Yard of the month program highlights residents’ efforts
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Janesville - Yards of the Month
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The many flowers in Grams' backyard are attractive to bees, but this one is only decorative.
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A colorful fairy that Grams hand-painted decorates her front yard garden.
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Deb Grams waters plants and flowers in her front yard on North Pearl St in the Look West Neighborhood.
A block from Wilson Elementary School is a yard so perfectly mowed and edged, it looks like an ad for lawn fertilizer.
Just across the Five Points’ railroad tracks, on the corner of Ravine and Terrace streets, is another stunner. Dahlias and other annuals spill over the edges of a raised flowerbed. The thin strip of land between the house and the street is also filled with plants and statuary.
Two entirely different yards, one honor: Yard of the Month.
In July, the Neighborhood Action Team started the Yard of the Month program to demonstrate its appreciation for residents in the Fourth Ward and Look West neighborhoods who take care of their yards. Each winner gets a $25 gift card to K&W Greenery, a Yard of the Month sign for the yard and the chance to pick the next month’s winners.
The project is funded by a community development block grant designed to stabilize struggling neighborhoods.
Both areas have struggled with dilapidated rentals and homeowners who don’t have the means—or the interest—to care for the exteriors of their homes.
But interspersed between those bad examples are beautifully cared-for homes with lawns to match.
Heidi Holden, Neighborhood Action Team member, said the committee was excited about picking the first round of winners.
“But the second month, it was even better because when I brought the signs to the houses, I was able to say, ‘One of your neighbors picked you,’” Holden said. “They’re just overwhelmed, and it was so neat to see the look of pride on their faces.”
Each month, from April to November, three homes will be picked in each of the two neighborhoods.
Melinda Truehart and Garry Nickel’s home, 475 Racine St., was a July pick. The yard, which is surrounded by a decorative black fence, is filled with treasures scrounged from the landfill: rose of Sharon, a mulberry bush and snapdragons. Truehart and Nickel nursed the plants along, pruning them for best effect.
In the side yard, a mature red maple picks up the colors in the home’s trim.
Nickel moved into the home 17 years ago and picked the neighborhood because he saw its potential for improvement.
“I wanted to be a beacon. I wanted to make a difference,” Nickel said.
He’s not sure that the neighborhood has improved significantly since he moved in, but he and Truehart are still house-proud. He raised his kids there, and the couple are now raising their grandchildren.
Across from Mercy Hospital, Deb and Fred Grams tend to a tidy yard that expresses the personality of both owners.
Fred likes neat, straight lines, while Deb prefers a riot of plants and colors. She even embraces “volunteer” plants growing out of the compost pile.
Lavender plants bask on the sunny side of the house, while plants such as coral bells, bleeding heart and astilbe line the narrow shady strip between the house and the driveway. In back, perennials and sweet and hot peppers line the edges of the yards.
In front, a columnar weeping evergreen provides a focal point.
Throughout both neighborhoods, tidy yards seem to run in clusters, as though one person’s landscaping was catching.
“That’s what we’re hoping, that this is contagious,” said Kelly Lee, neighborhood development specialist for the city.
The winning yards vary from the elaborate to simply tidy. The home at 321 South Franklin St., for example, has a neat row of short arborvitae in front and along the sides. Hosta line the walk to the front door.
“It doesn’t have to be somebody who has an English garden in their yard,” said Lee. “It just has to be somebody who cares about the appearance of the exterior of their home.”
Aug 28, 2010 at 11:44 a.m.
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Sometimes, no matter how much time and effort you put into your yard, if the neighboring yards are crap, the weeds creep over. We've tried to fight this for years with no progress. Now with new neighbors, there is light at the end of the garden hoe.
Aug 25, 2010 at 6:58 p.m.
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Yes, keeping a yard neat doesn't require much effort. It would help if the many landlords in this city took some pride in their rental properties and required both themselves and the renters to keep things up. A once a month visit to collect the rent check isn't enough. Start taking some responsibility and stop leaving it up to your neighbors and the code department.
Aug 25, 2010 at 4:58 p.m.
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bella- mouse has it right- LAZY. I work 50 hours plus drive time and still my yard looks good. It isn't just grass either. Los to take care of. You need to FIND time if you don't it is called lazy. I see lots of people who have NO PRIDE and are lazy. It doesn't have to be a rotary gardens just basic up keep and junk off of it does NOT take a lot of time. Trash man STILL comes weekly!
Bella- it sounds like you do the basics and that is all some of us are asking for.
I was into gardening much UNTIL I tried to keep up with the Jones. I see this around my area too people "trying" to keep up with me.
It is great idea. Make you feel even better when people appreciate a nice looking yard.
Aug 24, 2010 at 2:58 p.m.
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mouse - I agree; no matter how busy we are, we always make sure we mow and edge the lawn and do the bare minimum of weeding, etc. I just wish I had more time to actually landscape a little, plant some flower beds and decorate a bit. Maybe some day! I think this program is great if it inspires more people to make an effort!
Aug 24, 2010 at 2:15 p.m.
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bella- picking up a bit of trash is not that hard. Live as you must.
Even animals clean there dens!
Aug 24, 2010 at 1:51 p.m.
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Sannio/Heh Heh!! This is a positive program for any neighborhood and it doesn't take much to get it started. I hope it continues for Holiday decorations and the like. Bella, it's true, you get to a point in life when you finally have time to put effort into a yard after the family is raised.
Aug 24, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.
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mouse - I think the word is BUSY! :-) I am a young home owner, and after working a full time job, running back and forth to daycare with a toddler, grocery shopping, and then working on my home business at night and weekends....well, my yard is the least of my concerns! I think it's wonderful that some people have the time and resources to make their yards look pretty, and I enjoy the view when I go for a walk or drive by. Maybe some day I'll have the time (and interest) to do some gardening, too.
Aug 24, 2010 at 10:44 a.m.
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Funny how many old folk can keep places looking nice, but some younger people have no pride at all.
Think the word is lazyyyyyyy!!!!!!!
Aug 23, 2010 at 11:40 p.m.
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This is a great program! I've had to change my driving route and now travel through these two areas several times weekly. I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of homes/yards that could compete with those in any other neighborhood in Janesville. Now, if only somebody could do something about those darn apartments on Kellogg between Jackson Street and Center Avenue. They are really looking badly ... doors missing, windows broken or boarded up, cords running from air-conditioners to the other side of the building, etc.
Aug 23, 2010 at 9:49 p.m.
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sannio, there's no "Slovenly Yard of the Month" program (there would be too many nominees, anyway).
Aug 23, 2010 at 6:52 p.m.
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tree
Aug 23, 2010 at 6:51 p.m.
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First I get the horrible thought last week that if I don't keep my yard tidy Google StreetView will come by, and show the world my sloth. Now it's yard judging!
At least I got the dead in the front yard tree cut down. That's a positive.
Aug 23, 2010 at 4:29 p.m.
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This is a terrific use of a little bit of money in a highly visible way to support the efforts of caring homeowners and renters in these neighborhoods. It can be a little difficult to see, especially when there are so many vacant rentals and foreclosures that receive virtually no care. All the more reason to give those who work a little harder a boost.
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