Working in the Demo Garden by Heirloom Fan

Today I reported for duty with three other Master Gardener volunteers to do cleanup work at the demo gardens. We chose to work on the garden at the old entrance to the Extension Service building at the Jeffco Fairgrounds.
This garden has special significance because many of the plants were donated as memorials to friends and family members who were Master Gardeners, and as tributes to those who gave special service and dedication to the Jefferson County Extension Service and the Master Gardener program.



We found spring flowers emerging and many in bloom such as Daffodils and Tulips and the Allium plants were in full bud and will be blooming soon. We also found a lot of weeds happily growing among the spring flowers and perennials so we each kept busy pulling, trimming and raking the weeds and removing tons of leaves and dead plant material to make way for the new growth. We felt good that after two hours of hard work, the cleaned up gardens will allow the flowers and bushes have room to grow, as well as getting more air circulation and sunshine.
We are due to return in July and look forward to seeing how different the gardens will look by then.

Pincushion Flowers by Heirloom Fan

One of the hardiest perennial flowers in my garden is the Scabiosa columbaria, commonly known as the Pincushion Flower. As you can see in the picture, when the buds are green, they do resemble a little pincushion.
They begin emerging in my garden about the same time as the Columbines so are off to an early start. When the buds open, this variety has lavender-blue flowers and it continues to bloom all season. In fact, they even endure frosts and are one of the last flowers in my garden and the foliage remains green during the winter. Another bonus is that they when they bloom, they attract butterflies and also come in a variety of colors.
Many of us know that perennials are a good choice for Colorado gardens and the Pincushion flower does not disappoint. An interesting fact that I read about this flower is that in ancient times, it was used as a remedy for skin disorders, thus the name Scabiosa.
I would like to recommend garden fact bulletin no. 7.406 “Flowers for Mountain Communities” which can be found at www:ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/07406.html This bulletin has a wealth of information for selection and establishment for these flowers including more information about the Pincushion Flower. It also includes a handy chart which gives the scientific and common name, bloom time, colors, sizes and comments. This chart would be great to take with you when you go to the garden center to help you make your selections.

Spring Rose Pruning and Other Rosy Ramblings by Gardener Dave

Over the nearly 40 years that my wife and I have lived on Green Mountain in Lakewood, I probably have had nearly a hundred roses in my garden. I have cut back on the total number for several reasons: One – there is now much less full-sun area there used to be in our yard, due to my shade trees growing larger. I am not about to cut down the trees, as we enjoy their shade in the hot summer. Two – (also due to the trees) my main rose garden has become quite full of roots that compete with the roses for nutrients and water. Ergo, my rose garden is gradually becoming a slope that will be mostly ground cover that enjoys the shade. Three – although I enjoy roses very much – I am cutting back on my total yard care efforts (with my wife’s urging!). Oh yes, I still have many roses in our yard, mostly in raised beds in the areas that do have adequate sun for them, but I don’t feel compelled to rush out every spring and make room for several new ones. (Tempted, but not compelled!)

Along the way, I have learned a few things about rose care in our Front Range area that I will pass along to you fellow gardeners. The following are just a few supplements to the good rose information available from our C.S.U. Extension Fact Sheets such as 7.404 “Selecting and Planting Roses”, found here http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07404.htmland from many other good “rose care hints” out there. 7.404 also lists recommended roses that I think of as “old standbys”. My results with growing some of these over the years have matched the ratings on the list quite closely.

My personal favorites from the list:
Hybrid Teas: Chicago Peace, Double Delight, Electron, First Prize, Mr. Lincoln, and Peace.





Grandifloras: Queen Elizabeth, and Sonia.
Floribundas: Angel Face, Europeana, and Showbiz.







I have also had some good luck with (Improved) Blaze, and Don Juan climbers, but our climate is not kind to over-wintering climber canes. Bonica is a good pink rose in the “Shrub” category, but also seems to have quite a bit of winter dieback and does not form an actual shrub in my experience. I have other favorites not on the list. If you would like to know these, please ask me for them. (And also please excuse all my “I” problems in this writing, I’m not sure how else to tell about my experiences. Any ideas on how to avoid this?)

