Goblins in the Garden by Sara Allen

Hunt County Master Gardeners are pleased to announce the 2014 “Goblins in the Garden” Contest for schools and youth organizations in the county. This event is being conducted along with the fall Art of Gardening Seminar, to be held in October in the Heritage Garden of Hunt County.

The entry process for the Goblin contest is easy. Groups should create a “Garden Goblin” using a fall garden theme. This could include scarecrows, pumpkins, owls, cats, bats, etc. Goblins should be made from mostly recycled items. Ideas include plastic milk jugs, flower pots, coke cans, buckets, etc. Creativity is valued as part of the contest!

Goblins need to be weather-proof as much as possible, as they will be on display for the public in the Heritage Garden from October 11-31. Groups should name their goblin and attach an 8”x10” laminated sign to it for display which includes the goblin name, school or organization. One entry per school or organization is allowed. Call, text, or email Master Gardener Charle Fox, by Oct. 1^st  to reserve a spot for your Goblin  in the Heritage Garden. Contact information is: 903-246-1802 or email at charledfox@gmail.com

Deliver your Goblin to the Heritage Garden, 2311 Washington St., Greenville on Friday October 10 from 3-5 p.m. or Saturday October 11 from 9-11 a.m.

Cash prizes will be awarded for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Place Winners.  A “People’s Choice Award” will also be given.

The 2014 Hunt County Master Gardener’s Garden Tour is May 31, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.  Tickets are on sale from Master Gardeners, Steve’s Nursery, the Extension Office and The Garden Center in Greenville.  One of the featured homes is the garden of H. Craig Black at 3090 Owl’s Roost, Greenville.  The following is a description and invitation from Mr. Black to visit his English garden on the tour.

“I purchased this two acre tract in 1991.  The entire property was utterly wild, unimproved East Texas “jungle”.  A car couldn’t even be pulled off the road onto the property such was the vegetation.  I put in the sweat equity of doing the clearing, tree removal and tree trimming.  The original house was completed in the fall of 2001.  In 2002-2003 the house was renovated and substantially enlarged.

Over time, I, with the frequent and priceless assistance of my father, built the fencing, the stone columns, the decks and pergolas, laid the stones for the beds, the brick for the front sidewalk and did the planning and planting for the garden.

The front gardens were initially created 12 to 15 years ago and consist of shrubs, roses, annuals and various perennials with fountains.  Informal plantings, some massed and some variable.  Other than the themes of massed begonias in some beds, the remainder is often the product of my wandering about with a shovel and a wheelbarrow of plants looking for a promising (empty) spot.

The east lawns (to the right of the driveway as you enter) are merely grass with potted plants and benches.  This area was created in 2013 when my father and I installed this addition to the sprinkler system and laid the sod.

The back gardens are a Texas variance on English borders.  The back gardens were laid out by me in the winter of 2002-2003.  Planting began that same winter and continues to date.  The borders are filled with shrubs on a repeating pattern for consistency of theme and layered to create a sense of privacy and solitude.  Over time, disease (the warnings about red tip photinias and yellow euonymus are all too true) has taken some shrubs.  In filling the gaps I am attempting to utilize plants that more readily accept our challenging climate.  Also, I took the opportunity of the loss to create “windows” in the “walls” affording “views” of the north acre behind…an attempt at vista views of a Northeast Texas parkland venue.  The fronts of the borders are planted with perennials and annuals in various color schemes and types.  The borders are bounded by a gravel walkway with lawn area on the interior.  Also in the interior area is a raised bed with a pond and waterfall and other plantings.

The north acre, discussed briefly above, contains the green house that my father and I built, the vegetable garden, the large dog house and the memorial to my first Great Pyrenees, Dar (the gravestone and bench are in the northwest corner of the acre).  There is no lawn or planting (other than the vegetable garden) here, but it is a very pleasant place in which to walk at dusk or any evening.

The goal was to create a peaceful English garden or at least an approximation of an English garden in our blistering climate.  I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I have creating, planting and maintaining it.”

Click here to see the AOG flyer for January

AOG Jan 2014

 

Would you like to learn to harvest rainwater from the roof of your house or barn?  We will be having a class on rainwater harvesting at the extension office.  Click here for details.

 

Have to many of some plants but not enough of others?  Join us at the plant swap on May 18 in Greenville.

Spring Plant Swap 2013