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Natick has a new bridge across Rte. 30

November 17, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Hey, it only took 12 seconds to put the new Cochituate Rail Trail bridge across Rte. 30 in Natick into place!

Not really, but Natick GIS’s Rich Ames posted a fun time-lapse video of the work that took place last night to connect the Natick and Framingham sections of the new rail trail.

The Framingham end of the 4-mile Cochituate Rail Trail is open, but the Natick section won’t be open until 2021.


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Filed Under: Outdoors, Transportation

Fran's Flowers, Framingham
London Harness
Linden Square, Wellesley

Cochituate Rail Trail bridge going over Rte. 30 Monday night

November 13, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Update (11/16/20):

Because of bad weather conditions, the Route 30 CRT bridge installation has been rescheduled until Monday night into Tuesday morning from 10PM-5AM, with the same roadway closure and traffic detours of Route 30 between Speen Street and Route 27.

The Natick and Framingham sections of the Cochituate Rail Trail will take a huge step toward uniting this weekend when the bridge over Rte. 30 is put in place between Sunday, Nov. 15 at 10pm and Monday, Nov. 16 at 5am.

bridge cochituate rail trail rte 30 natick

Rte. 30 will be reduced to one lane beginning at 8pm on Sunday so that the crane can be put in place and assembled. Then the road will be closed off at 10pm while the bridge is put in place.  Traffic will be routed to/from Route 30 by way of Route 27 to Route 9 to Speen Street.

The Rte. 9 bridge section of the trail was put into place in October.

The Framingham end of the 4-mile Cochituate Rail Trail is open, but the Natick section won’t be open until 2021.

cochituate rail trail speen 30


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Filed Under: Outdoors, Transportation

Page Waterman, Wellesley

You’ve got at least 5 extra months to train for Boston Marathon

October 28, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Boston Marathon won’t be streaming through the streets of Natick in April of 2021. The Boston Athletic Association has announced that the event won’t be held until at least next fall due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns.

Despite this year’s race being morphed into a virtual one, some 15,900 runners completed the virtual option this fall. More than $32 million was raised for charities.

Dozens from Natick competed this year, and many have been displaying their swag and awards on social media in recent weeks.

virtual boston marathon runners


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Filed Under: Outdoors

This South Natick, Massachusetts garden brings on the drama

October 15, 2020 by Deborah Brown 3 Comments

“When you love something, you don’t look at your watch or the clock. You don’t think about the time. When you love something you just do it,” said Karen Coffman as we looked out at her South Natick garden all dressed up for fall in purples, yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. “I put in the time in the garden, and I love it. I also have really good help. My husband is strong, built like an offensive lineman, and is willing. We’ve lived here since 1995, and I’ve been gardening the whole time.”

Natick garden, Karen Coffman
South Natick gardener, Karen Coffman. She grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri and comes from a long line of mid-western farmers. Karen says  she’s the first generation off the farm. “I learned a lot about the instincts of gardening from my parents.”

Karen hasn’t always had her dream garden. For 11 years before she landed in South Natick, she and her husband called Wellesley home. She liked the town, but found the gardening an exercise in frustration. “There were just too many trees shading my property,” she said. “I couldn’t get the six hours of sun per day that I needed without chopping down my neighbor’s trees. I told Lonnie I needed more sun for a garden.”

She found the perfect property that abutted acres and acres of apple orchards and, most importantly, it was a place where she could get direct sun for the necessary 6 – 8 hours per day. Still, the 1⅓-acre space wasn’t exactly ready for its close-up. “When we got here we cut down 37 swamp maples,” Karen said.

Natick garden, Karen Coffman
Deciduous trees, evergreens, shrubs, grasses, and perennials are layered to create a painterly effect.

With the shade eliminated, the sun poured onto the lot. That was one box checked.

Next, there was the matter of the lack of organic matter. “You know how they say in real estate it’s all about location, location, location?” Karen asked. “Well, in gardening it’s all about the soil, the soil, the soil. The soil was so poor here I knew nothing would grow.”

So she had truckloads of the offending dirt hauled away. “Then I ordered the best loam and filled the yard back in. My budget was 75% spent and I hadn’t bought a single plant. But I had to do it. The land tells you what to do if you pay attention.”

Once the dirt deed was done, another box was checked off. Karen was just a couple more steps away from realizing her dream.

Natick garden, Karen Coffman

Soil and sun are all very well and good, but a garden can’t grow without water. Since, as you can probably tell by now, Karen goes big or goes home, she had an 850-foot well drilled. “With the kind of investment I was making in this garden, I wasn’t willing to just let everything go during periods of drought.”

With the infrastructure in place, it was time to have fun and bring on the drama. Not a problem for someone who trained as an opera singer for 12 years. In fact, both Karen and her husband Lonnie trained at Indiana University. After graduation, they went to New York City and tried to break into the business.

Natick garden, Karen Coffman
Karen sources most of her plant materials from Fran’s Flowers. “Fran believes in people first,” she says.

“I did the starving artist bit for three years. Then I came to a fork in the road and made a decision to go into the tech  industry, I went into business and entered the sales side of things. I had sold pianos before, and had been good at it then. I found I was still good at sales and that’s what I built my career around.”

But she never lost her love of all things theatrical, and compares the topography of her garden to a raked stage. That’s a set that slopes upward, away from the audience, giving those at the back a better view than if all the seats were at the same level, which explains why so much of the garden is visible from no matter where you stand. As I looked out from the back deck, I could see how the garden layout moved from orchestra pit to mezzanine to balcony.

Unsurprisingly, this was not by accident. Karen considers herself a student of gardening, but says, “I’m not a designer. Never claimed to be one. So I got help from someone who knew what he was doing.”

Natick garden, Karen Coffman
Over 70 boxwoods make up the hedge at the back of the property.

Enter landscape architect Thomas Wirth who fit in 40 specimen trees to replace the felled maples; added a koi pond; used the existing gazebo as an architectural element; and created flow and balance throughout.

Although the garden was professionally designed, it’s continually evolving. Karen adds here and subtracts there as the muse dictates and aesthetics allow. “My major considerations when planning and working in the garden are height, texture, bloom time, and maintenance,” she says. “It’s an experiment, number one. It’s a puzzle, number 2. If something doesn’t work, if it’s only pretty for a brief bloom time and then ugly for the rest of the year, out it goes.”

As you can see, she’s ruthless. Karen says it’s the only way and cites her decades in executive recruiting as good preparation for ripping out uncooperative plants. “Now that was a ruthless business,” she says.

Natick garden, Karen Coffman
The gazebo, tucked away behind the koi pond, came with the property. A dwarf variety of Sargent Crabapple tree frames the scene.

My tour over, Karen sends me off with a red Solo cup full of dahlias and other autumn gems that she clipped with her number 2 Felcos as we strolled the grounds.

“Don’t forget to let me know which plants you want divisions from,” she calls out as I leave.

Oh, don’t worry, Karen. That’s an offer nobody could refuse.


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Filed Under: Art, Gardens, Outdoors

Cochituate Rail Trail bridges Rte. 9 in Natick

October 13, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Cochituate Rail Trail through Natick continues to get more real, with the bridge over Rte. 9 craned into place on Sunday night.

Natick GIS Coordinator Rich Ames naturally took photos and video via a drone.

Though here’s one we took on Tuesday morning:

cochituate rail trail rte 9 bridge

The bridge over Rte. 30 should go into place in the next month or so.

The Framingham end of the 4-mile Cochituate Rail Trail is open, but the Natick section won’t be open until 2021.

More: Natick Trails Day set for Oct. 17


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Filed Under: Outdoors

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