1) Pruning: I DON’T try to save rose canes in the spring that are really dark in color or have “weather cankers” on them. They will almost NEVER support good roses later in the season, even if they have new sprouts on them. When you cut the canes back from the top, look for a healthy green cambium layer all the way around the cane down to the base, then stop pruning a bit above that point. This spring my roses will be severely pruned!

2) Pruning: I WAIT until late April or early May to prune the canes back. By that time you will have a pretty good idea of the extent of winter damage, and new sprouting growth will be evident. This ast winter was hard on roses in our area, especially if they were exposed to below-zero temperatures and drying winds. In my first years of growing roses, I would prune canes back on mild days (during some of our “false springs” in February or March), only to prune them back some more after later cold spells. All right… I’ll admit that some years – such as this one – I just can’t stand the sight of ugly tall, brown, thorny canes, and I do lop them off early to improve the general appearance of the garden.

3) Pruning: I HAVE had considerable success with planting bare-root roses if I buy those with good sturdy canes and large well-formed bud unions (grafts). You can’t see the roots when you buy them, but at least you can evaluate them after unwrapping and before planting, unlike with pre-potted roses. Prune off any broken roots at this time, and spread out the good roots over improved soil in the hole as you plant them. Prune the canes per instructions in Fact Sheet 7.404 after planting, and provide protection to prevent drying out.

More than pruning – I have learned: to plant new roses with bud unions (grafts) below the soil surface an inch or so to protect this critical area during the winter, to apply a good layer of mulch, to practice some winter watering during mild spells, to withhold fertilizer after early September to discourage growth of soft new canes that will surely die over winter, and of course – to cut blooms back to just above a five-leaf cluster where new shoots will form for continued blooming. I just wanted you to know a few of the things I consider important. Thanks for your attention – good roses to you!




Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Workbench by Gardener Cumax

When we bought our house, the garden had been neglected for maybe 15+ years. It used to be a rental. While it was remodeled inside, the outside had been neglected. There's many to list but I'll limit it the garden: it was overrun by a 40+ year old grapevine and Alium. Holding this chaos in more or less was an old red fence. It served no purpose but to frame the garden. Down it came and overwintered near the shed. It was reborn late last week as a workbench. I talked with my neighbor to make sure he wouldn't mind my workbench being installed directly onto the fence. He didn't care in the least, so I got it up in about 2 hours. Among other things, that involved removing the nails. Let me say this: they do not make nails like they used to. All of the nails came out perfectly straight which means I get to re-use them. And they don't make nails this thick anymore. I used a level to make sure the baseboards are level as the fence itself slopes down to the east. I made sure to get the heigh correct. I'm happy to report that this bench is ergonomic for me and much too high for my sweetheart - but she leaves all the potting and plotting to me. While I was removing the boards I came across several ticks and this large one, about 1/4" wide.

Why We Garden: The Dirty Truth Revealed by Donna Duffy

Oh, the many benefits of gardening. Ask any gardener and they’ll go on and on about the fresh air, the homegrown veggies, the peace and quiet, the fitness benefit of all that bending, digging and lifting. It’s also a great way to meet your neighbors and keep an eye on suspicious characters wandering up and down your street. Gardening brightens up the neighborhood and increases the value of your property. And I would be remiss not to mention the opportunity to impress your friends and family by casually throwing out words in Latin.

But deep down in the heart of the gardener lies a dirty truth – so ghastly that it’s never mentioned out loud. Face it: we garden so we don’t have to clean the house. Now! Doesn’t it feel better to let it out?

Honestly, which work environment do you prefer?




There are only so many hours in the day, right? Heck, we have all winter to create a clean, sparkly house. Summer is the perfect time to release ourselves from all that indoor drudgery and danger: unhealthy indoor air; fumes from carpets, plastics, and heaven knows what else. Don’t tell me you haven’t shuddered at the news stories about dust mites invading every nanospace in your home…and now bedbugs. Ugh. Clearly, indoors is a place to be avoided at all cost.

We’ve developed the skill of deflecting our friends and family away from the house and into the yard. It sounds like this:
• Come over for dinner, we’ll eat on the patio!
• It’s so much cooler on the porch than in the living room.
• Hmmm, I wonder why the front door is locked? Let’s go around back and check out the rose garden.

I’ve learned that all I really need to clean is one bathroom and a pathway from the patio door leading into it. Nothing else. The laws of extrapolation will lead your friends to believe that the rest of the house is equally clean.

