By Mary Wilson
Alabama Cooperative Extension System
AUBURN UNIVERSITY — Pollinator gardens provide peaceful retreats with plentiful blooms that attract bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects.
Whether in a downtown, at a nonprofit or on school grounds, beautiful gardens require hard work from helping hands. When looking for knowledgeable and willing garden volunteers, many communities turn to their local Alabama Extension Master Gardeners.
“Last year when he was principal for D.A. