Winter is always a little slow here at Clark Kent Creations -- when you make your living off weather-sensitive outdoor work, there is by nature a seasonal lull come winter.  But this past week has been exceptionally slow for just about everybody on the East Coast.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- and while many people honor his legacy by volunteering with community service projects, it's still a day off as far as schools and banks and mail are concerned.  So as parents eagerly readied their kids to return to school on Tuesday, the weather forecasters began making some noise about a storm -- 1 to 3 expected inches quickly turned into 3 to 5, 5 to 9, and eventually 8 to 12 expected inches.

And although the snow hadn't started falling by Tuesday morning, the forecasts were too much for the schools to ignore.  Kids home -- office work shelved for at least a day.  Sure enough, by 10 am the snow was falling pretty heavily -- certainly enough to justify the schools' decision.

The snow fell all day, still coming down at a pretty good clip by the time I went to bed at 11.  At about 7pm the schools called it for Wednesday as well.  The end result -- here in Swarthmore we officially had 14 inches.  14 inches of light fluffy powder.  And two days off of school on the heels of a 3-day weekend -- officially a 5-day weekend, as my kids pointed out to me numerous times.

As the storm cleared the cold temperatures moved in as did the crystal blue skies.  I've written on this blog before about the benefits of living so close to the Swarthmore College Arboretum -- and with a family day off, it was time to see what the Arb had to offer for today.

Sleds in hand, we traversed the main trailhead towards the "Meadow" -- the large open area at the bottom of the valley.  The snow was still fresh enough that it clung to the trees and bushes, and with the cold temperatures at hand, the snow stayed in place on even the most well-travelled of trails. 

We passed a few cross country skiers and dog walkers on the way down, and while other sledders were present on the hills, there was enough space that everybody had their own area to perfect their craft.  Even a few of the local college kids claimed an area for some local snowboarding.

Looking at the 10-day forecast, the temperatures aren't scheduled to pass the freezing mark any time soon, so it looks like this winter wonderland will be around for at least a week or two.  In the mean time though, it probably couldn't hurt for the kids to return to school for at least a few days -- I do have some work that needs to get done around here.

Last week I posted about some unique patio design ideas with the idea of fueling the imagination as homeowners start thinking about possible outdoor projects for their little slice of Planet Earth.

I’m going to continue that theme this week, but instead of patio designs I thought I’d expand it a bit, looking at some of my all-time favorite gardens I’ve visited.

There are tons of great gardens across the country, across the world for that matter.  Whether it’s your neighbors’ bedding areas, your local community park, or a larger horticultural showcase, you really don’t have to go far.

I’m keeping this list to five, but I could probably go on with dozens and dozens more.  But these five each struck me in various compelling ways.

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA. 
Nearly every major metropolitan area has at least one great world-class public garden, and Philly’s certainly no exception.  There are a number of great gardens throughout Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, and Longwood Gardens has to be one of the finest.  Dating back to the original land grant of William Penn, the land was eventually acquired by Pierre DuPont of the famous family (Yes, that Dupont) who used his fortune to create the gardens.

The gardens are situated on more than 1000 acres of land about 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia. There are a number of great display gardens throughout the park, but one of the more popular (and perhaps my favorite) is the amazing water lilly collection on display every summer.  Some of these platters reach a diameter of 6’! The insect-catching plant display and bonsai gardens are some other cool ones to check out.  Whatever your taste, it’s a great place to get inspired.

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA. 
When we lived in San Francisco, Golden Gate Park was just a quick 5-minute walk from our apartment.  And while the entire park has all sorts of fun stuff to do and explore, the Japanese Tea Garden is one of the more popular.  And understandably so.  If you ever want to see what careful cultivation of plants can achieve, you needn’t look any further than the Mt. Fuji-shaped or Dragon hedges near the garden entrance. And they also have one of the largest most established Wisterias I’ve ever seen, checking in at more than 100 years old!  Be sure to check out the waterfall display and koi ponds as well.  As far as peaceful tranquil gardens go, this one has to be near the top of any list.

