'Go Green' Community Event Benefits National Museum of Dance

A partnership between the Capital Region Kohl’s Department Stores and Chip’s Landscaping resulted in a new sustainable water garden for the National Museum of Dance & Hall of Fame in an effort to help the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., community “go green.”

For the second year, Chip’s Landscaping served as project leader for The Kohl’s A-Team volunteers and their National Go-Green community event, joining together to “green” a nonprofit organization in the spirit of community. This daylong, all-volunteer initiative created a sustainable garden bed and water feature at the entrance of National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

The Go Green initiative supports 2011 Earth Month and National Volunteer Month. Chip’s Landscaping invited other national and local businesses to partner in the project. These partners included Netafim Irrigation District Sales, Fort Lee New Jersey; Aquascape Inc., St. Charles, Illinois; Bacalupo Trucking, Greenfield; Geyser Road Dunkin Donuts, Milton; and Amore Italy Pizzeria and Deli, Saratoga Springs. All companies donated labor, materials or food and beverage for the day’s build.

Combining the work of local and national businesses and volunteers, the project has provided a visually appealing, sustainable entrance garden reflecting the history and mission of the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

“Dance and other art forms often find their inspiration in the “movements” of color, texture, seasonal change and the water flow reflected in nature and gardens,” said Sue Ann DuBois, co-owner of Chips Landscaping. “We hope this garden encourages young children who are exploring dance to appreciate the relationship of nature in movement. Visitors will now be welcomed to the Dance Museum and reminded of this relationship with this dynamic entrance garden.”

Design of the new feature boasts components that reduce storm water runoff from driveways that end up in storm water systems and in waterways, filtering and collecting 500 gal of rainwater for reuse to sustain the water feature and reducing approximately 75% of previous system water use for irrigation of the garden area. The water feature is an Aquascape 2 waterfall Pondless spillway with high-efficiency pumps and LED lighting. The Rainwater Harvesting system, Aquascape RainXchange features Aquablox 100% recycled material. A booster pump allows rainwater to be reused in the drip irrigation system. An eco-friendly Aquascape IonGen electronic clarifying system has been installed to provide clear water without use of chemicals.

The newly installed drip irrigation is a high efficiency state of the art drip system that saves 30 to 70% water over traditional irrigation systems. It provides deep root watering versus topical watering reducing plant fungal diseases. The new system can be programmed. The museum will no longer have to worry about sprinklers pummeling incoming and outgoing entrance traffic or inconveniences during special events.

All plants selected for the garden are specific to the site characteristics. Shrubs and flowers have been installed with organic-only practices and will provide all-season interest and return every year. In combination with the water feature, the plants will attract birds and butterflies. A combination of natives and site-specific perennials are included in the design.

Source: Chip's Landscaping