By Jane King
Fayette County Master Gardener

Some people believe that if their plants do not thrive, they need to fertilize and water more. One of the messages at the Healthy-Soil, Happy Plants class at the Fayette County Extension Center on Tuesday, January 21st, was that all the water and fertilizer in the world will not remedy poor soil preparation before planting. Master Gardeners George Long, Jane King, and Laura Johnson explained to the 21 participants the in-depth process that will insure plant success.

The Fayette Master Gardeners Education Committee has planned a series of educational classes on vegetable gardening and landscape design techniques in February 2009. 

By Laura Johnson
Fayette County Master Gardener

Arthur is a pain! Literally. He hampers your movements and makes you stiff and sore. The bad news is that once he is here; he is here to stay. The good news is there are many wonderful tools to help us keep gardening with Arthur.

Dear Carl,
I was mowing my yard last summer, and ran over a toy car that my youngest son left in the grass. It flew out of the mower like a race car on Sunday. It left a hole in the white piece of siding on the corner. How do I go about fixing it?

“Doing things the right way the first time.”

Phil Jackson believes this philosophy is a key component in the success of his company, Nature’s Landscape Services, which is celebrating its 32nd spring in Fayette County this year.

By Brian Arnold
Special to The Citizen

Don’t worry about paying four dollars for a gallon of gasoline, as you can offset some of that cost by planting trees.

André Prinsloo was born in South Africa and moved to the United States of America five years ago with his family. Prinsloo was hoping to give his family a life of freedom and choice. Soon after moving to the states, Prinsloo started a computer software business with a dream to get involved in the cabinetry industry.

By Brian Arnold
Special to The Citizen

Faced with moisture stressed lawns with areas that have “browned out” and declined over the past several weeks, many homeowners are struggling to determine what they can do to help their lawns recover.

Whether you are looking to remodel your bathroom or kitchen or you just need some deck staining, pressure washing or general contracting done, Karettis Industries can handle the task.

Innovative Irrigation, Inc. is an irrigation installation and service contracting company specializing in commercial and residential lawn sprinkler installation. They have been in business since 1993 and maintain an office located just south of Atlanta in Tyrone, Georgia. They employ 10 full time employees year round with additional installation and service crew members being hired during their busy season.

The May meeting of the Fayette County Master Gardeners was the annual picnic and tour of three member’s gardens. This popular event is known as “Weed and Feed.” During the business meeting the members voted to become an association and voted on new by-laws. The group will now be known as the Fayette County Master Gardeners Association.

Spending some time outdoors can be a perfect way to start or end any day and Backyard Structures in Peachtree City can satisfy the needs of area residents looking for anything from decks and gazebos to trellises, canopies and awnings.

Given the impact that shade trees have upon the home and/or landscape environment, paying attention to their needs is a worthy task.

By Bonnie Helander
Fayette County Master Gardener

As school ends and summer sizzles, gardeners are busy creating lovely spaces for their family and friends to enjoy. You’ve been working hard, but are you able to fully experience the beauty and benefits of the outside space you are creating?

Andy’s Nursery Garden Club will be hosting one of the largest Japanese Maple and Conifer Growers in the Southeast at their Saturday, June 7 meeting.

Aside from the bedroom, it could be argued that the rooms where people spend the most amount of time in are the kitchen and the bathroom. Since 2005, Signature Kitchen and Bath in Tyrone has been assisting local residents complete their customer’s dreams for their rooms into reality.

One of the businesses helping to innaugurate the renaissance of Senoia’s historic downtown is Second Hand Sams, the eclectic boutique whose collection of new offerings and consignments serves as a metaphor for the growth and preservation of this small Coweta city. Karen Laing and Tammie Golden have at 90 Main Street assembled a potpourri of wares that is often surprising and certain to intrigue all who pass through. The consignments, where one can always discover something, are given new life by the new handbags, luggage, gifts, accessories, and articles of home decor, a combination of the antique and the novel that makes Second Hand Sams so unique.

By Brian Arnold
brian@natureslandscapeservices.com

Recently, while digging, almost paddling, through the saturated soil in which a poorly performing specimen tree was planted, I listened to the concerned home owner explain that she has diligently watered the tree as much as she can, within the current water restrictions. She went on to explain that because of the frequency of watering, the decline of the tree “can't be from a lack of water”.

Valances, swags and jabots, festoons and cascades have their place, but before burdening the typical ranch house window with a boatload of decoration, think twice. First, ask yourself what type of window you have and what you want from your window. Do you want privacy? To keep light in, to keep light out? To cover an unattractive window or to play up a beautiful one? Then, how does the window relate to the style and design of the room itself? And lastly, how can you be certain the treatment you choose adheres to basic principles of balance and proportion and scale?

Today’s carpet offers a wide variety of choices in style, fiber composition and color. Gone are the days of having to select only conventional loop pile, a carpet style consisting of yarn in uncut loops. New technology can produce multilevel loop and cut-loop patterns allowing diamond, bow, pin dot or fleur-de-lis designs that “pop out” in sculptured effects.

One of America’s top patio enclosure manufacturers recently reports the top five ways consumers use their sunroom.

“While the most popular reason people build sunrooms is for relaxation, we are noticing a shift in how homeowners are using their sunrooms,” says Ken Sekley, Chairman of Patio Enclosures, Inc. “Owners are making their homes more than just a place to live, they are changing their houses into gyms, spas and entertainment areas.”

It takes a lot of work to make a house a home and a general contractor can play a large role in that transition. A&J Premier Construction, a licensed general contractor based out of Peachtree City, provides a wide scope of work, doing everything from concrete repair and installation to basement finishes, room additions, roofing, carpentry work, remodeling and just about any home improvement project.

Imagine this happening to you: one Saturday morning, you head out to your garage, ready to take your kids to their sports games. But the garage door doesn’t open. The spring system has broken and your car is stuck inside.

In a market already crowded with landscape businesses, what can one company do to stand out? For Robinson Landscapes, Inc., standing out from the crowd means offering the best in personalized customer service.

Due to drought conditions across Georgia, the Director of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has declared a level two drought response for the entire state. The declaration requires that Georgians immediately follow a more stringent outdoor water use schedule.

The long awaited day has arrived. Georgia Backyard in Fayetteville has just received a full compliment of Sundance Spas. Sundance Spas are known world-wide as the superior choice for outdoor relaxation.

When a business can succeed for 16-plus years, watching the county grow and expand around them while still remaining current and competitive, you know they must be doing something right. At South Atlanta Leisure, an outdoor furniture business located in Fayetteville, they are doing it right. Now they are expanding, almost doubling the size of the store with a new outdoor area and new products including grills and outdoor kitchens.

The Fayette County Master Gardeners are sponsoring their second annual Garden Tour featuring gardens in Fayetteville on Saturday, April 21 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (rain or shine). Six diverse gardens will be on display.

For 30 years, Nature’s Landscape Services has kept Fayette County landscapes growing and looking beautiful. Now the company is doing its own growing, recently announcing the acquisition of one of the most respected lawn care businesses in the Southern Arc, Brian Arnold and Company.

Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine wants to remind Georgians that they must change their clocks to daylight saving time earlier this year – and they should also change the batteries in their smoke alarms at the same time.