Native Plant Garden, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. 
While we’re out on the West Coast we might as well as swing down south and check out the native plant garden in Balboa Park in San Diego.  This is an awesome urban park, with many gardens (and other attractions) throughout.  I’m picking the native plant garden just because it reminds me of my California days and the unique plants that grow on the west coast.  But you really can’t go wrong anywhere in the park.  Plus you’ll be in beautiful and nearly always perfect weather San Diego. Can’t really complain about anything out there.

Ithaca Childrens Garden, Ithaca, NY. 
There are many childrens’ gardens located throughout the country, but I have a soft spot for this one in the Finger Lakes Region of upsate New York.  Maybe because it’s just a few miles from 215’ high Taughannock Falls.  Maybe because its nearly impossible not to be inspired by all the amazing gorges and rock formations throughout the area.  Or maybe its because of their awesomely stated goal of inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards.  Whatever the reason, in my opinion this is exactly what a garden should be.  Inviting. Interactive.  Fun.  None of that “stay on the path, don’t touch” mentality.  Nope.  Just kids playing in the dirt, exploring, getting involved, and most importantly having fun.  Grown-ups too.  And oh yeah, they’re host to International Mud Day events, where kids (of all ages) are actually ENCOURAGED to play in the mud.  Imagine that.  Cool indeed.

Scott Amphitheater/Arboretum, Swarthmore PA. 
Just to show you that you don’t need to be a world-class traveler to
enjoy world-class gardens, I’m including this one located less than a mile from my house.  I wrote about Scott Arboretum in more detail in an earlier post last year, but its worth mentioning again, if for no other reason than just to illustrate that great gardens can be located anywhere and everywhere.  But there are plenty of other reasons to include it on this list as well, like the world-class holly, magnolia and oak collections, idyllic Crum Creek, and the absolutely amazing amphitheater, with its masterfully created stone bench walls and majestic tulip tree canopy.

Admittedly this is just a sampling, but hopefully it’ll provide a bit more inspiration to anybody thinking about an outdoor project this year.  And even if you’re not, these are still great places to visit.  Go out and get inspired!

I know I promised everybody that I would post my summary conclusion to my recent hardscaping series this week, but sometimes life throws you a curveball or two, and ol' Mother Nature certainly threw a mean Barry Zito-esque curveball this week with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.  To my loyal readers who were eagerly awaiting the conclusion post, fear not -- I'll post it for sure next week -- but I needed to step away this week to address the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.

According to the stormtracker maps I've seen, the eye of the storm passed a mere five miles from our home, right through the heart of Delaware County.  Thankfully, we're far enough inland that the storm had lost some of its gusto by the time it arrived in ol' Delco, but that's certainly not to say that its impact wasn't felt.

The eye technically hit around 8 pm on Monday evening, but the storm started rolling through Sunday afternoon.  By Sunday evening we knew we were in for a doozy, school had been called off for Monday and Tuesday, the stores were cleared out of the basic essentials, and everybody was prepared to hunker down.

Wind gusts reached about 70 mph as the eye rolled through Delco.  Strong, sure, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.  As the eye approached we watched the excitement from our front windows, occasionally even braving it by stepping out briefly on our front porch.  As bright greenish hue lights flashed in the sky, we at first thought it was lightning accompanying the storm, only later to find out that it was explosions of electric power transformers as people's power went out.

Thankfully, somehow or other our power never went out.  The same can't be said for everybody in our area.  We were a minority for sure.  PECO is reporting some 800,000 customers in the Delaware Valley alone who went without power for some period of time -- my parents who live a few miles from us were without power from Monday evening until Wednesday afternoon.

