Slow Down and Smell the Rosemary at the DANA Garden

Thanks to several DANA voluteers who made the DANA Garden look so much better as it greats runners, walkers and bikers along the Hike and Bike Trail around Lady Bird Lake. Under the direction of Cheryl Beesley, a professional landscape architect, we planted some edible plants, cleaned out the plant beds and put down some fresh mulch.

DANA Garden Day Fall 2011

Left to Right: James Beesly, Cheryl Beesley, Mitchell McGovern show off their handy work.

DANA’s adopted garden on Lady Bird Lake is on the Cesar Chavez side of Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. It’s a busy spot on the trail and will be enjoyed by all passersby. Next time you run or bike by at your personal-best pace, slow down and smell the rosemary.

Cherly volunteered a design plan that we can implement over the next few seasons. Lucky for us, she is a landscape designer at Verdi Land Planning with over 19 years of professional experience in organic gardening and sustainable design with native plant mate rials. Her book, Landscaping with Edible Plants in Central Texas, will soon be published by University Press.

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Shoal Creek Bats? That's Right, and There is an App for That Too.

by Mitchell McGovern

You thought the only bat colony downtown is under Congress Bridge….. Think again – Shoal Creek has 2 and much more, including its own app.

Sizable bat colonies live under the 9^th and 12^th Street bridges that cross over Shoal Creek. Who knew! You can get an upfront and personal view of the bat’s emerging at dusk while they are heading out for a night of foraging. Now that the fall weather is upon us go out and sit on the shores of Shoal Creek at Duncan Park and enjoy the spectacle. It is a much more intimate and relaxing experience than Congress Ave Bridge and a lot less “touristy”.

A lot of attention has been paid recently to Waller Creek with the beginning of construction for the flood control tunnel but let’s not forget about our other hidden gem downtown – Shoal Creek. The creek was originally defined as the western edge of the City of Austin in 1839 by Edwin Waller and Waller Creek was the eastern edge.

I recently came upon a website dedicated to Shoal Creek that was created by Ted Eubanks who lives next to the creek. It is full of interesting information about the creeks history and natural environment. Did you know that the Historic 6^th Ave. bridge over Shoal Creek will be 125 years old next year? I didn’t. Ted created an app (of course there is an app for that!) called Shoal Creek Trail To Go and if you download it to your iPhone or Android it will give you all kinds of facts about Shoal Creek as you walk along the trail from Lady Bird Lake all the way up to 38^th St. How cool is that! Scroll to the bottom of the link to learn more and download the app if interested. There is also an extensive list of links for additional information related to all things Shoal Creek on the site.

I’m also happy to report that the City is at 90% completion of the design phase to connect the Shoal Creek trail from 5^th St. to West Ave. and construction is anticipated to start next year. Yeah!

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"Spotlight on Safety" in Downtown Nov. 15

You don’t want to miss this one!

DANA Spotlight on Safety

Tuesday, November 15th @ 6:30p

Ballet Austin (501 W 3rd – map – transit)

The Austin Ventures Stage

CLICK HERE TO RSVP!!

DANA is hosting our most important event ever on downtown safety and quality of life. Engage directly with APD Chief Art Acevedo, Travis District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, and Austin City Council Member Mike Martinez on the unique issues we face downtown every day.

Ballet Austin has graciously opened their doors to The Austin Ventures Stage and in usual DANA style, we’ll kick off the event with a reception of light hors d’oeuvres and libations from our favorite downtown establishments, all the while getting a first live look at the brand new downtown APD public safety cameras.

After a lively, game-day-style recognition of a few of our standout police officers on bikes and other remarkable community members doing exceedingly good deeds for downtown safety, we’ll get down to serious business and talk with our panel of City Officials about our safety and quality of life issues.

To make this event meaningful to YOU, we need you to tell us about your top concerns and real life experiences with downtown safety and quality of life. What’s *your* question for Chief Acevedo? Take a moment, give us your input and we’ll feed it directly into our “Spotlight on Safety” on November 15th.

Thanks to our sponsors:

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DANA Garden Day Saturday 9a-noon

Join Us: DANA Garden Day on Lady Bird Lake Saturday, October 22 @ 9 AM – Noon

Calling all city dwellers! You may no longer have a garden to tend, but come get your hands dirty and meet your neighbors as we beautify part of the hike and bike trail near the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. DANA adopted a garden on Lady Bird Lake (Cesar Chavez side of Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge). It’s a busy spot on the trail and will be enjoyed by all passersby.

We are excited to announce that Cheryl Beesley, a professional landscape architect, has graciously volunteered to design a plan that we can implement over the next few seasons. Cheryl is a landscape designer at Verdi Land Planning with over 19 years of professional experience in organic gardening and sustainable design with native plant mate rials. Her book, Landscaping with Edible Plants in Central Texas, will soon be published by University Press.

DANA Garden

About 999 W Cesar Chavez

map transit

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