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Central to the Black Mountain Beautification Committee’s mission is to honor the natural beauty of the mountains while seeking to reflect that beauty on the streets of town and in the lives of its citizens. One of the ways the volunteer-led non-profit organization accomplishes that mission is through its annual Seed Money Award. For the past 20 years, the grant has gone by a variety of names, but its purpose is the same: to award an in-town business, church or organization with the funds to help support a garden-related improvement plan.
This year, the committee received multiple carefully considered proposals for improvement and most of them were supported in part or in full. The 2025 Seed Money Award recipients are Acoustic Corner and a neighbor sharing the slope beside the business, Berliner Kindl German Restaurant, Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, Black Mountain Primary School, Red House Gallery and Goldfinch Cocktails and Kitchen.
BMBC member Jean Chamberlain has been leading the Seed Money Award committee for several years and has seen the impact of improvements.
“We fund the award through the annual Garden Sale,” Chamberlain said. “And it is so rewarding to see patches of dirt or unsightly corners evolve into stretches of flowers and loved green spaces that the whole community enjoys. Each year the fund has grown which offers us more opportunities to help support our business owners and encourages neighbors to put in extra effort.” Some of these winners have received the assistance of Seed Money in the past for an aspect of their property and are hoping this year to extend or expand on the work already accomplished.
Acoustic Corner Music Shop requested funding to help transform the hillside at the back of the parking lot it shares with the White Horse. The plan is to improve the hill next to the business entrance, which is unsightly and covered with English Ivy, kudzu and chokeberry, to a pollinator garden with supplemental annuals for more color.
Red House Gallery used Seed Money last year to improve the look of the back of their business, which is on the gravel parking lot it shares with multiple businesses. Phase II will add additional perennials and annuals to their pocket garden at the back entrance.
Goldfinch and Lucky Penny Speakeasy have new owners who have a distinct vision to improve the landscape and ambiance to their two businesses.The grant will help fund lattice replacements with wires for new healthy, climbing nightshade vines on the fence and hanging baskets along the buildings on Cherry Street, while refreshing all planting beds that are currently in place.
New owners of Berliner Kindl are very interested in improving the landscape around their restaurant. The award will be used to add seasonal flowers to the pots in front of the restaurant. In addition, they will remove the old forsythia and tree in the bed next to the restaurant, amend the soil and replace it with an evergreen and perennials.
Black Mountain Primary School envisions a garden around the sign in front of the school on East State Street. This project would involve digging up the turf to restore and amend the soil to create a garden bed with low growing shrubs and perennials.
Black Mountain Presbyterian asked for assistance to complete Phase II of the church’s 2024 Seed Money project. The goal was to improve a bare space with erosion that was harming the roots of the old oak tree standing there. They used last year’s funds to build a split rail fence that prevents people from using the slope as a walkway to the sidewalk, and to plant a native flower bed among the roots. The church asked for Seed Money to provide funds for native evergreen flowering shrubs and a few perennials and markers to identify the plants in the bed.
Over the years dozens of businesses have benefited from the grant, but the real winner is the community. By bringing color and lush plant material to the front of every store and street, there is no question that civic pride is in full force.
Jessica Klarp
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
April 7, 2025
This is phase II of their 2024 Seed Money Project to create a native flower bed and a fence to prevent people from using the slope between the White
Horse and the Church as a walkway to the sidewalk. This became a bare space with erosion and created harm to the roots of the old oak tree
standing there. The church put up a lovely split rail fence around this corner and asked for Seed Money to provide funds for native evergreen flowering shrubs and a few perennials and markers to identify the plants in
the bed.
Transform the hillside at the back of the White Horse Parking lot, next to the Acoustic Corner Music Shop, which is unsightly and covered with English Ivy, Kudzu and Chokeberry, to a beautiful pollinator garden with
supplemental annuals for more color.
This is Phase II of their 2024 Seed Money Project. They will add additional perennials and annuals to their pocket garden at the back entrance to their
Gallery. They will also add hanging baskets or tall pots with climbing plants outside the front of their gallery on Cherry Street. We are discouraging pots due to causing congestion on the sidewalks and conflicting with the Beautification containers all ready in place throughout the downtown.
These new owners want to do so much to improve the landscape and
ambiance to their two businesses, and Seed Money will provide money for Phase I of these projects. This award will help fund lattice replacements with wires for new healthy, climbing, nightshade vines on the fence along Cherry street, hanging baskets along the buildings on Cherry Street and refreshing all planting beds that are currently in place. We are discouraging pots placed on the sidewalks.
Theses are new owners very interested in improving the landscape around their restuarant. In this phase, they will add seasonal flowers to their pots in front of their restaurant. In additions, they will remove the old forsythia and tree in bed next to restaurant, amend the soil and replace with a lovely evergreen and some perennials.
Create a garden area around the BM Primary Elementary School sign in
front of the school on State Street. This would involve digging up the turf
and restoring and amending the soil and then creating a lovely garden bed
with low growing shrubs and perennials. We suggested that this would be Phase 1 of the landscape project for the school. They are also interested in improving the landscape in the entrance and exit areas to the school. We suggested that this could be Phase 2.
This award(s) will be given to an applicant or applicants who submit a gardening project that best exemplifies the mission of the Beautification Committee: honoring the natural beauty of the surrounding mountains while seeking to reflect that beauty on the streets and in the lives of the citizens.
The Award will be given to an in-town business, church or organization that submits a plan for a project that best exemplifies our mission. The focus of the work must be a garden related improvement plan that involves plant material or hardscape. The project must be within the town limits, be visible to the public, and should add an extra bit of beauty to our town.
Applications are available on this page.
The amount of money awarded will not exceed $5,000. These seed funds are generally divided among several award projects. Deadline for submitting the application is March 21, 2025.
Funds for this project come from proceeds raised at our annual Black Mountain Garden Sale.
If you have questions, feel free to contact Jean Chamberlain (614-203-9241).
"Our small business, Open Oven, was so grateful to receive a Seed Money award from the Beautification Committee. We have a garden outside of our restaurant that needed a little TLC. We were able to get some great recommendations from Ellen, who’s a part of the committee. With the seed money we were able to purchase some lovely flowers and plants to enhance the front of our building.
We love what the Beautification Committee is doing for small businesses in Black Mountain. Thank you for helping to beautify our community!"
Here's what the Center's Director had to say:
"Receiving funding to create a raised bed for flowers at the Collins Early learning Center has been a game changer for us. Not only has it added a vibrant and beautiful element to our outdoor space, but it has also provided countless benefits for our children. The raised bed has become a hands-on learning opportunity, allowing our little ones to explore the wonders of nature, learn about planting and gardening, and develop a sense of responsibility as they care for the flowers.
It has sparked their curiosity, fostered their love for the environment, and given them a sense of pride as they witness the growth and blooming of the flowers they helped nurture. The raised bed has truly transformed our center, creating a nurturing and engaging environment that supports the holistic development of our children.
We are immensely grateful for the funding that made this project possible and the positive impact it continues to have on our children. Thank you!"