So there you have it, our dirty little secret revealed. Now get outside and grab a trowel!

One Week in April by Late Bloomer

Instead of the usual Wednesday at the potters' wheel, I found myself out in the front yard, trying to makeup for lost time by tending to some old projects. A veteran saver of GOOD STUFF, it's no surprise that I am now very PC with my GREEN life style. The path beside the house has been paved for around 20 years with bricks and tiles salvaged from construction sites, and scrapes of stone from here and there. Last spring, my neighbor gave me some nice flagstones left over from his project. As you can see, the job has been on hold for a year. This week's goal is to finish laying the stones in soil that will eventually be planted with some kind of low-growing thyme. This almost bare patch of ground was the first front yard veggie garden in our neighborhood. How GREEN is that? In November 2007 I smothered a large area of grass with layers of newsprint covered with a mix of manure and compost. Over the winter the grass died, never to return. (Unfortunately, this didn't stop the bindweed, but that's a story for another day.) The garden was planted last spring with indoor-started plants, and we harvested eggplant, tomatoes, chilies, kale, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and assorted herbs. The soil is rich and the location ideal for sun-loving veggies. Our freezers and pantry hold enough food to get us by until the this year's plantings are producing. The October-planted arugula and spinach have been showing up in salads for many weeks now, and the perennial lemon balm and thyme are demonstrating their appreciation for all that snow last week. The arugula has such pretty white flowers; unfortunately it is bolting. Meanwhile, this year's crops are behind schedule. Lots of seeds were ordered over a month ago, but have not yet arrived due to an "unprecedented interest in gardens" this year. Some plants are growing under lights in the laundry room
and will soon be outside in a portable mini greenhouse—as soon as I build it out of the old fence boards and windows that are gathering dust in the storage area. Provided of course, that I can find them under all that other STUFF... Thursday, the day after Earth Day The flagstone path awaits.
It is already warm and will reach 80 degrees today, the prognosticators say. Meanwhile, I get waylaid by the trash beside the house, then the leaves in the window well. Another barrel-full for the compost! Then I am distracted by the bushes that need pruning, and the ground becomes littered with red twigs. Back to the stone laying; but first I must put down grass stop at the path's end; and before that, have to dig up the edge sod. All the while I am thinking about the window well covers we bought last year. If I can get that clean well covered over it will be one less latrine for the raccoons... FridayApril 24 The stone path is finished (as promised) and is watered to settle the dirt and set the stones. Getting waylaid again, I chopped weeds in the garden space in preparation for planting some of the seeds that finally got here yesterday afternoon: carrots, cabbage, peas, kale, swiss chard, beets, onions, and salad greens. I fix the water connections near the front porch, only to get drenched by the nozzle on the new coiled hose, which sprays out everywhere but its end. After replacing it with another nozzle I went in to make a lunch which included last summer's kale and chard from the freezer, cooked with garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil. After a quick trip to the gym to un-kink my back, I'll be downstairs starting more seeds under the lights:delphinium, valarian, butterfly bush, paprika peppers, and cone flower. It is difficult starting perennials this way, but I love propagation in all its forms. And, isn't saving money GREEN, too? Saturday April 25 Today is pottery day; I got some yard work done before I went, as it is hard to pull myself away from the studio once I get there. Finished cleaning up after the stone laying project: Excess dirt from the path project is loaded into the garden cart along with a bag of manure that's been sitting in the driveway since early March. The barrel of leaves from the window well cleanup will comprise the third layer in a new compost pile. This wonderful chicken/rabbit/goose/hay manure is from my friend's "farm" here in the heart of Lakewood. Her property is one of several in the area which is still zoned for animals. She always gives me a ribbon-topped sack of shit for my birthday. Wow, does that stuff grow veggies! SundayApril 26 ...is a gloomy day complete with a cold wind. No outside work today. I buy some grass stop and a hoop support for the peony which always spills into the driveway. The store's nursery is overflowing with flowers, trees, and shrubs. I make note of shrubs and roses to plant into my next front yard project: a new bed along the front sidewalk that will have water thrifty small shrubs and perennials. This border will give us a little more privacy, discourage vegetable foraging, and replace more of the water-thirsty turf. I tend to the seedlings in the laundry room. The tomatoes are growing fast, especially the heirloom Roma type that I got from a friend two years ago. The seeds have been saved from last year's crop. This is my way of not only saving money, but continuing the world's seed bank. My daughter-in-law has given me a wonderful package of baby food jars filled with saved seeds. Another friend contributed special seeds from his yard. All are here in the flats, and I await their awakening. On the way upstairs I gather up the last winter squash that was harvested in October. This is an heirloom variety named Hopi orange, and I see in my mind's eye the mesa-living peoples who grew this magnificent food. It has a tough skin, thick succulent flesh, and best of all, viable seeds for its continuing re-genesis. There is enough flesh here to make a pie, some soup, a veggie dish, and maybe some cookies. MondayApril 27 It rained and snowed last night, nice and wet and I give thanks for the moisture. The potted primroses on the front porch are still blooming as they have been since early March.
Tough plant; I had no idea! No yard work today. TuesdayApril 28 Today I am begin edging the front yard veggie garden, before the grass can start spreading into the area again. I like a mowing strip around beds, so there will be a row of bricks just inside the grass stop. The bricks come from another stash of GOOD STUFF that has been awaiting action for a couple of years. One son operates heavy equipment, and twice that year he called to invite me to salvage bricks from houses that were being torn down. The car's shocks were groaning from the trips across town, but well worth the effort. There are plenty left for the original project—paving under a grape arbor, built three years ago with the help of another son. Taking a break from the kneeling, it's time to tackle pruning. One bush is topped; it is getting too tall and needs to be coaxed into filling in better. A gigantic rabbit brush is taking over the entry way, and gets a very severe haircut. I know for a fact they never get this big in the wild... WednesdayApril 29 Still working on the garden edging. The seedlings under lights are doing well. The peppers and eggplants are growing faster now that I have put a heater in the room. I need to get that mini greenhouse built soon; some of the plants are nearing a size that needs repotting. The choices about the seedlings' thinning have been made. It is hard to pinch off the extras; it feels like murder. There is no more room under the light, so I will need to move some things into window sills that are already crowded with cuttings from last year's annuals: coleus in lovely dark red and lime green, and the stunning bright green sweet potato vine for companionship. The wintering-over geraniums are more than a decade old, and have provided two cuttings twice since fall. That's it for the week. OK, OK so it's a week and a day; but Monday didn't count.

