Lawn & Garden 2012

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012

THE LEADER

Perennials Oaklawn Garden Center celebrates 20 years of growing

Backyard barnyard Why are chickens crossing into Backyard America?

CAN YOU DIG IT? On Saturday, April 14, Tipton County Master Gardeners will be hosting their annual Lawn & Garden Expo. See page 10 for more information.

The secret garden The Urban Project is transforming city lots into beautiful gardens

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On Saturday, April 14, Tipton County Master Gardeners will be hosting their annual Lawn & Garden Expo. See page 10 for more information.

English poet Christina Rossetti once said “[Spring is] when life’s alive in everything,� and that is certainly true right now in Tipton County.

This year we have experienced an early spring after a mild winter and warmer than average temperatures.

The birds began singing sooner than normal, the bullfrogs were croaking in February, the Japanese Maples wore their beautiful deep pink blooms well before it was actually spring.

It’s hard to be gloomy, to be depressed, when you see trees with brand new leaves and daffodils blooming along the highway much sooner than anticipated. It was almost as if God decided to throw a surprise party, decorating the earth with the beauty, the splendor only He can bring.

For my family, this beautiful weather has made us feel alive and the new life around us has inspired us to try

again with gardening (last year’s was a total flop with only a few tomatoes and tiny potatoes harvested) as well as trying at hand at raising chickens (we recently started our brood with four chicks, two Rhode Island Reds and two Australorps).

I’ve spent considerable time at Oaklawn Garden Center in Brighton and Fred’s in Munford just staring at plants, trying to determine what I want to add to our yard and imagining us a more self-sufficient family.

We publish the Lawn & Garden section each year and we hope it, along with sunny skies and blooming azaleas, makes you want to go outside and plant something, weed your garden or begin a backyard barnyard of your own.

Best wishes for a plentiful harvest, beautiful blooms and a safe spring!

PREMATURE PLANTING

Though we’ve had an early spring this year, the traditional frost date, when it is usually safe to do your planting, is April 15. See more on safe planting and hardiness zones on page 16.

News editor, The Leader

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4 • Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN

PERENNIALS

Oaklawn Garden Center celebrates 20 years of growing

By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com

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www.covingtonleader.com

Wendi Hill was a new mother to four-week-old son London when she and her husband Jonathan opened Oaklawn Garden Center.

Now their son is in college and, 20 years later, the business is still blooming in Brighton.

“I’ve been watering mums since I was five,” Wendi said, laughing. “I’m not kidding.”

Wendi grew up in the business, working with her siblings after school in her parents’ greenhouses.

When she and Jonathan married, her husband helped her father for a year or so, then the couple took over her parents’ wholesale business when they opened a new garden center in Paris.

“We did that for probably five years, then moved to

Brighton and built our greenhouses,” she said. “We did that for a couple of years, then opened Oaklawn in 1992.”

The business began in a small house still located on the lot at the corner of Oaklawn and Hwy. 51. When the garden center began, the Hills lived in the back of the home and used the front rooms for check-out and chemical storage.

“The next year we bought the other house and moved into it, then added an addition (to the first house). We’ve just been working ever since.”

Before they opened the garden center on the highway, the

Hills tried to operate a retail center where their greenhouses are located, but business wasn’t very good.

“People just want convenience,” said Wendi.

The greenhouses are still in operation and are where Jonathan, along with 25-year employee Mable Moody, begin seeds and transplant plants that will eventually be sold at the little shop along the highway.

“Most people never see Mable because she’s always at the greenhouses. She does all of the transplanting and gets everything ready for people to ►

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Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN • 5

www.covingtonleader.com see.”

In fact, all of Oaklawn’s bedding plants are grown in the greenhouses. Because they grow their own, they also do not have to charge sales tax on them.

“That saves customers almost 10 percent right there,” Wendi said. “A lot of people don’t know that and they don’t know we grow them ourselves. A lot of people care about where their plants come from.”

The bedding plants, she said, are her favorites.

