Landscaping Trinity

*Landscaping Trinity*
Sanctuary (Before)	Side of Sanctuary (Now)		Education Building (Before)
Mr. Stacey Stokes at work planting the sprinkler system PVC pipes on the 8th Avenue side of the sanctuary THE 1997 LANDSCAPE PLAN FOR TRINITY Click on the picture for a large view of the landscaping plan	You've noticed something's afoot if you've been around Trinity lately. All the bushes are gone around the Sanctuary and the Education Building. There are freshly dug trenches on the 8th Avenue side of the Sanctuary. A work trailer and a Bobcat caterpillar have been parked on the lawn. Your Board of Trustees awarded the landscape contract to Stokes Enterprises, Inc., Coker, Alabama, and work has started on this project. I spoke with Mr. Stacey Stokes on a bright and sunny Friday morning, April 20, about what he plans to do for Trinity. The plan he is following is a plan drawn up for Trinity in 1997--April 15, 1997 to be exact. This plan was commissioned but never executed. Added to the plan is a sprinkler system for irrigation, and that is what Mr. Stokes is working on currently. He has placed the underground PVC piping on the 8th Avenue side of the sanctuary, the source of the water supply. This is the easy part of the job! More difficulty will come when he continues the sprinkler system around the front of the church and into the front lawn area. He will have to tunnel under our expansive concrete front walkway to get access to the larger area of landscape plantings. He anticipates this phase will take at least 2 weeks. The Trustees also approved the installation of a French drain system to deal with the water intrusion into the Fellowship Hall due to an anomalous situation in which rainwater cannot drain away from the Sanctuary because the ground slopes toward the building rather than away from it. Church member Joe Black has designed a French drain with water pump to ensure that water trapped between the sidewalk and the building will be sent to the streetside storm drainage system. Mr. Stokes will be asked to use his trenching equipment to help install the new drainage system. Because of the extensive irrigation and drainage work being done, you should not expect to see the installation of planting beds and shrubbery until about mid-May. The landscape design addresses only base plantings along the Trinity buildings. Mr. Stokes will not be working on the large front lawn which depends on God's watering schedule (a.k.a. "rainfall") and consequently has become naturalized with weeds and clover. The University of Alabama/City of Tuscaloosa streetscaping project will provide sodded lawngrass between the public sidewalk and the curb of Paul W. Bryant Drive, and there is provision for shrubs and groundcover in front of the fence between our two driveways of the parking lot. Our front lawn has been revenue generating property for football gameday parking, so there has been no attempt to invade this area by the landscaping plan in a way that would reduce parking spaces. After the underground work is completed, the planting beds will be developed, the plants will be installed and mulch will be added to produce a neat, orderly end product that will visually enhance the appearance of our church.		All the scrawney bushes are gone! Only the Dulcie Biggs Memorial Crepe Myrtle donated by the Tuscaloosa Women's Garden Club remains in the shadows awaiting its place in the new Trinity landscape.
	The following are on the landscaping list for the Trinity project:
	Nellie B. Stephens	10 Gallon Size - 3' to 4' tall
	Indian Hawthorn (pink)	3 Gallon Size
	American Boxwood	B & B - 30" - 33"
	Nandina (Firepower)	3 Gallon Size
	Helleri Holly	3 Gallon Size
	Needle Point Holly	10 Gallon Size
	Mahonia	3 Gallon Size
	Big Blue Liriope
	Dwarf Mondo

Well, some time has elapsed. It's now the end of May, and Mr. Stokes has completed the project. It will be dedicated on June 3, right after the Morning Worship. Here are a few views of the results:

	The appearance of the entrance to the sanctuary has been renewed. Those hollies will grow to be very tall tree-form shrubs when mature.
	The 8th Avenue side of the entrance and Sanctuary now have well-defined planting beds and the mixed flora that the 1997 landscape architect recommended.
	Here's the "Miss Dulcie" crepe myrtle that was donated to the church in honor of Dulcie Biggs by the Tuscaloosa Garden Club. It is in a place of honor in the most visible part of the landscaping project.
	The Education Wing now has neat, well-mulched planting beds that give the structure a much more organized and pleasing appearance.
	Even those horrid (visually, not comfort-giving) air-conditioner compressors don't look so bad with the planting beds freshly mulched. Note also, the French drain and the pump wells designed by Joe Black to protect against water intrusion into the Fellowship Hall are concealed by the mulch, but do their job just as well.
You, yes YOU, have an opportunity to make a gift to Trinity United Methodist's new landscaping in honor or in memory of someone.
For the beauty of the earth,	HOLLY LEVEL	$30 - $44
For the glory of the skies,	HAWTHORN LEVEL	$45 - $59
For the love which from our birth	NANDINA LEVEL	$60 - $74
Over and around us lies	LIRIOPE LEVEL	$75 - $149
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.	BOXWOOD LEVEL	$150 and above
Text of hymn by Folliot S. Pierpont	Your contribution will be acknowledged in the bulletin and with a note to the person or family whose address you provide. Donation forms are available in the sanctuary and narthex on Sundays and in the Church Office