The Ninebark

(Author’s Note: Don’t forget to see our video at the bottom of this post!)

This is an update to say we’re rolling on the Madden project. Their design is complete and we’re hoping to install within the next 2 weeks.

In the meantime, durring our drawing process we learned about the Conners - a family of 6 that needed some shrub work done - we packed up our whole team, all five of us and headed out to Avon. When we got there Anne explained that it was actually just a quick transplant that she needed done. It only took us about an hour.

Anne, who is wife and mother of four told us it can be overwhelming. She tries hard not to let the strain be apparent to people around her, especially the kids, but she related a conversation her son had with her mother to us. Her son said “Grandma, is it okay if I don’t cry about Dad being gone? I really miss him, but I can’t cry. Mom cries sometimes, but I can’t cry”.

Our hearts really go out to them – it’s obviously an enormous weight for them all. Sean, the dad calls from Iraq and seems to have a new report every week about someone close to him that isn’t coming home. Anne tells us that several weeks ago Sean was a part of a convoy where one of the tanks ran over a mine. A friend of Sean’s, two vehicles ahead, was badly injured - its these things that make the mind a warzone.

Sean is scheduled to come home a week or so before Thanksgiving and we’ve asked them to keep us posted - we’re looking forward to celebrating his safe return with them! I’m including some pictures and a little video from the day we went out to the Conners! (Anne had ten children in her house that day! Whew!) Thank you Anne and Sean for everything!

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers with us

As some of you may know, in 2003 Ground Affects Landscape was voted Hendricks County’s best landscape firm. Shortly thereafter, Aaron took a sabatical from full time landscaping to pursue an opportunity in finance.

We are proud to announce that the Flyer ran its contest again and despite only having returned to full time landscaping at the begining of 2008, we recieved Hendrick’s County’s (second) best landscape company this year!

Thanks to everyone who voted! We rely so much on word-of-mouth and referrals, your confidence makes a difference to our ‘entrepreneurial endeavor’ as we press on and grow!
We are proud to be building something new and different, and passionate about doing something exceptional for all of our clients!

This is a short update to say - we have selected our family - they were nominated by the Avon American Legion, and the gentleman writing says;

“I wanted to forward a name to you if you are still pursuing a military family…within our community. Her name is Misty Madden and is the mother of six. Her husband and son are currently serving in Iraq and four others are serving active duty elsewhere. She is alone and is also a National Guard member”…They are the only family that receives a 7 star “Blue Star Banner.We contacted Misty a few days ago…she was completely surprised! We set up our first design appointment with her for the 28th. We are so excited! Congratulations, Maddens!

We decided several months ago, when the season first started up and we started bringing in staff for the year that we wanted to make giving a priority. I started calling it “mandatory volunteering”, which Aaron (while laughing hysterically) reminded me was an oxymoron. So with a slight adjustment to “Strongly Encouraged Volunteering” we began researching opportunities - all of our staff with no “strong encouragement” required excitedly got on board with the idea, but we had quite a bit of trouble pointing our efforts in a direction that really felt like a good fit until one afternoon, when Aaron looked at me and said

“Soldiers….why don’t we do our own thing and donate a landscape to the family of a soldier who is currently deployed?”

and thus the idea was born. A while later I asked him what gave him that idea, and he responded with his usual intensity

“We’re entrepreneurs - and we owe the right and priviledge that we have to BE entrepreneurs to our troops, who fight for our safety and our freedom, who serve to make this country what it is”

and I further think about the families, who sacrafice so much - the time with family, the support of their loved ones in the day-to-day…and I agree with him wholeheartedly. We’re blessed because of them, and while this “gift” in no way compares in scale, we still feel glad to be able to express our gratitude to whatever degree….and so here is the story of our first anual Landscape for Soldiers…

Our first event for Landscapes for Soldiers was Plainfield’s Sale on the Trail. We decided to be a part of this event to get the word out about the silent auction we’re having, which offers custom landscape designs (donated by our staff) whose proceeds go toward the purchase of landscape materials for the landscape donation. We also felt like it was a great opportunity to basically be a giant tent that says “REMEMBER THE TROOPS AND ALL THAT THEY GIVE!”

Here’s pictures of our booth. We found out about the event 3 days before hand, and so we didn’t have a lot of time to put something together, but we were happy with how it turned out.

We got there early - 6ish, when the fog was still heavy and cool and the mesquitoes were still hungry. It rained…no…poured the day before, so the ground sucked at our feet and soaked our pants, but I think our perspective was different because we had in the forefront of our minds the men and women overseas in genuinely uncomfortable circumstances.

The sun finally came toppling over the trees and people started passing by. Almost everyone had a story about someone they know in the service. Almost every person that came by stood quietly and read the board, nodding with the unspoken agreement “yes, this is important. It’s important to remember, to be grateful.”

It is with new-parent pride that we here at Ground Affects Landscape introduce “The Ninebark“. We find ourselves so passionate about our clients, our projects, and the things we’re always discovering and learning about landscaping that we decided to share it with you, in the hopes that you might discover something helpful or even entertaining here, as well!

The short list of what you may find here;

The Plant of the Month - a short video featuring a member of our staff introducing our new favorite plant, showing off all of it’s great features and benefits and stumping for why we’ve picked it. You’ll find a spot on the side bar of the blog to vote on the plant of the month - give us your thumbs up or thumbs down, we’ll enjoy the feedback about our selection!

Project Progress - Videos and posts showing how the process works on a live project - the difficult, the easy, the time Aaron falls into the mud….(Premeditated, maybe, hilariously funny….absolutely)

“Unveilings” - You’ll get to see our finished projects. Tell us what you like!

Landscapes for Soldiers - We believe that giving comes first, no matter how small a company you are - we have started a new “tradition” for the Ground Affects where we donate one landscape a year to the family of a service member currently stationed overseas. You can watch the progress, read about who contributed, and read some of the great stories for yourself of the selfless service families who have given so much!

Interesting News & Tips - If we find out something that we think might be cool and useful information, we’ll pass it along.

Things will change frequently here, so feel free to subscribe - also, we appreciate your feedback, so comments are welcome!