Maine Government News
Sneak Preview of Maine’s First YardScaping Garden at the Portland Flower Show
February 22, 2012
Agriculture
PORTLAND—What gardener has not admired a beautiful landscape and thought, “I wish someone would show me how to do that in my garden!” The Maine YardScaping Partnership has done just that for ecologically minded gardeners with its YardScaping Gardens at Back Cove in Portland. And, before the spring flowers bloom, an exhibit at this year’s Portland Flower Show will offer a sneak preview of these newly completed gardens from March 8 to 11.
Over the past five years, visitors to the trails around Back Cove have witnessed a transformation of a two-and-a-half-acre unused field, made available by the City of Portland, into a demonstration landscape planted with more than 2,000 specially selected trees, shrubs, and perennials. The goal of YardScaping is to inspire Maine people to create and maintain healthy landscapes that minimize reliance on water, fertilizer, and pesticides. The project has been made possible by grants from government and nonprofit sources, and generous donations from local businesses and garden clubs, plus the efforts of many local volunteers, including Master Gardeners and dedicated members of the more than 30 YardScaping partners.
“Mainers now have a garden that features trees, shrubs, perennials, and wildflower and grass mixes that can be planted around the state to make gardens more sustainable and reduce the millions of pounds of fertilizer and pesticides that are applied to Maine lawns and gardens each year,” says Gary Fish, YardScaping Coordinator and Manager of Pesticides Programs for the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, one of the YardScaping Partners. Fish will help staff the Flower Show booth, along with many of the others who helped create the gardens, and provide visitors with details and handouts on how they can create beautiful and sustainable gardens of their own.
The YardScaping Gardens at Back Cove are located along the footpath that borders Portland’s Back Cove, adjacent to the Preble Street soccer fields. The Portland Flower Show will be at the Portland Company Marine Complex on the Portland Waterfront. Visit the YardScaping booth (#33) on the ground floor.
For more information about the YardScaping Gardens at Back Cove and YardScaping, go to http://www.yardscaping.org.
Caption for accompanying photo: Portland’s newly completed YardScaping Gardens at Back Cove will be featured in an exhibit at the Portland Flower Show, March 8–11.
Contact: Paul Schlein, paul.b.schlein@maine.gov, 207-287-2731