Upside Down Tomatoes by Dusty M

Have you seen the ads for the hanging planter with a tomato plant growing upside down from the bottom? Last week an out-of-area friend contacted me to ask what I thought about it. Since it’s a timely topic, I thought I might share what, after some research and reflection, I told him.

My friend, who has been raising vegetables only a couple of years, lives in the northeastern U.S. The TV ads caught his attention because he is plagued by slugs and snails, and a suspended container would avoid that big problem. He also has a late frost date that shortens his growing season. He figured he could start a tomato plant in the hanging container in his sunroom, move it outside on warm days, and finally leave it outside after the threat of frost had passed.

It sounded reasonable to me. So when I attended a Master Gardener committee meeting later in the week, I asked my colleagues if anyone had tried growing upside-down tomatoes. None had, but one person reported on a relative’s experience. The tomato plant grew well but it didn’t bear any tomatoes. The relative confessed that she might have given it too much fertilizer, stimulating green growth rather than the development of fruit. (This would be excess nitrogen in the fertilizer formula, rather than phosphorus, which stimulates flowers and fruit.)

I passed this on to my friend, along with some other thoughts on the subject. I don’t know if he has occasional strong winds such as we experience here. But I think his tomato would need to hang in a spot well protected from wind, as mature tomato vines become rather brittle and would snap if the container swung back and forth. Heavy tomato fruit would also fall to the ground.

At the same time, the container should also be located for maximum exposure to the sun. Tomatoes require a minimum of eight hours of sun a day, and more is better. In my own yard, I don’t see a spot that would work, but I can envision a protected south-facing corner in which a tomato plant would be hot and happy. Then I’d have to find a way to hang the container.

