Holly Days Nursery http://www.hollydaysnursery.com Project Entry: Whitemarsh Clock 2013 PLNA Awards for Landscape Excellence Winner Category: Commerical Hardscaping $15,000 - $30,000 Award Level: Honorable Mention Project Description: Whitemarsh Memorial Park, a burial estate created in 1929, services Philadelphia's growing northern suburbs. The Whitemarsh clock identifies one comer of the estate at its busiest intersection. It has been a prominent area landmark for the past 80 years. Major landscape upgrades within the memorial park were underway and new signage had recently been installed. Now it was time to give the clock a facelift with a fresher, easier to maintain landscape design that would look great no matter the season. Larger heavily pruned evergreens looked out-of-date, years of planting and replanting seasonal flowers resulted in a misshapen clock face, and the seasonal plantings within the face often hid the hour and minute hands. The designer's solution was to create a bolder and permanent focal point. The clock face would be recreated with block and stone, while landscape material would be carefully chosen for proper scale and ease of maintenance. Unique problems to the project included: • Determine and restore the original size and shape of the clock face • The significant change-in-grade of the site • Plant choice and location to complement, rather than overpower the focal point The overall size of the clock face had decreased and the shape distorted after years of planting and replanting seasonal flowers. The hour and minute hands were measured to help determine the original size of the clock face. Black jumbo Belgian blocks were set in concrete with mortared joints to permanently define its shape. Additional blocks were used to identify five-minute increments while boxwoods were installed to mark the hours. Placement of these blocks and boxwoods had to be exact. After all, every motorist sitting at the intersection waiting for the light to change would surely notice any misalignment. The face was then filled with %" white stone to set-off the hour and minute hands which were painted black. The change-in-grade presented an interesting challenge in the design, especially the hour markers as they are prominent features of the clock face, second only to the hands. Boxwoods were an obvious choice - evergreen, formal and relatively easy to keep healthy and looking their best. However, due to the abrupt change-in-grade and resulting perspective as the clock is viewed from the intersection, short and rounded boxwoods were installed versus the conical and slightly taller boxwoods as was originally planned. Additionally, the seasonal planting area now fully abuts the clock face, eliminating the narrow grass strip that once required mowing on a steep slope. Lastly, memorial park management desired plant material that provided interest throughout the year yet required fewer maintenance hours. Time spent planning and planting the clock face were decreased by simply relocating the seasonal planting area from the face to the base of the clock. Meanwhile, trees and shrubs that do double duty- Autumn Flowering Cherry, Boomerang Lilac and Henry's Gamet Itea - were installed to supply interest over several seasons. The opportunity to improve on a community landmark doesn't come around very often. Because the site is well-known the revision had to be respectful to the original design, the clock shape exact and the plant material chosen for its longevity. After all, the result will be referred to and seen by countless people for many, many years to come. Plant List: Botanical Name (Common Name) 42 - Buxus 'Green Velvet' (Green Velvet Boxwood) 6 - !tea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' (Henry's Gamet Itea) 2 - Prunus subhirtella 'Autumna/is' (Autumn Flowering Cherry) 12 - Syringa x 'Boomerang' (Boomerang Lilac) Seasonal Planting Suggestions: Brassica oleracea or B. acephala (Ornamental cabbage or kale) Dendranthema U wandiflora (Fall Garden Mum) Petunia x hybrida 'Easy Wave' (Easy Wave Petunia) Viola x wittrockiana. V. cornuta or V. tricolor (Pansy or Johnny-Jump-Ups) Photo Credit: Holly Days Nursery and Landscapes