Nature Designs has been hard at work maintaining the landscapes of our clients, but we’ve also been working hard on a philanthropic project we’re proud to announce. We recently paired with the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA for short) to help the TERI School of San Diego plan and create an agricultural garden to teach its students about sustainability and gardening. Over the course of seven days, landscapers at Nature Designs worked to implement changes to the school campus that would allow the students to grow and nurture their own vegetable garden.

California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA)

The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA for short) is an association of landscape contractors that connect and help other workers throughout the state to potential clients and customers in addition to providing a wealth of resources and information. The association is responsible for connecting landscapers to the proper resources they need to run their business properly while protecting workers and teaching valuable industry practices.

In addition to their work throughout the state in offering resources, information, and certifications, the CLCA is responsible for connecting customers to certified landscaping contractors that can get their job done. The association also organizes philanthropic work throughout it’s different chapters, and Nature Designs is proud to work with the CLCA on local projects that benefit the community. In this case, we worked together on a seven day project to benefit the TERI School.

The TERI School

The TERI School is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing a learning space for children, teens, and adults with learning disabilities. The name stands for Training, Education, Research, and Innovation. The school was founded in 1980 by Cheryl Kilmer with the intention of “[improving] the quality of life for children and adults with developmental and learning disabilities. Through support, advocacy, dedication, innovation, and resolve, we have brought opportunity and hope to countless individuals and families,” according to the TERI School website.

The latest step in achieving their goal was to build a state of the art facility in the San Diego area for their students to learn and grow in. The organization believes that it can provide a “bridge to a better life” through its various educational programs throughout the facility. Meanwhile, it’s also focused on providing teachings on sustainability and day to day living, which is why it’s been focused on things like urban gardens for quite some time now.

Our Combined Efforts

The CLCA has worked with the TERI School in the past and wanted to further its experiences with giving back to the San Diego community. Over the course of one week, we partnered with the CLCA San Diego chapter to create a one of a kind outdoor garden that would help teach the students at the TERI School about sustainability, gardening, and nutrition.

Throughout the week, we landscaped and built an entirely new garden from scratch. The new garden included boxes that would make it easier to grow things like fruits and vegetables. An urban garden like this provides the opportunity for the students to learn about how to grow their own food, teaching them sustainable practices and important lessons in proper nutrition. We are so happy that Nature Designs Landscaping was able to take part in such an important project for the San Diego community and we hope that the TERI School loves its new garden. Check out the video below for more information on the project.