The 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards, designed to give national recognition and $5,000 in plants to community groups and organizations that are improving their local environments, is now accepting applications. The annual award, sponsored by Omaha-based Nature Hills Nursery, will be presented in April 2010 to groups and organizations that are literally “greening” their communities, parks, schools and public spaces by planting trees, shrubs and other plants.
The winners of the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be those nonprofit groups and organizations that truly are making a difference in their local neighborhoods. The grand-prize winning garden project will receive $2,500 in plants. The first-prize winner will receive $1,500 in plants, and the second-prize winner will receive $1,000 in plants. The plant materials can contain any combination of trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds that Nature Hills Nursery offers.
The award winners will be chosen from those local community gardening or “greening” projects that make best use of the trees, bushes and shrubs that Nature Hills Nursery will award. Potential 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Award winning projects can be:
• Creating or refurbishing the landscape in a community park.
• A local soil erosion control plan that utilizes plants to stabilize steep hillside slopes or river banks.
• The reclamation of an abandoned lot with the creation of a fruit orchard that will provide much needed fruit to nearby low-income residents.
• Creating a wildlife habitat for birds or animals on donated land that is (or has been) abandoned or neglected.
Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Nature Hills Nursery is a website-only retailer that sells trees, shrubs, perennials and other plants. The company created the Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards as a way to give back to the communities and people who have contributed to the success of the eight-year-old company.
 “Nature Hills Nursery has grown and prospered from growing and selling plants,” says Jeffrey Dinslage, president of Nature Hills Nursery. “Sustainability and beautification are important to our company. All of our plant production is carefully managed so the soils we depend upon are not depleted of their resources, ensuring a healthy soil environment for continued plant growth. We feel it is time to give back a portion of the plants we produce annually to projects that will help reduce carbon dioxide and beautify communities.
 “Our goal is to help communities reclaim land, turning eyesores into oases. We want to help dedicated individuals, groups and organizations make their local communities better by providing a living gift of trees and plants that not only clean the air but also provide respite and a natural retreat. With each project, wildlife and beauty can once again flourish.”
Applications for the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be accepted nationwide until April 1, 2010. The winners of the 2010 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be announced April 19. To apply for the 2010 award online, visit the website.