“I love all the bedding plants because they make you happy, a pot of plants. It’s really fun to help people pick out things that you know will work for them and will make them happy all summer.”

Making customers happy is something the staff at Oaklawn strives to do. Wendi insists that her employees stay honest with customers, letting them know whether or not a plant will work for them, for instance.

New Beginning

In addition to bedding plants, the garden center also sells a wide variety of shrubs, trees, roses, vegetables, mulch and more.

Many people don’t realize the workload involved with owning a garden center, said Wendi. During the busy months, she and her husband work 12-14 hours days, beginning at the greenhouse, then 10 hours at the garden center and a couple more hours at the greenhouse before being able to go home.

Spring and summer are their busiest times of the year, but they’re busy almost year-round.

“In the fall we have pumpkins and mums and pansies and hay bales. My nature gift shop has really taken off too, so we stay open until Christmas, then we close for about a month.”

At the end of January, Jonathan is back in the greenhouses, planting seeds to prepare for spring.

Quality and customer service are two things that Hills make a priority, two things they say

As I travel with the windows down and my lab in the bed of my truck, I acknowledge the beauty of the warm Spring day God has given us. My senses are awakened by the fresh soil turned over in preparation for planting.

Sprayers run frantically up and down the road with water trucks in tow, reminding me of busy ants building a colony. Farm trucks loaded down with chemical, miscellaneous items, tools, and the “what if this breaks down” back-up plans are running from farm to farm assisting multiple crews. Our farmers have been given another opportunity by God to prepare and plant a new crop.

Over the course of the next week, I enjoy meeting the tractors with field preparation implements and planters in tow on the roads. I simply pull over and wave as they avoid all obstacles around them to safely move to the next farm, to work and support our community. The sound of the powerful diesel engines, bright HID lights, and warm night air make me sit still and listen. Not only do I watch and listen, but I say a prayer for the farmer and thank God for keeping His hand upon him. I sit and appreciate the long hours the farmer has endured during the day and week, with so many things not in his control. As I watch, I ponder on how our farmers are the largest risk takers in our society. They

set them apart from big box and discount stores.

With the number of repeat customers over the years, they’re clearly doing something right.

“The main thing is to keep our customers happy,” said Wendi.

“We have some that have come back every year and they ask about our kids and we ask about theirs. We do enjoy it and love our customers and being able to help them with their yard, seeing the pictures they bring in. You feel good because you’ve helped them and made them happy beautifying their yard. It’s really rewarding and makes you feel good.”

With 20 years already gone, Wendi said there are no plans of stopping now.

“I don’t know what else I’d do!”

Oaklawn Garden Center is located at 56 Oaklawn Drive in Brighton, at the corner of Oaklawn/Woodlawn and Hwy. 51 (northbound).

financially burden themselves to plant a seed, nurture it, wait, and leave the rest to God. Their only guarantee is the hard work and labor they invest in the crop.

Everything else is completely in God’s hands.

It states in the Bible, Mark 4:2-20, of the parable of the sower regarding the use of the seed which is the key to understanding the Kingdom of God. This parable illustrates where to plant the seed to be fruitful. Mark 4:26-28 speaks of “a man that scatters seed on the ground; he sleeps and rises – night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows – he doesn’t know how. The soil produces a crop by itself – first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head.” After planting our farmers rest, wait on God, and His rain and sunshine, to nurture the crop. The seed has the secret of life and growth within itself. No person on this Earth has ever possessed the secret of life. To my knowledge no one has ever created anything in the full sense of the term. We are able to discover things; rearrange them, genetically alter them, but we cannot create a seed.

