b"C H A P T E R S E V E NThe concept called for creating a demonstration garden to see what plants might last in a harsh location, with minimal water and fertilizer. Now, seven years later, the project remains alive, thanks to a cluster of FCW members ready to do the necessary planting and pruning.Arriving on the wind in 1996, seeds of this idea could hardly have come at a better time. Local development had reached a frenetic pace. The year before, 357 building permits had been issued; said the Town Report, that total represents the most permits ever issued in a single year and the largest growth for the town. Then, '96 brought in 332 more requests for permits. Some may have been for new wings, others for renovations. But even if half of the jobs in those two years gave birth to new homes, that would have meant 334 more septic systems and, inevitably, that many more lawns to be watered and medicated with pesticides and fertilizers. w*Rather than simply fulminate about risks toAsoil and water, a group of FCW members decided toPeliticAllij Correct put the Wellesley plan to the test. Their project hadGwi&c two phases. First, under the guidance of Lynn Landytoand FCW colleagues, a plot northeast of the OysterM i l l 11Pond parking lot was planted in spring 96 with threeCaredifferent grasses. The aim: to see which would survive H&ii fi'tocaet'tc 1&, attended ta best with minimal care, fertilizer and water, in thec4iae cfQu.i tAin/tiny a&osct .Mrs. ftettitAcix words of committee member Lee Kimball. 5 utd Landy researched the grass choices; Barbara Streibertconfuteworked on selecting them, with input from Loft SeedBrought to you in Chatham by Environmental Demonstration GardenInc. But before doing anything on site, Mrs. LandyK f M U t *-v obtained permission from Dan Tobin of Parks and! FRIENDS of CHATHAM WATERWAYS Recreation to use this Town-owned, 10-by-50-foot1P.O. Box 472, Chatham. MA02633-047?areaand with that okay came consistent, welcomeThe brochure distributed cooperation from his department.Three years later,by FCW to change your with the experiment completed, the grasses werethinking about weeds and plowed under. pests and what the home At least one, Salty, had not worked and wasgardener can do to control replaced by the popular Cape Cod Special Mix. Butthem.with three years experience, the committee decided the test hadyielded useful clues and cues for grass growers-to-come.Meanwhile, in the summer of 1996, the FCW-sponsored committee moved into Phase II, creating a garden, as Mrs. Kimball puts it, to display perennials that have been proven to be hardy on the Cape, that can survive with105"