That picture up above?  That's about a block from my son's school, and that would be the reason school was also called off for Wednesday.  No power = No school.  The picture was actually taken on Thursday evening, and as you can see the tree that originally fell and took out the telephone pole had been cleaned up, but PECO was still monitoring the safety of downed wires as they awaited the crews to restore power.  (The school ended up cranking up the emergency generators for Thursday, limited power but better than nothing.  I guess they realized those kids needed to get out of the house!!)

From a work perspective, we're currently working on a retaining wall project with modular block units.  I made a point on Friday as the storm approached to make sure we were at a point where our work wouldn't be washed out.  Lower courses had been installed in advance of the storm and backfilled with gravel, but still I was a little nervous about just how much clean-up would be necessary after the storm.

Thankfully once again, the damage was minimal.  Sure the site was strewn with sticks and leaves, but no mudslides or washouts -- everything held up just fine. 

The biggest impact that I felt work-wise was the loss of one of my employees who is an Army Reservist.  Last Friday Russ was texted and alerted me that he was being deployed in advance of the storm to help with clean-up and emergency rescue as necessary.  When I texted him on Tuesday he told me that he would be out the remainder of the week and he wouldn't be home until this weekend.  I don't have details as to exactly what he has been doing, but I know there is plenty of opportunity for him to help out across the state.

And Halloween?  Well its relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but as my kids heard the storm was approaching, they began chanting "Go away Sandy, we want candy!!"  Our town ended up having Halloween as usual, but many local municipalities ended up pushing back the trick-or-treating until the weekend, helping to keep police and fire personnel available for clean-up and rescue.

All things considered, we got lucky.  Personally, no power outages, property damage, or any other losses.  Across Delaware County... ? Sure there were plenty of downed trees, power outages, and even some small creek flooding.  But nothing too devastating.

No the real devastation was along the coastal areas, particularly the Jersey Shore.  The storm first made landfall right at Atlantic City.  And while the storm was technically listed as either a Category 1 or a "Post-tropical" storm (whatever that means), the real impact was felt not by the winds or the rainfall, but rather by the tidal surge in conjunction with the strong full moon tides.  Parts of the Jersey shore were completely wiped out -- boardwalks, fishing piers, homes, and businesses wiped away to nothing.

We've spoken with a few friends and neighbors who have Shore houses, and some don't have any clue as of yet as to the state of their properties.  And they're hearing it will be at least a week until they will be allowed to check them out. 

Our thoughts and best wishes are with everybody who has been impacted by the storm.  The best and most important news is that everybody stayed safe and human injuries were few.  And a special thanks and shout-out to all of our emergency personnel, whether you're a fireman, police officer, EMT, Reservist, National Guard, power crew, municipal worker, or any other professional working to keep us safe and as comfortable as possible.  Thank you!

We'll be back next week with the conclusion to my hardscaping series.

A few months back I posted about Swarthmore College’s bucolic Scott Arboretum, and the great recreational opportunities available.  As I mentioned in that post, the arboretum is situated along the banks of Crum Creek, a decent-sized creek that meanders through the heart of Delaware County, PA.

What I didn’t mention in that post is that Crum Creek is one of three large creeks that run through the heart of Delaware County, and all converge within just a few miles of each other into the Delaware River;  The aforementioned Crum Creek, Ridley Creek, and Chester Creek.

And each of these three creeks has its own unique characteristics, history, and recreational opportunities.

Chester Creek originates in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, and flows 24 miles to its confluence with the Delaware River in Chester City, Pennsylvania, near the park named for William Penn’s first landing.  In addition to be a drinking water source for parts of Chester and Delaware counties, the creek is a well utilized trout stocking fishery and home to a number of hiking trails and nature preserves. The lower portion of the creek near Chester City has been referred to as Chester River, and historically has been home to a number of mills that were vital to the early colonial development of the region.

