Girl Scouts in Syosset help neighbor clear overgrown yard

Six Girl Scouts helped a senior citizen in Syosset spruce up her front yard, which had become overgrown from years of neglect.

Members of Troop 3518 recruited the help of a landscaper and spent six hours Sunday working on the yard of a Syosset woman who had become unable to tend to the property, according to her neighbor, Laurie Hooey, 46.

The woman grew up in the house and once kept lush gardens, Hooey said, but for years the lawn was brown and dry, and holly trees obscured the Calvin Avenue home from view.

Growing up in Syosset, Erica Borzone, 13, had noticed the small house with wild and unkempt bushes, she said.

“After a while I thought maybe we could do something to help,” said Borzone.

A few months ago, Borzone and other girls in her Girl Scout troop decided they wanted to help out with the landscaping. Hooey, whose daughter Jillian is in the troop, visited the homeowner, who asked that they give her a hand.

The homeowner was not immediately available for comment.

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The girls worked with landscaper Bob Anzalone and together they cleared large branches, removed saplings and overgrown brush, and planted drought-resistant perennials, he said.

“You could tell that at one time this was a pretty impressive front yard,” Anzalone said. “She had some magnificent old plants, things just needed to be maintained after years and years of neglect.”

The girls planted bright perennials in old urns they found scattered across the property and cleared the ground around a decades-old Dawn redwood in the backyard.

“I feel amazing that we could do this for her,” Borzone said. “Hopefully this can inspire other people to do great things for their neighbors too. ”