GPLT will refurbish Kistner Center garden with Gwinnett County Master Gardener Grant. Volunteer opportunity is Thursday, May 24.

  See Breaking News.

Check out Easy Shopping at Buck Jones Nursery's Online Store: You Win; GPLT Benefits.

The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust joins with Buck Jones Nursery for a winning deal: shop at the BJN online store (http://www.costore.com/buckjones), get a discount, create a landscape you can be proud of, and support GPLT's conservation work.

The new promotion provides features that benefit our members, gardeners and GPLT:

• Visit the Buck Jones Nursery online store to buy plants and supplies. Enter the code GPLT001 at checkout and receive 10 percent savings on your purchases.
• GPLT will receive 5 percent of these purchases as a donation from Buck Jones.
• Find a link to useful information and hints about plants and landscape products at the BJN blog, www.gardenershelpinggardeners.com.

For BJN, the partnership marks the start of a year-long celebration of 40 years of success as a locally owned nursery.

GPLT and Buck Jones, located at 689 Grayson-New Hope Road in Grayson, have established a strong pattern of collaboration over the past couple years. We appreciate both the strong support of Buck Jones and the company’s commitment to bringing native plants to retail customers. 

Note: Buck Jones Nursery sells both natives and plants not native to the Georgia Piedmont.  However, Christian Roberson, Nursery Manager, notes that BJN strives to educate the industry about the habits and environmental impacts of exotic/invasive plants.

Counting On The Beauty Of Trees.

Ask a resident in the Georgia Piedmont to describe a desirable natural environment, and he or she will likely mention trees at the top of the list of features.  The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust values the trees on properties under our protection for the ecological services they provide – cleaning air, slowing runoff, providing protection and habitat, and more – as well as for the beauty they offer.

With an Urban & Community Forestry grant administered by the Georgia Forestry Commission, GPLT  more 

Current News About Land Conservation.

Check out Breaking News for the latest on land conservation in Georgia.

A New One For The Birds.

Among recent improvements at the Mary Kistner Nature Center is a new bluebird box, thanks to a donation by Gwinnett Master Gardener Becky Wolary.

Becky's donation includes a metal mounting pole, a raccoon baffle and a box sized for bluebirds with a squirrel-proof reinforced entry hole. While bluebirds in the area now have a fancy new home to investigate, the installation provides an example of how to add bluebird boxes to any home landscape, yet ensure proper predator protection.

The new box and mounting replaces a badly damaged and weathered old box that had been attached to a metal pipe. 

Spotlight on Native Plants

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

Walter Reeves, the Georgia Gardener, and Dr. Wilf Nicholls, director of the Botanical Garden of Georgia, played to a packed house at GPLT's Speaker Series Event at the Mary Kistner Center. Saturday, February 18th, was a gray, misty day outside the Center, but the presentations were alight with the beauty of plant selections that shine in the sunshine (Walter's focus) or light up a shady garden (Wilf handled this area). As the demand grows for native perennials, shrubs and trees, more varieties are becoming available. Buck Jones Nursery, the event sponsor, provided a selection of native plants for viewing and for sale.  More...

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.

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.