Spring can be a new beginning for all of us spiritually. Spring can be our new beginning to rid ourselves of all our past, ask for forgiveness, accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and start with the seed of salvation. God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to work here on Earth planting the seed of salvation. He sowed

it on good ground so that those who hear the word would nurture their seed daily to grow and be fruitful. Our growth in the word of God will not occur at once. It will be small steps much like the growth of our crops: first the blade (our acceptance), then the head (our heart), then the full grain (our complete mind/ heart/soul). We are capable of being a better, more mature person today than we were the day before. If we forget this vital truth, we tend to lose sight of the essential meaning of life and the sources of its deepest fulfillment. If a seed can work its way out of the dark and deep layer of soil to reach sunlight, we must not be content holding our faith as a seed of potential. We must nurture our seed with the word of God so that we may spread the seed of the Kingdom of God. Especially after Jesus completed the work of His father through planting the seed of salvation and giving up His life on Calvary, he ascended into Heaven awaiting our arrival.

In closing, our farmers are doing the work of our Father, by sowing the seed to provide for their community, country, and world. I hope as you pass by the crops this growing season, you watch as they nurture their seeds to grow fruitfully, so that it will remind you to grow daily and nurture your walk with Christ. To our farmers and their families, I sincerely appreciate you.

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Why are chickens crossing into Backyard America?

By MARK GLOVER backyardchickenshq.com

There is a fast-growing trend across America with people keeping backyard chickens. No one knows exactly how many backyard chickens there really are. Thousands, if not millions, of chickens are quietly tucked away in backyards across America, many in violation of local ordinances that have evolved to exclude them.

For many other Americans, why people would want backyard chickens is as great of a mystery as why the chicken crossed the road.

Here are some of the reasons why people want backyard chickens: Sustainability Most of us are just one generation from a time when people had chickens and gardens in the city as well as in the country. Previous genera-

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tions lived much more sustainable life styles and did not depend on fast food, packaged factory-made food or microwave ovens. The kitchen, breakfast table and dining table were social gathering places for families, where life was shared and sorted. Today, our grandmothers, and certainly greatgrandmothers, could not identify much of what we eat as food or how we prepare and consume it.

The victory gardens of World War I and World War II were the result of a duty felt by Americans to be self sufficient, patriotic and not waste valuable resources. The federal government printed posters to encourage Americans to plant victory gardens in World Wars I and II. One such poster stated, “Uncle Sam expects you to keep hens and raise chickens.” ►

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increased from 1,755 in 1994 to 7,175 in 2011.

Healthy and local food Fast and packaged foods are proving problematic to our heath and the health of our families. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, salmonella, and obesity are just of few of the health concerns. Studies revealing ever increasing problems with food supply emerge monthly. Many believe we are literally poisoning ourselves.

Factory farms raise thousands to tens of thousands of chickens in a single barn, where living space for chickens are sometimes not much larger than the size of a hat box.

Today, people are re-connecting with a need for self-sufficiency, a desire for local healthy food, and a value system of living in a sustainable manner. Food security, resource conserva-

tion, buying local and knowing where food comes from are all increasingly important. USDA statistics clearly indicate this movement as it pertains to food. Local farmers markets have

Factory farm chickens These chickens never see the light of day and often live in filthy/ cramped conditions. Antibiotics, pesticides, saline, chlorine, and many other unnatural substances are found in our super-market chicken. Fast food chicken is much, much worse.

According to Consumer Reports in 2010, two-thirds of whole broilers

bought at stores nationwide harbored salmonella and/or campylobacter, the leading bacterial causes of food-borne disease.

Backyard chickens, on the other hand, forage on chemical free vegetation and insects.

Many backyard chicken owners augment their feed weed with certified organic feed. Backyard chickens have less stress and are naturally healthier than factory farm chickens.

They are also less susceptible to bird diseases, like Avian Flu. In 2006, the Center for Disease Control said, “When it comes to bird flu, diverse small-scale poultry farming is the solution, not the problem.”

Backyard chicken owners are able to eliminate or reduce herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. Chickens provide natural pest control by eating fleas, ticks, grasshoppers, spiders, slugs, mosquito larvae and almost every other insect. Chickens even eat small mice and snakes.