Ridley Creek rises in eastern Chester County in East Whiteland Township in the campus of Immaculata University, and then flows 24 miles southeast through Chester and Delaware Counties to its confluence with the Delaware River between Chester City and Eddystone Borough.  It is the primary water source for approximately 40,000 Delaware County residents.  Ridley Creek is perhaps best known as being the central feature of its namesake state park Ridley Creek State Park, with numerous recreational opportunities centered around the creek.  In addition to being home to a native Brown Trout population, it is also stocked annually with Brown and Rainbow Trout.

Crum Creek, meaning “Crooked Creek” in Dutch, flows 24 miles from the Schuylkill/Delaware drainage ridgeline that follows Monument and King Roads in Malvern and Route 30 in Paoli, through Chester and Delaware Counties to its confluence with the Delaware River in Eddystone at the Boeing plant.  In addition to supplying drinking water to 200,000 Delco residents, Crum Creek also provides numerous recreational opportunities.  Unlike Chester and Ridley Creeks, there is no stocking of trout in Crum Creek, however it is host to the largest native trout population of the three creeks. Recreational opportunities include biking and hiking trails in Smedley Park straddling between Springfield and Nether Providence Townships, and the Swarthmore College Scott Arboretum.  Like Chester and Ridley Creeks, Crum Creek also was host to a number of mills and manufacturing plants during the colonial and industrial era

As a long-time resident and native of Delaware County, I grew up playing in these creeks from an early age, and they still hold a special place in my heart. To me, they are the central arteries of Delaware County.  
 
However, like many waterways throughout the country, they are threatened by pollution, development, sediment, stormwater runoff, erosion, and a number of other threats.  
 
Fortunately there is a group is working hard to preserve these creeks and maintain their livelihood.  The Chester - Ridley - Crum Watersheds Association (CRC) is a nonprofit organization devoted to the protection of water resources and the natural environment of the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek Valleys, and the health, recreational, and quality of life benefits they afford the residents of this region.  For more information about these creeks, check out their website at www.crcwatersheds.org.

** The above map and some of the information above is courtesy of the Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association

So I’m fresh off my mid-summer vacation to the beach, mildly refreshed, yet frantically dealing with what we like to call “re-entry” – that post-vacation state when all of the things that I probably should have been dealing with over the past week seem to be coming to a head simultaneously.

To be honest, mid-summer is probably the absolute WORST time of year for a landscape construction contractor to be taking vacation.  The sales pump needs to be fed as the spring leads and contracts start to run out, and we’re still at least a few weeks away from the early fall rush.  Plus the current summer projects need supervision, and the clock is ticking before my summer workers go their separate ways for the fall.  Thankfully, our current project is for an absolutely awesome client who totally understands that I’m entitled to a little family time, and had no problem at all letting me go play for a week while their project was nearing completion.

In the Philadelphia-area, most people don’t go to the beach – they go “down the shore”, ie the Jersey Shore.  And if your only impression of the Jersey Shore is the TV show, well unfortunately you’re not that far off.

So we skip Jersey altogether and head just a bit further south to Delaware. And our beach trip isn’t quite the same as many other vacationers.  We spend a week camping at Cape Henlopen State Park, on the Northern tip of the Delmarva peninsula where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic.  
 
The camping itself isn’t the most rustic camping I’ve enjoyed.  It’s car-camping on a pre-reserved spot, with public bathhouses and cars and campers from all over North America.  But we spent a week sleeping in a tent and cooking dinner over a fire and enjoying each others’ company around the campfire. The precious times you just can’t get enough of.

And what really seals the deal for me is the beach.  It’s about a half-mile walk from the campsite to the beach, a walk that includes a brief history tour through an old World War II fort used to guard the Delaware Bay from off-shore German submarines and ships.  Our walk typically includes a quick trip up the 80’ high observation tower, and numerous stops at each of the display cannons so the kids can feel like they’re really protecting something.

