Friday, October 10, 2008

Money for Community Gardens

Public and Community Gardens are Invited to Apply for
Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards

The Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award, a new award program to give national recognition and $5,000 in plants to community groups and organizations who are improving their local environments, has been announced by Nature Hills Nursery. The award will be presented annually, beginning in April 2009, to groups and organizations that are literally “greening” their communities, parks, schools and public spaces by planting trees, shrubs and other plants.

The winners of the inaugural Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be those nonprofit groups and organizations that truly are making a difference in their local neighborhoods. The Grand Prize winning garden project will receive $2,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery. The First Prize winner will receive $1,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery, and the Second Prize winner will receive $1,000 in plants. The plant materials can contain any combination of trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds that Nature Hills Nursery offers.
The award winners will be chosen from those groups who submit a local community gardening or “greening” project that makes best use of the trees, bushes and shrubs that Nature Hills Nursery will award. Potential Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award winning projects could be:

· Creating or refurbishing the landscape in a community park.
· A local soil erosion control plan that utilizes plants to stabilize steep hillside slopes or river banks.
· The reclamation of an abandoned lot with the creation of a fruit orchard that will provide much needed fruit to nearby low-income residents.
· Creating a wildlife habitat for birds or animals on donated land that is (or has been) abandoned or neglected.

Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Nature Hills Nursery is a website-only retailer that sells trees, shrubs, perennials and other plants. The company created the Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards as a way to give back to the communities and people who have contributed to the success of the seven-year-old company.

Applications for the Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be accepted nationwide from October 15, 2008 until April 1, 2009. The winners of the 2009 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award will be announced on April 17, 2009. To apply for the 2009 award online, visit the website at http://www.naturehills.com/green_america_awards.aspx.