Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007 -- PAGE 11A
Drought Doesn't Have
To Mean Dead Landscapes
By Faith Peppers
Just because you can’t water
shouldn’t keep Georgians from
gardening this fall. You don’t
need a lot of water to have a
lovely landscape. The secret is
in the soil.
“The idea is that soil kept uni
formly moist for a long period
encourages the soil microorgan
isms to do all the work,” said
David Berle, a horticulturist
with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
“Some of the best soil out
there is in areas that have been
under mulch for years,” he said.
“I always tell people, if they have
tough soil and are not ready to
plant, to go ahead and lay out
the bed and mulch and get the
process started.”
UGA horticulturist Tim
Smalley said the best soil he’s
seen in his yard was under a
decomposing wood pile. But he
adds that shading and root com
petition have a great influence
on what plants survive.
“I can see on campus that dog
woods in sun are scorched while
those in shade are doing better,”
he said. “I lost my fothergilla
competing with honey locust
roots. But one in the shade of
a pine looks unblemished this
year.”
In a previous drought, he said,
“I noticed that I lost plants that
were near water oaks. Last year
on campus, the iteas in the sun
away from the red maples were
holding their own, while those
in the shade of the red maples
were probably suffering from
root competition.”
Now might be a good time to
rethink landscapes and place
trees such as deep-rooted oaks
and pines to provide shade to
plants in the afternoon or dur
ing the entire day. But beware of
root competition.
“I lost all of my two- and three-
year-old Hydrangea macrophyl-
las when I was away for five
weeks during the June drought
this year,” he said. “However,
one on the north side of the
house with no root competition
and receiving the water from
the air conditioner condensate
runoff is doing fine.”
Using organic soil amend
ments and covering with wood
chips and other mulches are
proving useful in helping plants
survive. Hydrogels can work
wonders, too. These granules
expand when soaked in water
and can slowly release the water
to keep soil moist. Smalley
thinks they do more than that to
improve the soil.
“In my research,” he said,
“hydrogel-amended annual beds
always had larger plants than
the unamended beds. Much
research has shown that leaves
of hydrogel plants are less water-
stressed than those of untreated
plants.
“However,” he said, “most sci
entists believe that the improved
growth and water relations are
caused by increased root growth
prompted by the hydrogel prod
ucts. Hydrogels continuously
expand and contract with the
availability of water, and this
expansion and contraction
continuously tills the soil and
improves the soil environment
for root growth.”
Gardeners who feel at a loss
when considering landscape
needs this fall aren’t alone.
Planning is paramount, and even
the experts are seeing things dif
ferently.
“I’m considering making some
changes in my landscape plans,”
Berle said. “I was already plan
ning to swap out some plants.
But this summer has convinced
me to be more mindful of plant
and water needs.”
Faith Peppers is a news editor
with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
Get Help Controlling Energy Use
The Georgia Environmental Fa
cilities Authority’s (GEFA) Weath-
erization Assistance Program
recently hosted a site demonstra
tion on measures that homeown
ers can take to increase home en
ergy efficiency and to lower their
energy bills.
“Georgia’s Weatherization Assis
tance Program helps low-income
families save money through ener
gy efficiency and it demonstrates
effective steps that all of us can
take in our homes to conserve
energy,” GEFA executive director
Chris Clark said.
The Weatherization Assistance
Program (WAP) works with low-
income families to reduce energy
costs by providing free home en
ergy efficiency testing and solu
tions for individuals and families
whose incomes do not exceed
150 percent of the federal poverty
level (about $30,000 for a family of
four). Preference is given to the el
derly, people with disabilities and
families with children.
Last year in Georgia, 2,467
homes were weatherized, serving
3,618 clients. Based on current en
ergy prices, weatherizing a home
reduces average annual energy
costs per household by $358 in
the first year alone.
Weatherization measures in
cluded the installation of wall
and attic insulation, duct pressure
testing, sealing of ductwork, ap
pliance metering, blower door air
infiltration testing, and a “house of
pressure” demonstration, which
demonstrates air flows throughout
a house.
For more information, call 404
584-1000.
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Tractor Trailer Load discounts available
Delivery on 10 scoops or more free
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Straw
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'Project FeederWatch' Seeks
Participation By Area Bird-watchers
Promoted
Lt. CpI. Jason Hawkins of the
United States Marine Corps,
a 2004 graduate of Banks
County High School, was pro
moted to corporal Oct. 16 at
Twenty-Nine Palms, CA, where
he is stationed. He is the son of
Tom and Gayla Davenport and
brother of Jessica Hawkins, all
of Commerce.
Staff-Produced
Photographs
Available Online
MainStreet Newspapers Inc.
offers staff-produced photos
from its five newspapers avail
able for the ordering of prints
online at its web site, mainstreet-
news.com. Based in Jefferson,
the company owns The Com
merce News, The Jackson Herald,
The Madison County Journal, The
Braselton News and The Banks
County News.
Access to the photos catalogue
is available from a button on the
mainstreetnews.com web site.
The photos are hosted by Dot-
Photo Inc., a firm which special
izes in making prints from digital
photographs and which manages
photos for a number of newspa
pers across the country.
There will be approximately a
one-week lag time between the
time photos are published and
their availability at the online
site.
Those who don’t have Internet
access in their homes may visit
area public libraries that offer
the service.