I told my friend that a container sitting on the ground might work as well and be easier to situate than the hanging container. He might attach a copper wire or band around the base of the container to prevent the slugs and snails from climbing aboard. I regularly grow tomato plants in a couple of containers, about 18 inches in diameter at the top. A tomato variety adapted to containers has performed well. The fruit is smaller than what I harvest from plants grown in the ground, but they are plentiful and tasty. I haven’t stretched the start of the growing season through use of these containers, but do stretch the end. By moving the containers in and out of the garage to avoid frost and cold nights, I have been able to harvest fruit as late as Thanksgiving. We have plenty of warm autumn sunshine to keep them producing.

Water is a critical element in growing anything in containers. I water my tomato containers every morning, and add a little water-soluble fertilizer when the plant blooms and starts to set fruit. There’s already an alfalfa-based organic fertilizer that I mixed into the potting soil at the time of planting.

Have any of you grown tomatoes in containers – upside down or right side up? How did it go?

Here's a video on how to do it.

Turf Mites by Mary Small, CSU Extension Agent

Our Plant Diagnostic Clinic has been seeing a number of lawn samples with the same problem - mite damage. Areas of the lawn looks dead, bleached or seems to be coming out of winter slowly. Damage is most common on south exposures, west or south slopes or in lawn areas next to sidewalks or driveways.

Upon close inspection, grass blades are speckled with whitish flecks. Some blades may be purplish. Living mites have been found in a few cases, but generally they are undetectable now. Turf mites are tiny, spider-like relatives that are active during the winter and early spring, when they suck sap out of the grass plants.

The best management strategy is to make sure lawns are watered in fall and winter months when it is dry and there has been little precipitation. This past fall and winter were dry and provided ideal conditions for these creatures to develop. Drought stress goes hand in hand with mites.

At this time of the year there is little that can be done except to over seed or sod damaged areas and be prepared for them next year.

April Showers bring May Flowers by Gardener Cumax

In my case, April snow dumps can squash the flowers. It just depends on what kind of flowers they are. The tulips have some minor damage. Most were not open yet. In the case of winter hardy succulents, no amount of snow can dampen their enthusiasm.



Imagine that heavy snow crushing these delicate Delosperma 'Beaufort West' flowers. The bright sun revives them and they shine again. Heavy snow, bright sun, flowers again. Six words that aptly describe hardy succulents.



If you happen to see some pink in the foothills, it's Pediocactus simpsonii, a Colorado native that is just about done flowering. One can find these in various places on the southern flanks of Green Mountain. These two are currently flowering in my hardy succulent garden.




We call the Stomatium mustillinum (native to S. Africa) the Banana Taffy Flower because that's exactly what its fragrance smells like. Its flowers open about 5-6 pm every night for 4 months starting after the last snow. In this case the flowers started a week after that April 18th snow dump. As long as it's sunny most of the day, the flowers will open. A few cloudy days will simply close them up; the returning sun opens those same flowers again.

Finding Fennel by Heirloom Fan

As the weather began to warm, I noticed some green growth in one of my raised beds and this always gets my attention. Last year I grew several types of greens, including some from a packet of mixed herb greens and among those that came up was a crop of fennel.
When fall arrived, the fennel was still green and doing well, so I didn’t pull it as I did my fall cleanup. Over the winter, I noticed that it remained green. As the weather warmed up I was happy to see that it survived the winter and was now sending out more fresh, green growth.
Fennel is easy to identify in the garden. If you pinch off a leaf and crush it, you will get a sweet anise/licorice scent that is unique to this herb.
Growing herbs is fun and easy. Many garden herbs like Fennel are readily available through seed catalogues and garden centers. If you designate a spot to grow your perennial herbs, you will be able to enjoy and use them year after year.
A great fact sheet to help gardeners learn more about herbs is called Growing, Preserving and Using Herbs and can be found at www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/foodnut/09335.html. This fact sheet includes a handy chart that shows which herbs are annual and which are perennial, how to grow them, how to preserve them and ways that they are commonly used in cooking. Use this chart to help you select herbs that suit your taste and try a new one each year.

Some “Off-the-Garden-Wall” Thoughts by Gardener Dave

Are any of you fellow gardeners like me at this time of year, waking up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning with your brain synapses “twitter-tweeting” to each other about some ideas for new gardening or yard projects?
This happens frequently with me – and after I get up and review my early morning brain activities – many of them are discarded as being impractical, but some are actually followed through. Some also are ideas about what to put in this blog, some are prompted by articles written by others of you as gardening blog contributors.

