No Title 2264
Supplement to “Paving a Patio”
For more information and products for doing your own patio, check out these groups:
Kentucky Resources
Architectural Salvage, W.D. Inc.
614-618 E. Broadway
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 589-0670
www.architecturalsalvage.com
Inside Out Design
100 Old Georgetown Rd.
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502) 695-7020
www.insideout-design.org
GardenGuides.com
www.gardenguides.com/local-landscapers/ky
Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association
216 Pendleton Ln.
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502) 695-0106
www.KNLA.org
Meade Concrete Products Ltd.
2004 Catnip Hill Rd.
Nicholasville, KY 40356
(859) 885-1700
www.meadeconcreteproducts.com
Springhouse Gardens LLC
6041 Harrodsburg Rd.
Nicholasville, KY 40356
(859) 224-1417
www.springhousegardens.com
National Resources
Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute
13921 Park Center Rd., Ste. 270
Herndon VA 20171
(703) 657-6900
www.icpi.org
Professional Landcare Network
950 Herndon Pkwy., Ste. 450
Herndon, VA 20170
(800) 395-2522
www.landcarenetwork.org
American Nursery & Landscape Association
1000 Vermont Ave. NW, Ste. 300
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 789-2900
www.anla.org
American Society of Horticultural Sciences
1018 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 836-4606
www.ashs.org
More than 40 billion glass bottles are made every year and 75 percent of them end up in landfills. Glass is a sustainable and an environmentally friendly material that can be reused in many ways�including right in your own back yard, as DIYers Brian and Katie Farthing of Paint Lick learned when they recently built their patio.
Rather than use traditional shredded wood mulch, the Farthings opted for decorative pulverized glass aggregate (PGA). They dumped a ton of the sparkling ground cover into their landscape to mulch the family�s flowerbeds, adding a colorful and textural contrast to their stone patio and brick house.
�It was a painstaking effort for our family, but it has been worth the time we spent constructing the patio,� says Katie Farthing.
The Farthings purchased the glass from Richmond/Madison County Recycling. Carolyn Jennings, the center�s environmental awareness educator, says the glass �mulch,� called Gemstones, is made from recycled �fruit jars, pop bottles, beer bottles�any household glass except for window panes.� Unlike wood mulch, recycled glass does not have termite problems. Glass retains moisture in the soil, helps drainage and/or erosion issues, and prevents weeds in flowerbeds.
The company has been selling the crushed and marbleized glass, a multicolored mix of amber, clear, green, and blue, for about three years. A permanent landscaping mulch, Gemstones never fade or need replacing�although they can be refreshed. The crushed glass, with edges virtually removed, is safe to work with and for spreading around plant material, including delicate flowers.
�The glass is pulverized,� noted Jennings. �The glass crusher saws the edges off. You can walk on it barefoot.�
Right now the recycling center is working on separating the glass so customers can request single colors. The colors offered will be clear, amber, and green, plus limited quantities of blue, a more rare color in glass than the other three. Jennings estimates that, by summer, customers will be able to request single colors in addition to the multicolored mix.
One thousand pounds of Gemstones costs about $6.
For more information, contact Richmond/Madison County Recycling, 550 Recycle Drive, (859) 625-0202, recycle.richmond.ky.us.
According to Thomas A. Heil, an environmental scientist in Kentucky�s Recycling Assistance Section, Division of Waste Management, there are several community recycling programs, in addition to Richmond/Madison County Recycling, that are producing PGA for local use:
Washington County, (859) 336-7700
Regional Recycling Corp., Eddyville, (270) 388-9781
Murray/Calloway County, (270) 809-4409
Lexington Fayette County Urban Government, (859), 425-2836
To read the Kentucky Living March 2010 feature that goes along with this supplement, go to Paving a Patio.
