With old shrubs down for the count, post office ready for knockouts
Shade tree commission will plant 75 rose bushes next week
Members of the city’s Environment and Shade Tree Commission [ESTC] tore out old bushes in front of the Asbury Park Post Office Wednesday in preparation of the 75 new, red Knockout Rose Bushes they will plant in the coming weeks.
City resident Daniel Weiss donated the money for improvements, according to Tom Pivinski, ETSC chair.
“He and I scoured the entire city looking for a place especially on the eastside that would beautify the area,” Pivinski said. ” He was hoping to do something along the railroad but that isn’t city property and the soil there is filled with stone because of the track beds. We then came to the post office and I suggested we might be able to plant there and Danny [shown at far right, with his husband John Grant] was thrilled.”
The rose bushes will replace the old pyracanthus shrubs that ran along the corner of Main Street and Bangs Avenue, which were infiltrated by mulberry trees, poison ivy and Virginia Creeper, Pivinski said.
Labor was donated by members of the ESTC and a volunteer from the city’s public work’s department, who was able to significantly cut down the time and workload necessary to remove the aging bushes with the use of one of the city’s backhoes, Pivinski said.
Pivinski [shown below] consulted with City Manager Jack Kelly for the OK to have a volunteer from the public work’s department operate the heavy machinery. Approximately 15 ESTC members and other volunteers came to help and the removal of the shrubs was completed in just about two-and-a-half hours, he said.
Pivinski also secured the blessing of the district post office manager Jill Grey, who was thrilled and thankful for the project and grateful to the ESTC for initiating it, he said.
Thanks to Sunset Farm Nursery, located in nearby Ocean Township, the ESTC was able to arrange a deal to purchase the roses at less than half the price usually asked for them. Frank and Snooky, the owners of Sunset, have been strong supporters of the ESTC throughout the years and always come to its aid either with donations of products or in this case pricing of the roses, Pivinski said.
“It is so great to live in a town with people like Danny Weiss, who underwrote the project,” said ESTC Commissioner Russell Lewis. “His gratitude is remarkable for his hometown — and it gives me great joy to be part of making his gift and vision a reality.”
The roses will be planted next week by the ESTC and workers from Sunset Farm Nursery.
