Winter Repairs

When the weather gets a little colder outside and work slows down, we find some equipment to fix in our shop.   We continue to keep an eye out for things that come up on the grounds, including leaf cleanup, or never ending mole problems.  Also, we are always on the lookout for potential snow storms and ready with our plows.

First Snow Storm of the Year

There was quite a snow storm throughout the northwest last Thursday night. We were lucky in Bellevue that the temperature was in the high 30s so we didn't have to worry about pushing snow. It melted on the roads and sidewalks, but there was just enough snow that stuck on the trees and grass so I had to get out my camera.

Nativity is Up!

Last week before Thanksgiving we were able to set up the Nativity set.  It is a fun time of the year and we always love putting this nativity up on the lawn to show to all the cars that pass by on 148th Ave.  We were joking that Richard is playing the act of the donkey in route to Bethlehem as he takes Mary, Joseph to where they need to go.  

Fall Storms

We had our first set of wind storms in October that damaged a douglas fir tree up at the President's residence.  A 40 foot section of a 100 foot tree had broken off and was leaning on a neighboring tree.  Davey Tree experts came and took care of the tree and ultimately chopped the whole tree down.  It was amazing to see them take care of this damaged tree.  The tree seemed to have several holes from woodpeckers where the crack occurred, so we are glad this tree fell the way it did.

Election Day was a beautiful day! 11/8/2016

More Pictures of Autumn

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, especially at the Seattle Temple where combos of yellow, red, and orange are prevalent.  Autumn in the Pacific Northwest isn't as extravagant as the Northeast part of the United States, but due to a lush market for Horticulture, parts of Seattle are now flourishing with towering trees glowing with amazing fall color.  The Seattle Temple, built in 1980, has planted a rich combination of trees that show off their fall color really well.  Sweet gums, red oaks, katsuras, and japanese maples are a few that stand out to me. Take a look:

Autumn Has Arrived

Katsura trees turn a golden yellow along the double drive and Sweet Gum trees turn a vibrant red-pink in outer parking lot

Gotta Love the Dahlias!

We have had great success with our Dahlias this year.  We want to learn how to use them better in flower designs so we can add them to other areas of the grounds.

Fall Planting

We planted our fall plants this week!  Our other flowers from the summer were looking fabulous but we needed to get the fall plants in now so they have a chance to establish before colder weather arrives.  I love Autumn!

Power Raking: The Grass Will Thank Us Later

Richard, the Turf Master, always has a trick up his sleeve when it comes to the grass... He has been power raking the lawns, which has rejuvenated the grass, and removed numerous weedy Poa annua grass plants.  This process uses a machine that has a vertical cutting action that cuts and pulls out dead grass giving the turf some added oxygen to the roots.  The Turf really loves this treatment, and we are thinking of getting into a regular schedule with this Power Rake, spring and fall.

Bus garden August 30th

August 30th

NW Oval

Fall Hydroseeding

We had an area of the South oval that was being overtaken by Poa annua or annual bluegrass.  Richard Brought in his sod cutter and we cut it out, prepped the soil and hydroseeded the area.  Our process from start to finish is seen in the pictures below.

Identify the areas to be reseeded

Sod cut the turf out, prepare the top layer of soil by adding compost/sand mix and level out.  Wet down

Then comes the hydroseeding part, which has a slurry mixture made of newspaper, green dye, fertilizer, and water.  It creates a nice mat that cannot be damaged as easily as seeding on top of the soil.  

The Finished Product!

Sean's Last Day

Before Sean headed to China to teach English we put a harness on him and sent him on the roof to clean a landing on the roof. This was last Thursday, September 1st. This location is right above the House of the Lord sign and has some drains that needed cleaning. He did a good job and about 15 minutes left there was a downpour that started so we were glad he made it back down safe. He will be missed on the grounds. Congrats on getting married last month and good luck in China!