For instance, I was thinking about Carol Lee’s comments regarding the “stylishness”, or lack thereof, of what we might choose for our gardening attire. One thought I had was perhaps we don’t “choose” it from day to day. It might be just what’s available to us on a given day, i.e. maybe IT chooses US? Or, after some days of use, we may decide that donning a CLEAN pair of jeans or shirt is in order, thereby delaying for a few more days the neighbors turning us in for vagrancy. How does that old saying go? “If you play in the dirt, you get dirty”. Hmmmm… we gardeners cannot be – in general – a vain lot, can we?

Curious headgear is one of my specialties, or perhaps peculiarities. I wear headgear with large brims to keep the sun off of my face, neck and ears. Over the years I have worn straw “farmer” hats, “planter” hats, cowboy hats, an Aussie Digger hat (lopsided shade!), and a hard white plastic pith helmet. The latter was worn for several seasons and always got a laugh from the neighbors and a comment or two about “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”, but I finally quit wearing it because got so stained it made me look like a bird jungle survivor, and besides, it made too much noise in the dryer after washing (just kidding!).



Good Ol' Stinky


Our “non-vanity” might also extend to the vehicle(s) that we drive, especially if it’s one we use for hauling plants, mulch, fertilizer, lumber and such. I’m not a fan of SUV’s or “Testosterone Trucks”, if you catch my drift, but I do have an old Ford station wagon I fondly call “Stinky”, for reasons I won’t go into here lest I run afoul of the EPA (No, it doesn’t have blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe!). “Stinky” has served me well over the years. I have used it for everything from hauling loose dirt, sand and bricks – to the usual plants and other tools-of-the-trade, even some 4”x6”x12’ treated timbers (you know how heavy those things are) – and it doesn’t complain. But now the driver’s door is sincerely threatening to fall off, so I guess it’s time I give it some attention. It still runs well, so I plan to keep it for several more years. I can always rope the door shut, right?

I’m sure the neighbors are also curious (perhaps that’s not the right word) about my plants, pots, trash cans, timbers, piles of gravel and dirt, etc. that suddenly appear at the side of my driveway nearly every spring, and seem to take quite a while to disappear. Every spring seems to require changing my landscaping in some way, hopefully for the better. At least in my opinion it’s better, and that’s what counts, right?

Here’s to our Gardening Eccentricities!

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Planting by Heirloom Fan

You’ve heard the expression, “cold hands, warm hearts”. This certainly applied to a dedicated group of CSU Jefferson County Extension Master Gardeners (CMG) and other volunteers who gathered in Arvada to plant the landscape for a new Habitat for Humanity for Metro Denver homeowner.

On April 25, 2009 guided by Jefferson County Horticulture Extension Agent Heather Hodgin, the volunteers braved chilly 50 degree temperatures and light rain to make homeowner Barb Daila’s yard come to life. Habitat representative Kathy Fiebig was also on hand to supervise the event.

Ms. Fiebig spoke to the group of volunteers before work began and explained the mission of Habitat for Humanity. She stated that the homeowners become a vital part of the construction process and that they purchase the homes for low interest rates, enabling many families to move out of poverty housing and to residential neighborhoods and own their first home. Homeowners must be willing to dedicate at least 250 hours of “sweat equity” work in building and completing their homes, including duties such as the landscape planting.
In return, Habitat is able to sell them a home at 0% interest. Over 1 ½ million people have been able to own their first home and move out of poverty thanks to Habitat for Humanity. Volunteers such as the CMGs are also a vital part of the process. Jefferson County Extension CMGs have provided habitat homeowners with low-maintenance, low-water landscape advice since 1999.

Homeowner Barb Daila worked with CMG Kathryn Gault to choose the right plants for her landscape. Her goal was to find ones with year round beauty and color, as well as plants that were water wise and they achieved their goal. Many of the plants selected for the landscape were Plant Select plants, www.plantselect.org, that have been tested by Colorado State University and the Denver Botanic Gardens for durability and water conservation in the Colorado climate.

When the truck arrived, Kathryn Gault and Heather Hodgin began checking the delivery and designating the plants to the spots marked on the yard. Each volunteer than grabbed a shovel and began the planting process. The homeowner and her family will now have a wonderful landscape to enjoy for many years to come!