With all this foraging on natural foods, backyard chickens become organic chickens and produce fresh organic eggs that are healthier and ►

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Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN • 9 taste better. Backyard chicken enthusiasts swear by the better taste of their fresh eggs and chickens. Egg yolks are firmer, more yellow, and have a much richer flavor. Backyard chickens owners claim it is hard to eat breakfast out anymore, after spoiling themselves with fresh organic eggs.

Eggs are healthy Pastured chickens (those raised naturally on grass and insects) have a third less cholesterol and a quarter less saturated fat than chickens raised in factory farms. Pastured chickens also have seven times the amount of beta carotene, two-thirds more Vitamin A, three times the Vitamin E and two times the Omega 3s.

Gardening Gardening has surpassed all other hobbies to be the number one hobby in America and there are clear trends in how Americans do their gardening. The growth of backyard chickens is largely due to the growth of gardening. In fact, it is difficult to find a backyard chicken owner that does not garden also. There is a mutually beneficial relationship between chickens and gardens.

Gardeners are motivated by beauty, fresh food and healthy lifestyles. Chickens, by nature, peck and scratch, which is good for lawns and gardens. They eat harmful insects and fertilize as they go, adding nitrogen back into the soil.

Gardeners collect chicken droppings like they were gold nuggets from chicken pens and coops to add to compost for their gardens. Many say there is no better fertilizer than this compost mixture.

Chickens and gardening are a part of people’s innate bond with living things, beauty, and nature called biophilia. Growing numbers of new gardeners are emerging and creating their healthy backyard oasis. All can be just and balanced the way God intended, within one’s small backyard farm. Chickens fit like peas in this pod.

Entertainment and children The real bonus to having a small flock of backyard chickens is the countless hours of wholesome backyard entertainment. Chickens have unique personalities and are good with children when raised as pets. They greet you when you come out to visit them and often follow you around the yard. Chickens can be trained, held, walked on a leash and become very gentle with attention.

Rob Paul, a father of four small children in Flower Mound, Texas, explained what chickens have done for his family.

“Chickens have become a key distraction and quickly became our favorite pets. They have taught our children patience, responsibility and where food comes from. Our children have learned simple pleasures that don’t emit from an iPod, iPad, iMac or iPhone.”

Many think of chickens as livestock, not pets. Families back on the farm usually did not make pets of chickens when their destiny was the stew pot. Chickens can be livestock or pets. It’s up the owner. Most pets are kept as layers and not destined to be table birds.

Chickens make excellent pets. People love their chickens just like they love other pets. Chickens also develop affection for people. Chickens, unlike most pets, actually work for a living. Chickens help with the lawn & garden, do the pest control, provide great entertainment, put themselves to bed at dusk, and provide a great healthy breakfast in the morning. No wonder so many backyards are being converted to mini-farms with backyard chickens.

Still, some will never understand why others want backyard chickens. Backyard chickens aren’t for everyone, any more than gardening or having dogs and cats are. However, it’s everyone’s right to garden, keep dogs, or cats responsibly.

Just as it should be everyone’s right to responsibly keep a few backyard hens.

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Mark raises pet chickens for eggs and entertainment. For more information, visit his website at www.backyardchickenshq.com.

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10 • Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN

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T

Can you dig it?

By SHERRI ONORATI sonorati@covingtonleader.com

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he Tipton County Master Gardeners’ Association is hosting its fifth annual Lawn & Garden Expo, “Dirt… Can you dig it?” The event will be at the Brighton Middle School Gym on Saturday, April 14 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free and free trees will be available to early birds.

Door prizes will also be awarded by local sponsors.

The expo, a popular event for both adults and children, will present various speakers; Master Gardener mini how-to sessions, plant diagnostic clinics and activities for children.

Exhibits and vendors will also be on site with garden talks, herb gardening, rain barrels, composting flowers, plants, yard art and home and garden supplies.

Speakers include Troy Marden, host of WKNO TV’s Volunteer Gardener, Dr. Lelia Kelly, associate extension professor and consumer horticulture specialist for Mississippi State University Extension Service and Tipton County Master Gardener Sherl Rose.

