E Roy Bixby School Landscaping

Client – Bogota School Board of Education

Lincoln Landscaping, a unique and innovative Organic company, has partnered with the Bogota School Board of Education, the school Principal Damon Englese, and Superintendent Letizia Pantoliano to design and install a planting at the E Roy Bixby School. In an effort to turn a school around and to create a positive environment where the students want to come and learn the most important factor is leadership. Bixby School Principal Damon Englese and Superintendent Letizia Pantoliano fit the bill, and was a key in the transition of the outside grounds into a mass of perennial color planted in a vibrant rich compost. Principle Englese informed me that other than leadership, the most important thing in turning a school around its overall appearance of the building and grounds.

Something old, a classic brick building has gotten a facelift with a modern set of front doors and a new set of stairs, something new. Combined with a bold blue paint the rails compliment this balance of old and new. Feeding off of Englese’s and Pantoliano’s passion, Lincoln has created a wonderful garden featuring color in spring and fall where students, faculty and administration are working. However, for those summer months we have a few surprises for people who are still working. To create a year round green backdrop for the color, something borrowed we transplanted a boxwood hedge that was out near the sidewalk, ineffective there, the new location makes them pop.

Combining native plants, perennials, and groundcovers, the color scheme of pastel blues and pinks, with an occasional splash of yellow, white and purple, work well with the blue rails. As the planting was being installed butterflies were already fluttering by seemingly content in this new environment. The foundation of the project was transforming the soils with a rich compost alive with beneficial bacteria and fungi. I have never seen such arid and dry soils the addition of compost was vital for the overall success of the project. Studying the site, the walk up to the school is evenly divided by the beds, half in sun and half in shade. These conditions dictated our plant choices. The sun side have something blue the Yarrow and Caryopteris, purple dome Aster, Rudabeckia, drift roses, Echinacae, Coreopsis, Nepata, and a splash of anemone tucked behind a splash of shade the sign provides. The shade sid is loaded up with Hydrangea, Hosta, Astible, Fern, anemone, Heuchera, Heucherella, and Ligularia.

The final piece of the design puzzle was to enhance traffic flow in and out of the school. With parents congregating on the main walkway students walked off the walkway, compacting soils, killing the turf and ultimately killing our plantings. On the shade side, we created a gravel area off the walk in a teardrop shape where parents can gather and gab, while waiting for their children. Working with the PTA a donation of five curved benches completed our project. Our hope is parents and administration value their new environment, encourage the young students to respect their new environment, and stay on the walkways. Lincoln Landscaping has volunteered to work with the science class to teach the value of organic soils and native plants, both of which, grow plants with a natural resistance to pests and disease. The diversity of plant material will bring in many beneficial insects, which will further protect plants.

The images below show this landscape design and build project with images of the beds adjoining the school as well as the arced entrance beds that were created along with the sign planting. A panorama view of the school before is followed by 8 before images and then the actual planting.

Lincoln Landscaping can do this for your school, business, or home. Take the initiative and make it happen. Lincoln Landscaping, the “Natural Choice”.

E Roy Bixby School Landscape Planting