Save the Date
Saturday, February 18, 2012 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Shady or Sunny - What's The Right (Native) Plant?
Sponsored by Buck Jones Nursery, Grayson

Join us for our Annual Speaker Series Event at the Mary Kistner Center. Seating is limited so pre-registration is required. The seminar fee for this information packed afternoon is just $35. Click here for more details.

A BATHTUB (OR TWO) OF TRASH FROM WATSON CREEK

Volunteers for the Georgia Piedmont Lant Trust completed a Rivers Alive stream cleanup on Saturday, October 29, on Watson Creek adjacent to Country Square subdivision near Snellville.

On a beautiful, crisp, fall morning the group removed over 600 pounds of trash from the floodplain and creek bed. Included in the collection were two bathtubs, one dug from a streambank; tires; a dozen or so bags of trash; a pickup-truck-load-plus of scrap metal; a mattress; and a box spring anchored by privet that had grown through it.

Thanks to all our volunteers, including a birthday boy, for the hard work that contributes to the water quality of Watson Creek.  Photos by Suzy Downing and Hank Ohme.

THANKS TO BUCK JONES NURSERY! 

GPLT had the opportunity to talk with gardeners and homeowners who are interested in planting native plants in their gardens at Buck Jones Nursery in Grayson on Saturday, October 15. Awareness and interest in planting native plants is growing by leaps and bounds; we also talked with landscapers who believe planting natives is important.  We especially are grateful to Buck Jones Nursery for featuring GPLT that day with a donation of 10 percent of the day's proceeds will benefiting the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust.  

IN THE FIELD & IN THE CAMERA LENS

As communities and governments struggle to redefine funding priorities, the reality outside is that spring has re-energized the Georgia Piedmont landscape.  People reaffirm the importance of protected green spaces by turning out everywhere to walk and hike in those peaceful places, or help with cleanup efforts.  Is there better affirmation of how crucial open space is in our lives?

Crossvine in bloom high up in a tree attracts a wonderful variety of pollinators.

The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust protects over 1,000 acres of green and open spaces in locations that are close to many neighborhoods – perhaps including yours – providing all the benefits of trees, improved water quality and wildlife habitat. 

A colony of young toad shade trillium and a mature example in bloom. Bees, beetles and small flies pollinate these slow-growing spring plants.

As we conduct regular visits to these properties, GPLT volunteer Hank Ohme helps capture the ephemeral beauty and rhythm of the spring season in the woods.  These images remind us that the Georgia Piedmont is biologically diverse, interlinked in a web of life that may persist next door or adjacent to where we live, whether we’re aware of it or not.

Halberd-Leaf Yellow Violet sports its spring bloom, while Sumac’s fruit remains from winter.

TRASH, TRASH & MORE TRASH!!

GPLT continues a program of stream cleanups.  Volunteers removed around 400 pounds of trash along Sweetwater Creek and a tributary in the Lawrenceville area off Highway 29.

GPLT volunteers removed car parts, tires and furniture from an otherwise beautiful woodland.

Paths obstructed by storm-felled trees were cleared.

We continue to work on the removal of non-native invasives such as privet, mahonia and Japanese honeysuckle from our protected properties.

GPLT programs such as these and others depend upon support from people who value green and open spaces, who love hiking trails under a green canopy of leaves high overhead near where they live and who share the delight of seeing the spring bloom of a native plant at ground level that will be here and gone in a matter of a few days.  Please consider making a donation to help us continue this important work because HABITAT MATTERS to us all.   Click the Donate Button or mail to PO Box 3687, Suwanee, GA 30024. Thank you.

Who Designed Your Beautiful Garden?

How often have you wished your garden would elicit that question?  Nearly everyone wants a beautiful garden, but achieving it can seem an insurmountable obstacle. 

At the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust’s (GPLT) recent workshop at the Mary Kistner Nature Center, Shannon Pable, talented local garden designer and Master Gardener, provided lively and informative guidance to demystify the design procedure. For starters, impulse plant purchases resulting from attractive displays at the local retail garden center or plant sale is NOT the first step to creating the garden that will turn your neighbors green with envy.

With a specific focus on using native plants, she also identified the essential characteristics of a beautiful garden, irrespective of size, and debunked some myths that stymy gardeners, including the one that says “native plants are messy looking and not for residential or formal gardens.”  Rather, according to Pable, “There are so many natives now available; the appearance of the garden has to do with the design and how It’s maintained.”

Session participants gained a practical, step-by-step roadmap to guide them in creating landscapes around their own homes that will flourish and be sustainable.  Shannon prioritized essential steps to take before turning a shovel of dirt, then explained how to properly site the desired garden elements.  Her tips were specific and understandable.  And she provided valuable information about selecting the right plant for the purpose and the place. 

The workshop augments a GPLT theme: Thoughtful and artistic suburban and urban residential landscaping can provide essential habitat for wildlife species – including migratory songbirds, butterflies and many other beneficial pollinators – that may find it tough to survive without our help, while also emphasizing that the invasive exotics that so degrade our natural places aren’t a preferred choice by homeowners.   

Across The Meadow

A Scene at the Mary Kistner Nature Center painted by Steve Logan and donated to GPLT

Kistner Center benefits from natural resources report
An important program was made possible in part by an Urban & Community Forestry grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission. more...

GPLT Introduces a “new” approach to residential landscapes
GPLT also launched a program designed to raise awareness among homeowners of the important part they can play in sustaining biodiversity -- more...

Visit our Other Useful Resources for educational documents and the Georgia Forestry Commission website for Tree Care Tips.