Water & care equals wonderful color
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Many people have felt "wilted" during the recent weeks of hot weather in Chester, but the lovely pots of colorful plants have certainly not been wilting. Ron Caron continues to work as a seasonal employee for the City of Chester to care for the lovely flower pots placed in the uptown business district. Ron is recently retired from the Chester Post Office and this is the second year he has cared for the flowering pots. He waters the planters approximately every other day depending on the amount of rainfall and the temperatures. He tries to complete the job early in the mornings to beat the higher temperatures and the busy traffic times.
Ron uses a city truck equipped with a water tank on the back and a large hose. The tank is filled each time with approximately 175 gallons of water to cover all the city flowers. Buckets are filled from the truck tank and carried to each flowering pot.
In addition to watering each of the planters, Ron also deadheads the numerous plants in order to encourage blooming. He also watches for insect infestation and treats the plants as needed. He carries bug killer with him and reports that Japanese Beetles are currently the worst concern. About mid-summer, additional fertilizer is applied to the planters. The soil was well fertilized when the plants were planted, but it is helpful to give them a boost with more fertilizer mid-summer.
A total of 35 of the overflowing colorful planters are located on Swanwick Street, Stacey Street, and State Street. Ron also waters the plants in the newly created Smith's Landing Park at the riverfront. These plants were also provided through the Beautification Commission and planted by Tom and Cathy Sauer in the boat-shaped flowerbed. Flowers for the 11 planters located in the Evergreen Cemetery were funded by the Chester Women's Club and are also deadheaded and watered weekly by Ron. The job of watering all the city plants takes approximately 2 ½ to 3 hours each day they are watered. This job runs approximately May through September, and Ron strives to keep the flowers looking nice through Popeye Picnic weekend.
The City of Chester appreciates the diligent work by Ron to care for the planters and to keep the colorful flowers blooming. The volunteer efforts by Tom and Cathy Sauer in planting the pots and the efforts of the Beautification Commission are also appreciated. The City of Chester is pleased to support this project to beautify Chester for residents and visitors.