This is the fourth year the event has

been hosted at BMS, a move Master Gardner Beauton Matthews says allows the association to reach and serve more people.

“Having it at Brighton Middle School gives us the opportunity to have more vendors and more educational sessions to match the size of the crowd,” she said. “We normally have between 300 to 500 people.”

Free speaker presentations will include dynamic speakers and topics: 8 a.m. – EXPO Opens 9:30 a.m. – Troy Marden – Ornamental Grasses 11 a.m. – Dr. Leila Kelly – Low Maintenance Landscapes 1 p.m. – Sherl Rose – Postage Stamp Farming For more information visit www. tiptoncountymastergardeners.com or call the Tipton County Extension Director, Booker T. Leigh at 901-476-0231 or visit the Tipton County Master Gardeners at www.tiptoncountymastergardeners.com. ► See speaker bios on page 14

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Covington city resident Sherl Rose

Sherl Rose of Covington, a master gardener, works on Egyptian Walking Onions in her urban garden. Photo by Sherri Onorati

the secret garden

by SHERRI ONORATI sonorati@covingtonleader.com

11B.indd 1

works hard to show people that they don’t need a farm or even a huge plot of land to grow their own food.

“All you need is a few seeds, a bit of dirt, the desire to learn and the willingness to provide sweat equity,” said Rose, a Tipton County Master Gardener.

Rose of 3 B’s Gardener has teamed up with Tim and Betty Ammons of Oleo Acres in Stanton, to show what can be done with a confined city lot.

“There are so many people who do not know how to or what they can do,” said Ammons when asked why he offers various workshops on gardening and farming. “All they know is what media puts out which is buy and throw away.

We want people to learn how to be self-sustaining, self-sufficient and how to save money while providing a good nutritious meal for the family.”

Rose uses her project, known as the Urban Project, to demonstrate how turning limited space in a vegetable garden can grow a variety of food crops such as lettuce, tomatoes, onions and herbs capable of feeding and sustaining a family through the year. She also shows the importance of establishing a backyard

wildlife habitat.

“I like to attract pollinators, so I try to plant herbs that will attract honeybees and bumble bees,” said Rose. “I try to grow things that will attract honeybees and other pollinators because there are a lot of plant specific pollinators which are important to get the plants to grow… without the bees, no food.”

Although she has been a lifelong gardener, Rose has been working only for the past five years on her urban garden and says any garden is always a work in progress.

“This is my fifth year for this garden but it is always evolving. We’re trying to cultivate as much as we can on this lot to feed us and to help take care of the wildlife.”

Rose said learning how to garden will help reduce food costs and build self-esteem. And it’s also good for the environment.

“It absolutely cuts down on costs,” she said emphatically.

“Just the lettuce, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables that I’m growing help me to save money. I’m growing what is considered gourmet lettuces… radicchio, red sail lettuces – I couldn’t afford to go to the store

►

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Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN • 13

www.covingtonleader.com and buy a salad mix like this but I can sure afford a packet of seeds and the little bit of effort it takes to plant them.”

Rose says the satisfaction she gets from watching her garden grow is worth the effort it takes to tend to the garden.

“To me its very satisfying to be able to feed myself,” she said. “I don’t have to depend on anybody but me and as long as I put the effort in, I’ll always have food.”

Rose said you don’t have to harvest an entire plant of lettuce but only what you need for the current meal.

“You can harvest loose leaves lettuces by just picking the outer leaves that you need immediately and it will continue to grow,” said Rose. “I can come out here before dinner and pick a few leaves off of each [lettuce] and in less than five minutes I have a dinner salad, I’m not losing my nutrients because its not being shipped from halfway across the country and it’s organic. I know what’s going into it,

I know where it came from and in good conscious I can sit down and I know that I am feeding myself well, and I know that I am doing all I can to help the environment.”

“Vegetables will lose 50 percent of their nutrition within 24 hours of pickling,” added Ammons. “You are getting the peak of nutrition if you grow your own vegetables.”

Rose said gardening doesn’t have to be confined to the spring and summer months either.

