The phone calls began coming into the selectman’s office during the past year. Callers began complaining about the condition of the Acton Library’s landscaped exterior areas. What could the selectmen do to fix this situation?

“Over the past year, people were calling me directly about the appearance of the library’s landscaping,” said First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr.

People complained that the bushes and the evergreen tree near the entrance were overgrown and that the plantings and planting beds did not look tended.

Library Director Michelle Van Epps agreed.

“I was hearing at least weekly that the library planting beds looked messy, uncared for, and overgrown,” said Van Epps.

So as summer began, Fortuna initiated a plan to tackle the Library’s landscaping issues.

Bushes and trees planted more than a decade ago had become overgrown, covering up windows, obscuring the library’s entrances and encroaching on the street-side patio.

A large evergreen tree, planted too close to the building’s entrance, had grown so tall that its branches hung over the library’s roof.

Overgrown rhododendron bushes added to the problem. When planted initially, they were sized appropriately but more than 10 years of growth made them too large for the spaces where they were planted, and all of the garden’s planting beds needed a major clean-up project that would include weeding, pruning, and the removal of dead branches and plants.

Three things were needed to move forward: a re-landscaping plan, a contractor to implement it, and funding to pay for it.

Fortuna tapped a landscaping contractor that the town’s Parks and Recreation Department had used as a substitute for town properties. In consultation with the contractor, Fortuna worked on a plan.

The biggest task was to remove the oversized evergreen tree.

“The large tree was creating other building issues including the overhanging branches that shaded the roof and clogged the gutters,” explained Fortuna. “We also made sure that the tree was not named for anyone before we removed it.”

Removing the tree cost the town $1,200, a charge shared between the town and the library’s maintenance budget for buildings and grounds.

The next step was to reinvigorate the library’s planting beds.

“Some of the bushes were dead, others were overgrown, so these were removed,” said Fortuna.

Finally came the replanting of the beds with smaller, more appropriate foundations plantings and a final weeding to clean up the areas.

The work to remove dead plants, prune bushes, weed, and replant the beds with smaller, more appropriately sized bushes cost $2,300. This cost was paid for from the library’s Building and Grounds Maintenance budget.

So now, with the work done, the street-side patio and street-facing library windows are once again inviting and visible and the library entrance more inviting.

“People have noticed the change. Now I’m hearing how beautiful it looks,” said Van Epps. “Flowerpots are at the entrances now, too. And by next week, the demonstration rain garden in back will be getting more mulch and will look more attractive, too.”