Food Bank Hours
Are Announced
The hours of operation of the
Banks-Jackson Emergency Food
Bank, located at 111 Atlanta Av
enue, Commerce, are from 9:30
a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Monday
Wednesday and Friday.
The food bank provides one
time emergency food supplies for
individuals and families referred
by churches or social service
groups.
Bird-watchers in Georgia and
across the nation will be keep
ing a close eye on their feeders
this winter while participating in
the annual Project FeederWatch.
This popular citizen-science proj
ect enters its 21st season Satur
day, when more than 7,000 par
ticipants across North America
will make Project FeederWatch
part of their fall/winter ritual.
What will the coming winter
bring to bird feeders? Feed-
erWatch participants help sci
entists monitor changes in
Georgia’s bird populations by
tracking birds at their feeders
from the second Saturday of
November through early April,
a 21-week period. The Georgia
Department of Natural Resourc
es, Wildlife Resources Division
(DNR/WRD) encourages Geor
gians to document bird occur
rences at their feeders to help
contribute to the science and
conservation of North Ameri
can feeder birds.
“This is a great opportunity
to increase your enjoyment
and knowledge of birds, while
contributing valuable data to
a nationwide research effort,”
said WRD wildlife biologist Tim
Keyes. “The observations of am-
The deadline for accepting
photos for MainStreet Newspa
pers’ annual children’s Christ
mas section will be Monday,
Nov. 26, at 5 p.m.
Parents are asked to submit
photos early, as photos re
ceived after the deadline will
not be published.
The special section will be in
the newsstands of The Jackson
Herald, The Commerce News
and The Banks County News
Wednesday, Dec. 19.
The newspapers will be ac
cepting photographs of chil
dren age 8 years and younger.
The child must live in Jackson
or Banks counties. Photos of
grandchildren will be taken
only if the child resides with
the grandparents (which must
be stated when submitting the
photo).
Please submit the following
information along with the
child’s photo: The first and last
name and age of each child
shown, as well as the parents’
names, their city of residence
and phone number. Photos
submitted without all of the
information may not be pub
lished.
Black and white or color pho-
ateur birders have long added
critical information about bird
distributions and populations.
Project FeederWatch is just such
an opportunity.”
Project FeederWatch surveys
birds that visit feeders at back
yards, nature centers, communi
ty areas and other locales across
the nation. FeederWatchers peri
odically count the highest num
bers of each species they see at
their feeders for the 21 weeks.
The survey data helps scientists
track broad scale movements
of winter bird populations and
long-term trends in bird distribu
tion and abundance.
Tanagers were unexpected
surprises at some FeederWatch
locations during the 2006-2007
survey season. Summer tana-
gers were recorded in Texas
and Florida where the species is
typically only found during the
breeding season. Vagrant West
ern tanagers were found winter
ing in Georgia and returned for
another winter to a FeederWatch
site in Tallahassee, FL, that regu
larly plays host to these “lost”
migrants.
Project FeederWatch is con
ducted by individuals and
groups of all skill levels and
tos can be used, but no Pola-
roids or photographs printed
out from a computer onto laser
paper will be accepted, as they
do not reprint well.
Digital photos with the above
information may be e-mailed
to news@mainstreetnews.com.
The e-mail MUST contain the
subject line “Christmas Kids
Photo” as a title, or the child’s
photo may not be published.
Also, the child’s photo and
information requested above
must be submitted in the same
e-mail. Do not submit multiple
e-mails for the same child.
Once photos are submitted,
they may not be replaced with
another photo.
The photos may be dropped
off at or mailed to any of the
newspaper offices and may be
picked up there after Dec. 19.
backgrounds, including chil
dren, families, retirees, youth
groups, nature centers and bird
clubs. The project begins in No
vember, but participants are en
couraged to join any time.
“FeederWatchers across the
southeastern U.S . have helped
create the world’s largest da
tabase of feeder-bird popula
tions,” ornithologist and project
leader David Bonter said. “To
understand the effects of global
climate change, habitat change
and other factors on birds, we
need new and veteran partici
pants to let us know what they
are seeing in their own yards
and neighborhoods.”
Project FeederWatch is a joint
research and education project
of the Cornell Lab of Ornithol
ogy and Bird Studies Canada.
To learn more about Feeder-
Watch or register, visit www.
birds.cornell.edu/pfw or call the
lab toll-free at (800) 843-2473.
The annual fee is $15. In return,
participants receive the Feeder-
Watcher’s Research Kit, which
contains instructions on how to
file reports, a colorful poster of
the most common feeder birds,
a wall calendar and the year-end
report, Winter Bird Highlights.
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Buhl Cummings
BIG DAY... Congratulations to our
ACS cross-country teams and their
coach, Mr. Tim Cummings.
Led by senior, Taylor Kellogg, the
boys won the region championship.
Led by senior Whitney Bishoff, the
girls finished second. Whitney, the
premier cross-country runner,
claimed her fourth straight Region
title.
All now move on to the state
meet in Carrollton. Whintey will be
seeking her fourth straight state
title. What a runner she has been
for ACS.
Athletics and other extra
curricular activities build character
and teach teamwork and the work
ethic. The championships are just
a by-product.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
J & J
FLEA MARKET
11661 HWY. 441 N. • ATHENS, GA 30607
Deadline For Submitting
Children's Photos Nears
Fareha Rahim, MD
Internal Medicine
We are now located at our new office
613 Hospital Road
Commerce, Georgia 30529
Commerce Medical Center
706-335-9411
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