“In the fall, I plant cool weather crops. I can plant two crops a year – one in the spring and one in the fall.

You can actually garden year-round.

A lot of people think you plant, you harvest and it dies and then you are through until the next year but that doesn’t have to be the case. Gardening is not just a summer time thing.

Vegetable gardening can be done virtually year round.”

In addition to growing a garden, Rose also raises chickens for their eggs.

“They fertilize the ground, they cultivate it back by scratching, they weed it, plus, they give us eggs,” said Rose. “It’s amazing how many people are doing it. Chickens don’t take much care – give them food, water, plenty of weeds and grass and they give us great fresh eggs.”

Even for the old homesteaders the one animal they found they could raise cheaply and the easiest was chickens,” said Ammons. “If they had the chickens, they had the vegetables, then they could make it through any winter.”

Rose’s backyard has also been designated as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation for providing the four basic elements needed for wildlife to thrive: food, water, cover and places to raise young. It’s also been certified and registered as a Monarch Waystation by the MonarchWatch.org for providing milkweeds, nectar sources and shelter for Monarch butterflies.

“To grow a vegetable garden, yeah,

It’s amazing how many people are doing it.

- SHERL ROSE

you have to do a bit of homework and it takes a little bit of sweat equity but its well worth it,” said Rose.

“When you’re sitting here at the table and your looking at your plate and you’re looking at all the stuff that you grew, it’s amazing. I am very proud of the fact that I can grow my own food. I can’t keep a cow or goats but I can keep a few chickens and I can grow my own vegetable. I can feed myself and I don’t have to depend on anybody else.”

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Lawn & Garden Expo Speakers Dr. Lelia Kelly and WKNO’s Troy Marden will be speaking at this year’s Lawn & Garden Expo, which takes place on Saturday, April 14 (see page 10 for more information).

Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly, Associate Extension Professor and the Consumer Horticulture Specialist for the Mississippi State University will be a guest speaker at the 5th annual Tipton County Master Gardeners Lawn & Garden EXPO on Saturday, April 14.

Her duties also include statewide responsibility for the Master Gardener Program. She has earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in horticulture from Mississippi State and has worked for Extension Service for eleven years.

Before joining Extension she owned and operated two businesses, a landscape design and consulting business and a wholesale herb growing greenhouse operation.

She is a regular contributor to Mississippi Gardener magazine as well as a gardening column for her hometown newspaper, The Daily Corinthian. Dr. Kelly is a frequent speaker at garden events in the Southeast. She lives and gardens in Corinth, Miss. with her husband and three sons.

Troy Marden Gardeners will recognize Troy, guest speaker at the 5th annual Tipton Master Gardeners Lawn & Garden EXPO, as the co-host of the Public Television’s Volunteer Gardener. Marden, a plants man and garden designer, work has appeared in numerous local, regional, and national gardening magazines, as well as lecturing regularly at various trade shows and garden events around the country.

An avid, lifelong gardener, he learned early on the ins and outs of everyday gardening from family and friends. He sowed his first seeds, literally, at the age of three and the resulting trees still stand at his parents’ home. Marden has taken what began as a childhood dream and turned it into a career that has taken him throughout North America and around the globe.

He has worked in many facets of the horticulture industry, from growing up working in a retail nursery and garden center to college internships at places like Longwood Gardens and Callaway Gardens. Upon moving to Nashville in 1993, he was the Senior Gardener at Cheekwood for three years before forming his own garden design, installation and maintenance company, which ran for seven years and now is a freelance garden designer, writer, lecturer and television host.

“I am fortunate that my career has covered a broad range of experience, from growing and production, to retail, design, television and radio work, writing and lecturing. No matter what area of the business I have found myself in over the years, though, it has always been about the plants and about bringing the knowledge that I have accumulated through many years to the gardening public.”

Both experienced gardeners and novices alike will benefit from the knowledge that Troy’s many years of gardening have imparted to him and which he delights in sharing with others.

