Marketing Solutions for Highly Skilled Professionals

In early April, I visited the Sequim Botanical Garden at Carrie Blake Park for their Work and Learn party. The tiered hillside was covered in showy blooms and even though it was sprinkling while I was there, the work party was lively and friendly. 

Yellow Alyssum photo by Nait Animates

This month, Gary Butler, an employee of the City of Sequim, was there to teach irrigation management to the volunteers and curious community members. Up until this year, the SBG has been using an elaborate system of hose and emitters to water each row of flowers. While the promise of precisely measured outputs with drip irrigation is a heady dream that’s hard to resist, the reality of blocked apertures and easily damaged small PVC fittings is a lot less glamorous. 

Tulips photo by Nait Animates

To simplify maintenance and upkeep, the city provided soaker hoses to replace the existing set up. A group of 10-15 folks came and went from 1pm until late in the afternoon and everyone found something to work on. Many of the crew pulled out old hoses, others (including me) thinned bergenia of sunburnt leaves, others pulled weeds and dead-headed tulips and other spent bulbs. 

The Sequim Botanical Gardens focuses its efforts on teaching the community what plants thrive in the area and how to optimize planting practices for water conservation, environmental preservation, and year round colorful blooms. 

Bergenia photo by Nait Animates

The garden is located on a small hill at Carrie Blake Park. That area of the park uses reclaimed water from Sequim’s Class A Reclaimed Water Facility, or RWF. This facility treats wastewater with microorganisms that break down and remove waste from the water. After this, the water is treated with UV light to disinfect it. After being processed through oxidation, coagulation, filtration, and disinfection, the water is safe for use in irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing groundwater. Wastewater that would otherwise pose leaking hazards becomes a vital resource for community use and also helps to keep the Dungeness River’s levels higher during our long arid season. 

Hyacinth photo by Nait Animates

I am scheduled to interview one more veteran volunteer of SBG next week and will be working on a larger video project about the history of good works SBG has been bringing to Sunny Sequim for many years.

Purple Alyssum photo by Nait Animates