CAROL LINK: Master Gardeners spruce up injured colleague's yard

Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 5:23 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 5:24 p.m.

Janet Plunkett, an Etowah County Master Gardener, recently fell and broke her right wrist. (Janet is right-handed.) When her fellow Master Gardeners heard of her plight, several came to her rescue by sprucing up her landscape.

When a crew of eight Master Gardeners arrived, each one looked around, selected an area of landscape to tackle and immediately went to work. A few Master Gardeners hoed weeds, others pruned shrubs and a couple of men pruned the lower limbs of some smaller trees.

A few Master Gardeners worked in Janets vegetable garden.

Others raked and cleared debris from the yard, and a few cleared some overgrown vines that covered a stretch of backyard fencing.

A couple of overgrown shrubs were removed as well.

Months ago, a large limb from a neighbors tree, which had been toppled by high winds, landed along the perimeter of both yards. A couple of brawny Master Gardeners went to work sawing the large tree limb. Very soon that area of the landscape became neat, opened to receive sunlight and was looking good.

In less than three hours, the crew of Master Gardeners accomplished a great deal of work.

Both homeowners, Janet and her neighbor, were most appreciative of the tree removal.

As lay horticulturists trained through Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Etowah County Master Gardeners perform service to the community, often lending assistance with school, church and Habitat for Humanity landscaping projects; sometimes offering advice with landscape design. From April through September, area Master Gardeners staff the Horticulture Helpline, answering horticulture questions and seeking solutions to problems. In late winter and early spring, a couple of Master Gardeners give hands-on pruning classes to the general public.

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CAROL LINK: Master Gardeners spruce up injured colleague's yard