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Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN • 15

One of the best ways to improve a home’s resale value is to address the landscape.

The case for choosing

native plants

Increasing a property’s curb appeal can be done in many ways, but a well-pruned lawn and garden gives buyers the impression that the sellers truly took the time to maintain the home and the surrounding property.

Unfortunately, many homeowners choose exotic plants when addressing their landscape. Though these plants can be appealing and make a property stand out, if the plants are not native to the region, they could be doing more harm than good. Instead of upgrading your property with exotic plants from a far away land, consider the following benefits of choosing native plants before addressing your landscape.

▪ Native plants benefit local wildlife. The native plants and the native wildlife spent years and years evolving together, with each doing their part to ensure the other’s survival. But as development continued, local wildlife suffered because of lost food sources.

The local wildlife needs local, native plants to survive, so choosing these plants instead of exotic plants can help ensure the survival of wildlife that helps keep the ecosystem in

check.

▪ Native plants require less work. Some prospective home buyers might find a yard filled with exotic plants to be visually stunning, but they might also see a good deal of work to maintain those plants. Many exotic plants require significant work on a homeowner’s part to survive, while native plants have already adapted to the local climate and will require much less care. This is often attractive to current and future homeowners alike.

▪ Native plants might be a better investment. A native plant has evolved over the years to survive in its given area. Local insect populations and fungal infections might be able to destroy an exotic plant, but a native plant has grown resistant to such problems and likely has the ability to fight such infestations or infections on its own. An exotic plant might require costly pesticides and considerable attention from homeowners to survive such problems.

Though homeowners might find exotic plants help their home stand out from their neighbors’, it’s important that homeowners recognize the environmental benefits of choosing local plants before making any decisions.

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16 • Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN

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USDA reveals new plant hardiness zones Gardeners rely on a number of factors when deciding on what to plant in their gardens and around their property. One of the most important things to take into consideration is the climate.

Since 1960, the go-to source for climate and relation to agriculture has been the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zone map. In 1967, Agriculture Canada developed their own map that took into consideration Canadian plant survival data and a wider range of climatic variables.

The maps remained constant until now.

In January 2012, the USDA released an updated zone map.

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The map is now more precise and reflects microclimates, heat islands, prevailing wind, elevation, and generally better data. It breaks down the country into 13 unique zones from the previous 11. Individuals who once resided in a particular zone may find that they are now moved into another zone. This updated map has taken into consideration climate changes that have occurred between 1976 and 2005. You now may be able to try plants that you may have been skeptical about in the past.

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Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN • 17

ZONES

Continued from 16 friendly. The map website also incorporates a “find your zone by ZIP code” function. Static images of national, regional and state maps have also been included to ensure the map is readily accessible to those who lack broadband Internet access.

The new version of the map includes 13 zones, with the addition for the first time of zones 12 (50-60 degrees F) and 13 (60-70 degrees F). Each zone is a 10-degree Fahrenheit band, further divided into A and B 5-degree Fahrenheit zones.

A hardiness zone describes a geographically defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone. Summer temperatures are not factored into the mix. Therefore, areas with similar winter patterns and average lows may be in the same zone despite having drastically different highs. Hardiness zones may not take into consideration snow cover, either. Snow helps insulate the soil and hibernating plants. Therefore hardiness zones are more like guidelines instead of foolproof methods of determining viable plants.

Although a poster-sized version of this map will not be available for purchase from USDA, as in the past, anyone may download the map free of charge from the Internet onto their personal computer and print copies of the map as needed.

When shopping for plants, most will display a hardiness zone right on the container to help you determine whether this particular plant will be acceptable outdoors in your zone. To learn more about hardiness zones, visit www. usda.gov.

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18 • Thursday, April 12, 2012 • LAWN & GARDEN

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47compost tthings you didn’t think to

Garden compost can be a garden’s best friend. Compost promotes soil health and enables plants grow to their best ability.

Many home gardeners prefer to make their own compost. It is easily achieved with items that normally would be discarded, including many items that ardent gardeners may be unaware of.

