Hanging baskets and barrels packed with flowers are being readied behind the City of North Battleford’s greenhouse for a beautification blitz slated for the first few weeks of June.
“This is our busiest time of year because of the sheer amount of plant material and barrels,” says Tim Yeaman, North Battleford’s foreman of forestry operations.
By the time City workers have finished their planting, they will have transferred wave petunias into 24 hanging baskets and eight boxes and placed English ivy, potato vines, petunias, marigolds, snap dragons, fountain grass, purple hearts, million-bell petunias, alyssum and a wide variety of other plants into 200 barrels.
“It’ll take a week just to do the majority of the barrels,” says Yeaman.
Then, City crews will have to bring all of those hanging baskets to 101st Street and the boxes to the CUplex, City Hall and the entrance to the Fairview neighbourhood. They will place the barrels throughout the city. It’s a job that can easily take two to three weeks, depending on the weather.
But Yeaman says it’s worth it.
“We’re the gateway to the north, so we have to take pride in our city,” he says. “This is part of the beautification we undertake to show that pride in our home, in North Battleford. It’s something that lifts up our spirits from the day-to-day business of earning a living.”
