th, 2010, 3:19 pm

Being Creative...

This Tuesday, our group went through the toughest night of the semester. Unfortunately, our designs for the signage were turned down again. It was suggested to find or create our own image for the sign instead of using the ones we had found. At that moment, we were very nervous and anxious for the success of our project. We felt it would not be completed by the end of the semester, since we spent over half of the semester just on the initial stage for the sign. Although hundreds of suggestions had been given by our instructors and we explored many venues, we were lost in our direction. Time does not wait. Only three classes were left to the end of the semester, and the pressures to finalize a design and erect the sign within a week were high! We took the professor’s advice, and immediately went to the Wildflower site in order to refresh our minds. Here we thought up some crazy and creative designs for the sign. Being on site, we were able to think outside of the box, literally, and new ideas just kept coming to us. The process felt very different, as though we were using a part of our brain that had been forgotten since we were 5 years old. With just under an hour, we got fifteen designs! No pain, no gain. Finally, one of our designs evoked some interest, from our professors, for which it was suggested that models be made. This would allow us to analyze our designs and give us multiple angles from which to view the sign. If approved, the next step would be to make the models into reality.

Some ideas

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Canadian Tire Eh!

June 2nd, 2010, 7:22 pm

Today we purchased items to assist the Wildflower garden group to begin cultivating the land. Staying within the Green Corridor we went to the Canadian Tire on Huron Church. We purchased 2 large shovels a large pack of gloves and a nozzle to attach to the hose. The products were not difficult to find but we were faced with a difficult decision on whether to sacrifice price over quality. In the end we went with quality. An update on another part of our project is establishing a volunteer base to maintain the garden after we have gone. Manjot contacted “A Place of our own”. They gave us some promising news that the possibility of them assisting with volunteers is high. We also called a number of other community organizations where we left detailed voicemail messages explaining who we are and what we are aiming to do. The signs for both the eco house and wildflower garden are well on their way. All they require is approval from Rod and Justin and a little editing in Photoshop. After class with tools in hand we headed down to the Ecohouse to assist the wildflower group in cultivating the land. There were number of areas on the land that have ingrown weeds. We assisted them in removing the weeds. Today was a far cry from the complete project but a productive day overall.

Working hard or hardly working?

We're not scared of getting dirty!

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