Kuddes beautifies Fremont with new gardens

While the summer hasn’t exactly provided the ideal conditions for gardening, new city gardener John Kuddes has seen his career grow.

Last year at this time Kuddes was a turf research technician for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and didn’t know much about gardening.

“Basically, it’s the same thing,” Kuddes said, “You have to know what grows where and when ... The weather this year has been rough. I’m still getting used to what works well.”

Watering, weeding and beautifying more than 20 locations is a full-time job, but hasn’t stopped Kuddes from engaging new projects. One of Kuddes’ first improvements was adding a garden at the foot of the flag pole in John C. Fremont City Park.

“John’s first day was March 31 -- which, for gardeners, is considerably behind schedule,” said John Schmitz, director of the Fremont Parks and Recreation Department, “What he has been able to get done and expand is just amazing.”

“I also think that he has brought a little more color to the downtown (planters),” Schmitz said.

Possibly the most unique improvement will be seen by football fans as they sit at Memorial Field in upcoming months.

“When I started in April I said, ‘When football season starts, let’s put something in that planter,’” Kuddes said, “At the time it was just wood chips.”

The large planter at the north end of Memorial Field had been empty for several years and the dirt was badly eroded.

“We hauled out three tons of dirt,” Kuddes said, because of the use of weed killers in past years.

“We put six tons of dirt back in. We increased the slope a little so that people could see it better,” Kuddes said.

Now, the planter, landscaped as a large football, is visible from Military Avenue.

“I used lava rock for the

football and white marble rock for the threads. We planted low growing shrubs around the outside, that will fill in around the edges,” Kuddes continued.

“We’ve received numerous calls and compliments on his work,” Schmitz added, so, as football season gets ready to kick off, Kuddes’ new career is budding.