Los Angeles Department of Public Works – Bureau of Street Services Pilots Organic Fertilizer Technology

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ — Consistently an environmental leader, the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services will soon use its irrigation systems to pilot a new organic fertilizing product developed by the Garden Promise Company.

The GPC Landscape Feeder System releases organic fertilizers and soil supplements through existing irrigation systems, in a natural feeding process. The patented feeder system will be retrofit into various median island irrigation systems by the Bureau’s Urban Forestry Division.

Thirty-two ounce cartridges filled with OMRI Listed liquid organic fertilizers and supplements which GPC obtains from nationally recognized organic fertilizer manufacturers are inserted into each feeder. The feeders are installed downstream from the sprinkler valves. Each of the sprinkler system’s valves control a specific watering area. Water pressure from the irrigation valve automatically triggers feeder action. A precise amount of cartridge fertilizer is released and mixed within the feeder. Fertilizer mixture is then sent through sprinklers during the first two minutes of the watering cycle. The feeder then rinses itself and resets, the remaining cycle time is finished with unfertilized water.

The Garden Promise Company, a certified Minority Business Enterprise located in Los Angeles, designed, patented, and manufactures the feeder system. GPC cartridges are disposable and recyclable, and are designed to last 30 to 45 days. Since the cartridges’ nutrients are organic, all runoff is biodegradable. Each feeder can service an area of about 1,000 to 1,200 feet.

Organic gardening methods are effective, promoting an increased level of microbial activity in the soil, and helping plants defend themselves against disease and insects. Organic materials don’t leave rust spots on concrete, and don’t require as much water to be absorbed. The Bureau will monitor watering cycle time, labor and cost associated with maintenance of the island medians using the GPC system and compare against conventional methods.

GPC has also designed an organic feeder system for private homes. The system is considerably less expensive and saves labor costs when compared to hiring a professional gardener, helping homeowners easily nourish their lawns, flowerbeds, trees and shrubs, and rose and vegetable gardens. The system allows users to distribute a variety of organic nutrients, environmentally friendly pesticides, liquid compost and other liquids, depending on their plants’ needs in specific areas, all within a single watering cycle. The Homeowner System’s Starter Kit, which includes one feeder, two cartridges, adapters for drip irrigation, and an in-line sprinkler with a system protective cover, sells for $44.90. Replacement cartridges are priced at $9.90 for 20 ounces, and $11.90 for 32 ounces.

GPC is actively searching for more pilot projects that could lead to long-term contracts, said Anthony Bowles, GPC founder and CEO

“This method of landscape care is so simple and makes so much sense; people are always asking me ‘Why didn’t anyone think of this before?,’” Bowles said. “It’s a winning proposition for our community’s environment and city departments responsible for landscape maintenance.”

Garden Promise Company

CONTACT: Garden Promise Company, +1-323-225-5995, or fax,+1-323-227-1180, gardenpromise@sbcglobal.net, or Scott Samuels, VP, Marketingof Garden Promise Company, +1-760-672-1518

Web site: http://www.gardenpc.net/