Keep it Green, by Michael Womack
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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Saturday, September 8, 2001
Plan now for spring landscape
Autumn is a great time to start planning your gardening endeavors for spring. However, any project, especially horticultural activities, is only as successful as the planning involved. Too often, we consider landscaping to be strictly ornamental, and we forget that there are many aspects of landscaping including function.
One common problem with do-it-yourself landscape planning is determining where to start. Confusion arises as one tries to make sense of the plethora of information available. To help homeowners understand the full planning process of landscaping, the Nueces County Extension Service is offering its annual Home Landscape Shortcourse to help you make informed decisions when approaching your landscaping projects.
Functional landscape
The course consists of eight evening seminars that provide homeowners with the basics of what to look for in landscape planning, plant selection and maintenance considerations. Local landscape professionals will join me to teach you new and practical ways to solve your individual landscaping problems. To further assist you in your landscaping endeavors, you will also receive a variety of publications and basic drafting materials.
This course has been developed over the past six years by the Nueces County Extension Horticulture Program, and it. is targeted for local conditions to help you understand the difficulties associated with local gardening.
The Home Landscape Shortcourse will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9 p.m. from Oct. 2-25 at the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center on HWY 44. The cost of $60 per family will cover basic drafting materials, publication costs and refreshments. Scholarships are available by written request.
Course topics
The course consists of the following sessions:
Getting Started: Learn how to evaluate, measure and create a scale drawing of your site. This session will also assist you in determining your outdoor living needs that will transform your beautiful landscape into a functional one as well.
Principles of Design: Gain insight of what makes your landscape look "just right" by understanding how unity, style, line, balance, symmetry and color are incorporated into your landscape design without you realizing it.
Landscape Plant Selection for the Coastal Bend: Find out what plants are best adapted to the Coastal Bend so that your landscape selections don't just survive, but thrive in our challenging climate.
Home Irrigation Systems: Learn about irrigation systems, how they work, the basics of design and head selection and options that will help you determine the best method of supplying water to your new landscape.
Tree Selection and Maintenance: Discover how to choose the right tree for the right place and learn the proper techniques for planting and pruning your existing trees.
Practical Principles of Xeriscape: Find out easy ways to implement water saving techniques into any landscape through a better understanding of the seven principles of xeriscape.
Landscape Lighting and Water Gardening: Learn the basics of lawn lighting for function and aesthetic value and what to look for in lighting fixtures. Then, discover the joys of adding water features to our landscape with this basic overview of water gardening and fountains.
Applying It All and "You Make The Call" Slide Show: Take the information you learned and discover what is good and bad in existing landscapes through this class discussion of this slides. This will help you discover that you know more about what makes that landscape look "just right" than you thought.
Growing confidence
The average homeowner should have the confidence at the end of the course to implement a full landscape plan on his own or have the knowledge to talk to a landscape designer knowing the necessary features the design should include. Whichever way you decide to approach your landscape project, you win.
Space in this series is limited to 70 families, so register early. To register, call the Nueces County Extension Office at (361) 767-5217.
Investing some time now to plan the landscape will allow you to have a lush, functional landscape for years to come.
Michael Womack is a horticulturist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Got a question? Michael Womack will answer landscape and gardening questions. Call 886-4648, category 3025 to record your question. Write Keep It Green, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, TX 78469 or email wm-womack@tamu.edu
2000 Caller-Times Publishing
Company, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All
rights reserved.
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