FARMINGTON — Mt. Blue Area Garden Club has awarded a $500 grant to the Farmington Public Library to help landscape its entrances on High and Academy streets.

“We had four applicants,” Lisa Laflin, garden club and grant committee member, said Friday, May 2. “We were planning on giving out $500. It could have been broken up into multiple awards but because of the nature of the request we decided to provide only one award for its impact.”

The grant was submitted by a board volunteer, Laflin said. “I think that is exceptional,” she noted. “That actually was pulled out, helped them rise to the top. We were looking for community engagement.”

The application was very impressive, Laflin stated. “It was the only one with actual mock ups of the landscape transformation and with all of the named plants,” she explained.

Plants selected include dahurian juniper, heucherella sweet tea, false goatsbeard [astilbe], prairie winds Niagara Falls switch grass, and catmint walkers low, Laflin noted.

Tracey Zambrotta wrote the grant, she added.

The Franklin Journal spoke with Zambrotta on May 5. “I have been a volunteer at the library for about six or seven months,” she said. “I would love to work at the library but there are no openings.”

When asked why she volunteers Zambrotta responded, “Put me in a library or a bookstore and I’m happy as can be. I just love being around books and helping out, helping people find what they need.”

Zambrotta said she learned about the grant from another woman “that knows the library pretty well. I think the director, Jessica told her that I was helping as a volunteer to beautify the property. Then she texted me about it, said she saw it on the Daily Bulldog. That is how I put it together.”

When asked about how she came up with the design Zambrotta replied, “I love gardening, I love designing them. I knew what I had in mind, went on a website and they had a simulation of what I had in mind. They had a list of plants that I had in mind. I wanted to focus on something that had year round beauty.”

Zambrotta has created many gardens. “I just love planning gardens, which I presented to the library board,” she said. “I stopped at Riverside [Greenhouses & Florist] and I asked if he didn’t carry any of the plants I was planning on using, could he order them through his wholesaler and he could.”

The entrance areas are still being cleaned out, Zambrotta stated. “I took down four burning bushes so far and I have three more to go on the front entrance on the right hand side as you are walking in,” she noted. “On the Academy Street side on the end of the property between the university and library there’s a whole bunch of bushes. There is a woman who has a camp on Clearwater Lake who is taking out hydrangeas and she is donating them to us. Her brother works for the town, so the town is going to be ripping out those bushes and we are going to be planting some of the hydrangeas in that area and then also along the side.”

A lot of work is being done, Zambrotta stated. “I want to do the main entrance first,” she said. “Then I will go to the Academy entrance. I am hoping the main entrance would be done by the first week in June, then the end of June would be the Academy side.”

“The Academy Street entrance is not used but it is certainly very visible from the road, all the traffic that drives by it multiple times a day,” Laflin said.

When asked about help for the project Zambrotta said, “It’s all me. I do have people offering but I love doing this. I like to do it by myself. When I do need help, I will ask.”

“We are really pleased,” Jessica Casey, library director said May 6. “We are really grateful to be able to get those funds.”

Improving the landscaping is something that has been worked on for a few years, Casey noted. “We are very grateful to Tracey and the board for taking on that project,” she said. “I have taken that project off my hands. Tracey is the one who applied for the grant, had all the plans. I think she is going to do a great job.”

“I am just happy that I could help beautify the property,” Zambrotta stated. “It is such a beautiful building and I thought having the grounds a little nicer will even enhance the beauty of the building.”

The funds are much needed and very appreciated, Casey said. “I think they are going to go to good use,” she added. “We are very grateful for that grant.”