Wednesday morning May 16th: The air was cool, skies gray and winds brisk; typical summer weather pattern for Richmond. Gardeners’ Guild teams set up tents, tables; chairs and before 8am the barbecue was grilling chicken and beef samples for the early taste testers. This wasn’t just any company picnic – it was Gardeners’ Guild’s annual Safety Jamboree. It is an opportunity to gather all of us together on site to share food, conversation, and laughter and to remind each other of the importance of Safety. The program started with a delicious lunch of barbecued chicken, beef tortillas, salsa, rice beans, potato salad. Next we ...
GGI has an employee garden. We are in our second season! So far, this spring, we are planting tomatoes, celery, carrots, eggplants. Next we will add beans, beets and zucchini. It’s a team effort with Jeanne Phelan, our Purchasing Administrator, leading. She has been ordering the plants and actually been the main driver of this project. The goal is to provide each other with fresh and healthy food. Planting and tending to the garden are done on an informal basis. When we have new plants Jeanne will send out an email letting us know that she needs help. When plants are harvested we put ...
Earth Day 2012 is more like Earth Month! Gardeners’ Guild has participated in a number of events last week and this week. Among them were Ghirardelli Square’s Fourth Annual "Ghirardelli Goes Green". We also had a table at One Market Plaza, Opera Plaza and Thursday we will be at 505 Montgomery. We had a table featuring Lady Bugs and free sample bags of worm castings. Both were a hit! For those who don’t know, worm castings are 100% natural, odorless and have the appearance of ...
In more than one survey that we have reviewed – health benefits is number one. It tops all benefits in all age groups – baby boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Y. The pie chart represents a survey performed by Lawn & Landscape Magazine. It shows us that a only a small percentage of companies our industry actually offer health benefits. National Survey of Employers and Employees When asked which benefits are ...
Many veterans have a difficult time after returning from combat. Unemployment and post-traumatic stress are common stressors and put veterans at risk for homelessness. In fact, there is a greater rate of homelessness among veterans than civilians. The North Bay Veterans Resource Center, Santa Rosa, provides much needed services including transitional housing for homeless vets. One of our employees, Daniel Levy, has been involved in installing a healing garden at one of the housing units. Experts give guidelines for how a garden needs to be designed to have a therapeutic effect. Being “healing” means it has ...
At Gardeners’ Guild, the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier Landscape Management Company, safety is more than a first-aid kit and a few fire extinguishers. GGI takes safety seriously, and truly cares about the welfare of its more than 150 employee-owners, whose motto is “Safety is our Culture”. On Wednesday, May 18, all 150 of us converged on the grounds of the GGI Richmond headquarters to participate in the company’s 8th Safety Jamboree, a yearly training event focused on equipment safety protocols. The action-packed event kicked off with a succulent feast of traditional Mexican fare including tangy and tender barbequed carne-asada, chicken, ...
Once a field of dried grass and weeds it’s now a four-acre oasis of cool green grass, mulch and drought resistant plantings with walking trails, picnic areas, open space, a gazebo and colorful play structures. Northgate Park is a brand new park in Vallejo and Gardeners’ Guild is proud of its work on this large commercial project. Our contribution included extensive site development, layout, concrete work, site furnishings, play structures, plant and tree installation, drainage, slope work, erosion control and irrigation. See the dramatic before and after photos! [caption id="attachment_690" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Northgate Park - BEFORE"]
Bella Vista is beautiful apartment complex in Richmond. It is the winner of the GEMM (Greater Excellence in Management and Maintenance) Awards of the Greater East Bay. The property is 40 acres and much of the landscaping is turf. When Gardeners’ Guild started its service, May, 2009, Bella Vista had high water bills and the management also wanted to build a greener community. We began work to make Bella Vista’s irrigation more efficient and were successful in lowering water consumption by performing the following: Rigorous irrigation monitoring and adjusted controllers to meet seasonal needs Fixing irrigation ...
The Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency has started a program called "Lawns be Gone!" This program provides rebates to customers with specific criteria to replace lawns with drought resistant landscapes. In order to be eligible, one must be a customer in a participating agency. These agencies include: Alameda County California Water Service Company City of San Bruno and more. See this link for complete listing of participating districts: http://bawsca.org/docs/LBG_Participants_Feb2011.pdf The program includes clearly stated terms and conditions that specify the type of landscape replacement to lawns is acceptable. Additionally there is a wealth ...
The Gardeners’ Guild ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) Communications Team wanted to help the Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank in their efforts to provide food during the Christmas holiday. The organization brought over their bins and starting Monday, December 27th, we began filling them up! We now have the final tally: $100.00 food contribution from Gardener’s Guild $50.00 food contribution from our 2011 Super bowl fundraiser! And various and generous contributions from our staff here at Gardener’s Guild About the Food Bank of Contra Cost and ...