Common compost materials Items like eggshells, banana peels, apple cores, paper, leaves, and coffee grounds are often included in a home compost pile. These items break down by natural bacteria and produce a rich fertilizer for plants.

Lesser-known compost materials There are many things that can be turned into compost. Here’s a list of common items that can be turned into compost and avoid the landfill.

1. pet hair 2. paper napkins 3. lint 4. pine needles 5. matches 6. chicken manure 7. old herbs 8. sawdust 9. weeds 10. hair clippings 11. tea bags 12. paper towels

13. bird cage cleanings 14. stale bread 15. leather 16. old pasta 17. pea vines 18. grapefruit rinds 19. newspaper 20. tissues 21. cotton swabs with paper sticks 22. dried out bouquets 23. potato chips 24. yogurt 25. shrimp shells 26. toenail clippings 27. pie crust 28. toothpicks (wood) 29. tossed salad 30. old beer 31. feathers 32. fish bones 33. envelopes 34. cardboard 35. pencil shavings 36. grocery receipts 37. dead insects 38. wool socks 39. pickles 40. dust bunnies 41. toast 42. chocolate cookies 43. oatmeal 44. tofu 45. spoiled wine 46. straw 47. nut shells

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Protect your garden from hungry animals H omes full of garden beds with blooming flowers and foliage can seem warm and inviting.

Planting flowers is one of the easiest ways to transform the appearance of a home with minimal effort and expense.

Too often homeowners plant annuals and perennials only to find their hard work has been damaged by hungry animals, like deer, rabbits and underground pests. There are ways to keep animals away from plants -- many of which are humane and environmentally safe.

Keeping furry marauders away from the garden is something individuals who live in rural or suburban areas have to consider when planting. Many communities are growing and encroaching on

the natural habitats of wild animals. With some of their natural food sources diminishing, animals may decide to partake of the easy pickings that come from residential home gardens.

If you understand how these animals feed, you can take precautions to restrict access to planting beds. Rabbits tend to munch on vegetables and ornamental plants. Small in stature and not able to scale fences very easily, rabbits might be deterred by a low fence surrounding plants.

Consider digging some chicken wire below the fence a few inches to discourage digging under the fence. The fence should be 18 inches high, and you should keep the openings no more than one inch because rabbits can squeeze

through small openings.

In terms of gophers, moles, voles, and other burrowing animals, the key is preventing underground access. Chicken wire or another abrasive material put under the garden soil can help keep underground animals from burrowing under and then up into the heart of the garden.

Deer are another story altogether. They are tall animals capable of rising up on hind legs to stretch out and reach branches of trees and bushes.

Therefore, taller fences may be needed to protect the garden. But these can sometimes be unsightly, especially in a front yard. Therefore, look for natural barriers that can keep them out. They may be deterred by thorny bushes or plants. Daisies, papaver (pop-

pies), narcissus, rudbeckia, achillea, agastache, aster, lupine, coreopsis, verbascum, centaurea, and echinacea are available in many varieties and are not attractive to deer or rabbits.

Here are some additional strategies that you can try.

▪ Create narrow pathways between raised beds. Rabbits will feel like they are in prime locations for predators to get at them in this type of situation and may be less likely to venture in. Deer may not be able to navigate narrow paths.

▪ Use mulch. In addition to benefitting the plants, keeping soil moist and fertilizing the areas, mulch also deters many animals.

▪ Interplant different species of plants. Some animals don’t want to bother picking tasty

plants out among other varieties they don’t like. So mix plants with ones that animals find unpleasant.

▪ Use other natural deterrents. Animals may be kept away by scents of their predators. Urine from coyote, foxes, dogs, and cats may help. You can also try human hair, cat litter and soap flakes.

▪ Create an animal-friendly area elsewhere. Feed the deer and rabbits the foods they love somewhere away from your garden. They may fill up with favorites and stay away from your flowers and vegetables.

▪ Traps may work. As a last resort, use humane traps to collect animals and release them elsewhere.

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