Christmas Lunch with Engineering

Every year around Christmas time, we try to get together with the Engineering department to have a lunch together.  This year we went to MOD Pizza again and had a great time.  Working for the Temple has many great benefits, and one of them is working with great people!  

Here's to another great Year in 2018!

Pictured Left to Right: Richard Nelson, Dan Finch, Sean Carlson, (above)- Glenn Herendeen, Paul Smith, Scott Farley, Lonnie Startin

Tulip and Daffodil Bulbs

As the temperatures drop, the time for bulb planting begins.  We have around 7000 bulbs we are planting this year and that will make for quite a show.  We had an eagle scout project help with planting 1500 bulbs along the north fence wall.  The bulbs we are planting are tulips, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinth.  Most of those are tulips, after they bloom, are ripped out and composted. Daffodils on the other hand, are perennials and can remain on the property as long as you don't dig them up.  They also multiply and get bigger and stronger every year.  A little tip on planting: we use augers and drills to install the bulbs and plant them 4-6 inches from each other to create a immense mass of color.

Leaf Cleanup Process

 I wanted to explain the process we use to get the parking lot clean from all the leaves during the fall.  We get several questions about how we do it.  We know along with the beautiful fall colors, there comes a big cleanup process in return.  It is totally worth it!

First we get everthing off the grass and push it out into the parking lot.

We try collecting it into the middle of the parking lot aisles as best we can.

We have a nifty trailer box with a vacuum that sucks up the leaves really well and then we dump the leaves into our compost piles in our back area behind the president's residence.

This vacuum is so handy and we are grateful to have it.  It makes the work go so much faster!

Sweet Gum Trees in their vibrant pink colors!

This is one of my favorite compositions of a tree and shrub planting: green dogwood, yellow smokebush, and crimson Japanese Maple 'Beni Otaki'

Slideshow of the Fall Colors

Here's a little slideshow of some pictures I took of the fall leaves recently.  Enjoy!  It is a lot of work to pick up all the leaves.  Coming soon, I will post some tricks and tools we use to take care of the parking lot when there is leaf litter scattered everywhere.  

Autumn Has Arrived at the Temple

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year!

Cyclamen and sedum mixture by the front door

Chili peppers in the mix...

Elder Bang, from South Korea, painting the mailbox

Brighton Lund, who used to work on the grounds last year, proposed to his fiancé at the Temple Grounds a couple of weeks ago!

Fun Group of Great Missionaries!

3 New windows were installed to replace the cracked ones... They were a good match.

Richard making use of the blowers while our Zero Turn mower/blower is at the shop getting worked on

Summer Flowers Out, Fall Flowers in!

Planting the new fall flowers

Great Weather for the Fall Flower Planting

First lay them out in the pots to get an idea of the spread, then plant!

Richard giving the new trailer some John Deere Green paint

Delta Pansies are my favorite fall flower!

Japanese Maples turning the corner with the red colors

I love these tree rings with the Mondo Grass grown around them.  No weeding or any maintenance.  Best solution to a tree ring.  But Mondo Grass is expensive, you have to have patience until it grows together.

Summertime on the Grounds...