A garden and an Eagle grow
September 26, 2016 ~ Mountain Democrat
Life Scout Cash Ryon, 17, of Placerville, led a group of scouts in the remodel of the garden at Placerville Pines. Democrat photo by Jackie Penn
“How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence”— Benjamin Disraeli
The Pines at Placerville Health Care Center has a whole new area for patients, employees and visitors to enjoy, thanks to 17 year-old Cash Rion. Rion, a senior at Union Mine High School, transformed a bleak and barren dirt side yard into a green space with flowering plants as his Eagle Scout project.
Rion said he was interested in the idea of landscaping as a project, but when his mother Sandra McGinnis suggested he focus on one of the local convalescent homes as the location, he contacted Jon Young, activity director at the Pines.
“I said, heavens yes,” said Young. “We had a space out here we weren’t doing anything with. It was a hot mess.”
Young and Rion expanded the originally planned size of the project to include two garden sections, a decomposed granite walkway and a birdbath.
Preparation
Rion prepared by talking with a Master Gardener and a family friend who has a degree in landscape architecture about design, drip irrigation and plant selection. He visited the Master Garden demonstration gardens at Folsom Lake College, El Dorado Center to see how mature gardens should look.
“I wanted a garden that was drought-tolerant,” said Rion, who can now name all of the different types of ecosystems represented at the demonstration gardens. Also on his radar were perennials that were deer-resistant, tolerated both sun and shade and had color.
“I wanted both sight and smell and a garden that was pretty to look at most of the year,” Rion said.
It was a tall order, but Rion found a mauve Pacific hybrid iris, a bushy sage, Hot Lips salvia, hellebores, grasses and golden-green smoke trees to fit the bill. To finance the plants, redwood mulch, decomposed granite, concrete bird bath and drip system for irrigation, Rion stepped out of his own comfort zone and put on a dance at the Pleasant Valley Grange. He started a Go Fund Me account.
With help from Norman’s Nursery, SiteOne Landscaping, Front Yard Nursery and Acer Landscaping, Rion gathered his materials and headed for The Pines.
The facility, which has been around since 1962, had a few large trees in the long, rectangular dirt area, but nothing else. Rion and his father spent a day doing site preparation and then Rion’s crew of fellow Scouts descended on the property, much to the interest of the patients.
“It was good entertainment,” said McGinnis.
“We spent a whole day, digging holes, mixing soil and planting,” said Rion, “and then another day putting in the decomposed granite, the redwood mulch and putting the irrigation in.”
Off to a good start
Rion noted that almost all the plants are doing well despite being planted in the August heat.
“The real test will be the rest of the summer and then they will get a good foothold in the fall.”
With money left over from his fundraising, Rion plans to replace any plants that fail to thrive. When The Pines filled the remaining dirt area with a green sod lawn, the dirt side yard was reborn.
“This is something that will always be here for the residents,” said Young. “It enriches their lives. Some residents even volunteered to water the gardens. When they come out here to sit, their whole demeanor changes. They’ll be able to watch the garden grow and flourish.”
This Eagle Project has been a win-win for all concerned, as Rion has new skills in installing drip irrigation, organization, in talking to businesses and in connecting with patients. Helping their new connections grow, residents, employees, Rion and his family celebrated the new gardens with a root beer float garden warming on Sept. 10.
Return to Cash's project.