Randall Fleming is the go-to man at UrbanScapes Native Plant Nursery, in keeping with Dennis Riordan, who helped discovered the New Haven-based nursery by way of Menunkatuck Audubon Society. “Randall lives within the neighborhood and has been with us since we began in the course of the pandemic in 2020. I name him rNaturalist, like iNaturalist, as a result of he can take a look at a plant and let you know what it’s.”
Randall has risen to turn into a crew chief at UrbanScapes, doing every part from watering to serving to clients and bringing vegetation out to their vehicles.
“My favourite is when we’ve got a giant sale and everybody’s asking for my assist,” says Randall. “I ask them what sort of soil they’ve, how a lot shade or solar they get, what colour flower they like… after which I make suggestions. I needed to study the Latin names of the vegetation, however that wasn’t very enjoyable!”
UrbanScapes cultivated 4,500 vegetation this yr, up from about 300-400 in 2020 after they launched. They’ve employed 12 younger folks in seasonal, hourly paid work, 4 of whom began freshman yr of highschool and simply graduated.
“We couldn’t do it with out our crew,” says Dennis. “I’m so happy with the blokes we’ve got working for us. Of the 4 who simply graduated, one went into the Navy, one is at Central Connecticut State College, and one is beginning faculty in January. It’s bittersweet. After we break up after work they go round and hug everyone goodbye!”
It isn’t simply the crew that has tended to stay round – UrbanScapes’ buyer base has grown considerably, with many turning into repeat purchasers.
Nicole Davis, Watersheds Venture Supervisor for Save the Sound, frequents the nursery for work.
“Save the Sound constructed one of many largest rain gardens within the northeast at Hamden City Middle Park, and we most likely purchased near 1,500 vegetation over the course of the season,” says Nicole. “On the finish of the yr we amazingly had cash left in our grant, so I did one in all my favourite issues which is… shopping for additional vegetation!”
Jim Sirch is the present President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society, and previous president of Hamden Land Conservation Belief (HLCT). He has bought vegetation by way of UrbanScapes for HLCT and for his own residence backyard, the place he’s lowering his garden and guaranteeing 70% of his plantings are native (per the 70/30 planting rule attributed to Doug Tallamy).
“Hamden Land Conservation Belief has a four-acre property alongside the Farmington Canal, the place there’s a meadow closely invaded with mugwort. We’ve smothered it with a couple of foot of woodchips and planted some native herbaceous vegetation and shrubs like pink osier dogwood, spicebush, sneezeweed or helen’s flower, swamp milkweed… UrbanScapes is the closest native plant nursery within the state,” stated Jim.
This lack of native plant nurseries in Connecticut was a ache level Dennis Riordan acknowledged early on. It was a serious impetus for establishing UrbanScapes and creates a possibility for development.
Initially, UrbanScapes was rising vegetation from native plugs, bought from industrial nurseries in New Jersey. This yr they bought plugs from Choose’s Farm in Outdated Lyme, a 350-year-old household farm that not too long ago made the change to rising native vegetation.
“Getting all these native vegetation out on the planet is nice however one of the best half is the individuals who work there,” says Dennis Riordan.
The subsequent step is rising vegetation from seed, each in order that UrbanScapes can produce extra vegetation and so their employees can study new abilities. Whereas they’ve a greenhouse, it isn’t heated and due to this fact not usable within the colder months. Discovering a heated greenhouse is one in all Dennis’s prime priorities.
Finally, Dennis wish to see UrbanScapes turn into a thriving enterprise that advantages the neighborhood. This might occur by way of the Menunkatuck Audubon Society, or it might contain passing on the nursery to a area people group that may have the ability to spend money on its development.
“I as soon as stated to Q (Quayson Pearson, one of many UrbanScapes workers), might you care for this Japanese knotweed? I believed he’d simply reduce it again a bit. Subsequent factor I do know, he’s going over to the nursery in the course of the week when he’s not scheduled to chop knotweed,” says Dennis, reflecting on what makes UrbanScapes so particular to the neighborhood.
“Getting all these native vegetation out on the planet is nice however one of the best half is the individuals who work there,” he says.
