Cover image: Members of the Beautification Site Committee L-R Jan Koepp, Kathy Edmonson, Chair, Velma Vargo, Nancy Carpenter
Village Pines Garden Club Maintains Beautiful East Gatehouse Landscaping in Hot Springs Village
For 50 years, Village Pines Garden Club has sponsored many landscape projects to beautify the Village. The East Gate entrance became a joint project with the Men’s Garden Club and the Pines. Bradford Pears and Crepe Myrtle trees were planted for entrance improvement. Around 2001, the Pines began maintaining large container gardens at East Gatehouse Island. The Pines chose the sight as a landscape beautification project in 2012 when the Village altered the East Gate entrance to improve traffic flow from Hwy 5.
Nancy Carpenter, Pines president, worked with the POA and appointed Kathy Edmonson, a retired landscape architect, to design a landscape plan for the East Gatehouse entrance characteristic of Hot Springs Village: this unique design incorporated flagstone paving, an irrigation system, and low-maintenance landscape plantings. Over 150 shrubs and 300 groundcover plants, plus a variety of annual flowers, were purchased and planted by Pines members. In 2013, the National Garden Clubs, Inc. bestowed a first-place award for Community Landscape Design.
Today, East Gatehouse Island remains an attractive and welcoming entrance to the Village for visitors. Kathy Edmonson, committee chair, and members continue caring for the beautification site providing weeding, fertilizing, pruning, and seasonal plantings.
Pictured are several members of the Beautification Site Committee L-R Jan Koepp, Kathy Edmonson, Chair, Velma Vargo, Nancy Carpenter
