Spring Gardening Special Section

• Stress-Free Gardening
• OWASA declares stage three water shortage
• Local Nurseries
• Landscape Services
• Drought-Tolerant Native Plants
• Extreme gardening in times of extremes
• Online Resources
• Farmers’ Markets

Stress-Free Gardening

By Ken Moore

The intent of my gardening strategy is to replace the stress with enjoyment. Rather than struggling to enforce my design on Nature, I step back and garden with a lighter touch, letting Nature be my guide.

I have gradually altered the garden to favor desirable plants that plant themselves. They almost always perform better than the ones I plant. I was impressed that the volunteer Joe-pye-weed, Eupatorium fistulosum, at the edge of my patio did not require extra water as did the one I had carefully planted in a garden bed.

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OWASA declares stage three water shortage

On February 28th, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) Board declared a Stage Three Water Shortage.

Stage Three Water Use Restrictions went into effect on March 1st.

The Stage Three water shortage declaration is based on the following:

·    Although recent rainfall improved our water supply situation, our lakes were only 57% full as of March 12th.  It is unprecedented for our lakes to be so low at this time of year.
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Local nurseries

Apex Nurseries, Inc.
2925 Highway 751
Apex
362-8315/www.apexnurseries.com
Apex Nurseries specializes in large trees, shrubs and perennials for landscaping needs.

Barefoot Paths Nursery
224 Henley Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919-933-7467
Hours by appointment. Specialty trees, shrubs, and perennials for southern gardens.

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Landscape Services

Carrboro

Birdsong Design
118 E Main St 942-9682
birdsongdesign.com
Services in garden design, installation and native plants.

Butterfly Ridge Design & Works Inc.
400 W Weaver St 933-1933

Fifth Season Gardening Co.
106 S. Greensboro St. 932-7600
fifthseasongardening.com
Landscape design with a focus on organic and hydroponic gardening.

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Extreme gardening in times of extremes

By Johnny Randall

Natural plant distribution and abundance are largely dictated by the climatic extremes rather than by averages. Our current extreme and killing drought will likely cause a habitat shift in many areas: The plants that can tolerate the drought will remain and possibly expand their territories and those that can’t will perish and find themselves restricted to the more mesic (moist) sites.

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Online Resources

North Carolina Botanical Garden
www.ncbg.unc.edu/

North Carolina Native Plant Society
www.ncwildflower.org/

North Carolina Herbarium
www.herbarium.unc.edu

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Farmers’ Markets

Carrboro Farmers’ Market
301 W. Main St., Carrboro
280-3326
carrborofarmersmarket.com

Saturdays, 9 p.m. to noon
Wednesdays 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
(opens April 9)

Fresh, naturally grown produce, prepared foods, flowers and crafts sold by the original producers.

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Drought-Tolerant Native Plants

NC Wildflowers

Climbing Aster  (Ampelaster carolinianus) – a climbing aster with lilac-colored flowers from mid-October through November

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) – orange flowers; nectar and food plant for the monarch butterfly

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Follow the redbuds and dogwoods

By Ken Moore

Native pink-flowered redbud, Cercis Canadensis, is right on schedule beginning its three-week-long flowering. It will be followed in a week or two by the pure-white Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. The combination of these two native trees’ spring awakenings gives us four to five weeks of flowering with a dramatic overlapping of the two.

In recent years, this extended beautiful beginning of our natural Piedmont spring has been overshadowed by the short, week-long blinding white explosion of the exotic Bradford Pear, Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’, over-planted along city streets and in parking lots and residential landscapes.

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