And once we get to the beach?  Unlike the Jersey Shore it’s not wall-to-wall beachtowels and umbrellas.  Most of the other people on our little slice of unguarded beach are also campers, and the nearest party to our little cabana is usually about 50’ away or so.  Throw in a few Frisbee-chasing dogs, surf-fishermen, kite-flyers, surfers and shell-collectors, and you have a pretty good picture of our vacation.  And there’s still plenty of room that we don’t all get in each others’ way

Oh yeah.  There’s dolphins.  Real dolphins swimming just off shore outside the surf zone.  It almost feels like you could easily swim out and join the pod.

Throw in a little bit of fishing, a nice boat ride out on the open bay, and a short but well-appreciated day excursion to Rehoboth Beach to let the kids get their boardwalk fix (and let me get my DogFish Head Ale Brewpub fix on) and you have a pretty good picture of our trip.

If you’re looking for a rustic beach spot on the east coast, Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware is definitely worth checking out.

Now it’s back to patios, walkways, fences and decks for me.  But the beach will still be lingering somewhere in the back of my head…

One of my favorite places to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is literally right here in my own backyard.  Swarthmore College’s Scott Arboretum sits on 300 peaceful secluded acres on the banks of Crum Creek adjacent to the college’s main campus.  Even though its just 15 miles from Center City Philadelphia, it’s a world away once you hit the trailhead entrances.

According to the arboretum’s website, the arboretum was officially dedicated in 1929 as a living memorial to a college alumnus.  It is supported by an endowment fund through Swarthmore College, with the stated mission of educating the public and demonstrating the plants of Eastern Pennsylvania.  

Today it includes something for everyone, from hardcore horticulturists to outdoor enthusiasts to summer concert-goers.

For plant enthusiasts, the arboretum prides itself on its treasured collections.  In accordance with its mission of educating the public, plants are clearly labeled and tagged, providing a living museum open to the public.  The Arboretum’s collections of hollies, magnolias, and oaks in particular have gained recognition as registered collections in the North American Plant Collections Consortium.  Other prized collections include conifers, crabapples, flowering cherries, hydrangeas, roses, and magnolias.

One of my favorite spots in the arboretum is the Scott Arboretum Amphitheater.  Situated adjacent to one of the main trailheads just off the main campus road, this amazing spot was constructed in 1942 by noted Philadelphia landscape architect Thomas Sears.  Its perfectly spaced semi-circular stone bench walls are terraced between strips of lush lawn, perfect for lounging back on a blanket and taking in the sites.  

The amphitheater sits beneath a canopy of magnificent tulip trees and white oaks, with stunning views into the Crum Creek Valley behind the main stage amidst the dogwoods, magnolias and rhododendrons.  In addition to a number of college events including its annual commencement ceremonies, the amphitheater is also home to a summer concert series, theater performances and is also available for private weddings and parties.

The main trail connects the college entrance through the arboretum, ending on the back door of the campus in neighboring Nether Providence Township.  The length and access is just perfect for a quick “lets get out of the house” excursion, as the trail quickly descends into the valley and meanders along the banks of Crum Creek for approximately 1.5 miles.  A three-mile loop hike takes anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours, depending on how many times we have to stop so the dogs can play in the creek or the kids can climb any of the natural rock formations that dot the shoreline.

In the summer we’ll drop our canoe in just above the creek’s Yale Avenue dam (aka "The Falls"), originally constructed in 1776 in conjunction with a small milltown, and slowly paddle up stream through the woods.  Its not uncommon on these excursions that we don’t see a soul until the creek meets up with the trail.  Brook trout, perch, and bluegills provide fun recreational fishing opportunities, and there’s even some rumors about some bass residing in the waters just behind the dam.  In the winter we’ll ice skate on the same portion of the creek where we canoe, and cross country ski on the trails and across the meadow.

While I’m sure nearly everybody has a local spot that they can tap into for quick, easy, and rewarding recreational opportunities, I’m sure glad that Scott Arboretum is nearby for me.  If you’re in the area and would like to learn more about Scott Arboretum, visit their website at www.scottarboretum.org.

Happy Trails!