FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New On-Line Tool Helps Northern Gardeners And Home Landscapers Select The Right Plants For Their Yards And Gardens

April 10, 2005 -- Gardeners and home landscapers from across northern North America are discovering the Northscaping Landscape Plant Search, a new internet-based tool which enables them to identify hardy plants for their home landscaping and gardening projects from the comfort of their own homes. By entering up to 38 different search parameters such as landscape application, flower color and period, growing conditions, or simple keywords, they can choose from a list of plants which not only match their search criteria, but are appropriate for their particular growing conditions. The relatively simple search is actually built on top of a massive database of over 2,000 different trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers which are hardy in the north, with landscape photos of each plant.

The plant search is just one of the features of Northscaping (www.northscaping.com), a new resource, entertainment and community web site for northern landscapers and gardeners living in hardiness zones 1-5. After nearly 6 years of intense development, the web site finally went live in January of this year, and has been building a faithful following of northern landscapers and gardeners ever since.

“For too long, homeowners and gardeners in the North have had to rely on landscaping and gardening information provided by writers and plant experts from warmer climates” says Jim Kohut, President and one of the founders of Northscaping. “That’s why a group of us northern gardeners said enough’s enough, and put our heads together to create this web site. Our goal is to empower northerners to transform their yards and communities by giving them the resources they need to do it themselves, and an understanding of how to work with qualified industry professionals.

The effort has been a labor of love for Kohut and the other partners. The Landscape Plant Search alone required the collection of over 7,000 photographs of hardy plants, taken in communities and botanical gardens across North America. “Our next step is to expand this resource to cover a full range of annuals and perennials” says Stefan Fediuk, Northscaping’s Chief Editorial Director, who hopes to have this feature in place by 2006. A professional Landscape Architect by trade, Fediuk is also a regular writer for the “e-Zine” weekly on-line magazine.

Besides the plant search, the web site features other tools which home landscapers and gardeners in northern climates will find useful. An interactive map provides them with important climatic data for their region such as spring and fall frost dates, length of growing season and annual precipitation with the click of a mouse, and a business locator resource helps them find gardening and landscaping businesses and professionals in their vicinity. The site even features a detailed on-line “How-To” landscaping guide for do-it-yourselfers.

Users can access the Landscape Plant Search on the internet through the Northscaping home page at www.northscaping.com. All tools on the site are offered free to users, and no subscription or membership is required.

* * * * * * * * * *

Northscaping (www.northscaping.com) is a resource, entertainment and community website for landscapers and gardeners in northern North America (hardiness zones 1-5). It features a powerful set of gardening and landscaping tools, an informative and entertaining on-line magazine with weekly articles, community discussion forums, and links to other on-line resources of value to northern landscapers and gardeners.

-- END --