Nogui's Blog

This Saturday morning at peak market time (9-11 am, Oct. 15th), Prudential York Simpson Underwood agents will be digging in the dirt at Durham Central Park & Farmer's Market garden.  They will be pruning, putting in many new plantings, and sprucing up the "Prudential Garden" section.

The garden that Prudential YSU gave birth to in 2003* and has fostered with over $15,000 dollars worth of sculpture, rock walls, and plantings has grown and matured along with the Farmer's Market’s utilization and popularity.

"I've been so inspired by the energy and involvement of our agents in these work days. They really care about this garden”, says Tracey Goetz, PRUYSU's manager, who has been up to her elbows in dirt as often as the agents.   "In the first work day we had over 30 people who cut out a section of hillside and built a stone wall in just a couple of hours, working as a group, passing & stacking rocks from our personal gardens"
     

Prudential has always done community service projects, but the development of Durham Central Park and the Farmer's Market Pavilion, gave Prudential agents the vision and the 'juice' to really dig in their heels and develop the garden so they could contribute in their own way to Durham’s downtown revitalization. The garden features a beautiful array of azaleas, camellias, roses, jasmine, and many other perennials.
     

A distinctive bronze butterfly bench was commissioned by Vega Metals and rests in the stone wall circle for outward viewing.   The "Family” Sculpture, a well-known sentinel overseeing the garden and the Park, was also a Vega Metals commission by PRUYSU, placed in the center of the garden.
    

A distinctive trellis welcomes visitors walking into the garden pathways, another Prudential contribution to enter & stroll among the hundreds of plantings.  In the drought year they lost almost half the plants, partly due to water restrictions & partly to the long walk up the steep hill to bring a hose for watering.  The next year, PRUYSU's contribution to the garden was a watering system installed at the site.
    

This Saturday, Oct. 15th will mark the 16th time that Prudential's agents & family have worked to beautify the blooming gardens that  overlook a growing a number of institutions that fortify & beautify our revitalized city.

*Also contributed to by Old North State Landscaping
 
** For more information contact, Tracey Goetz. 919-740-2502, or 919-383-4663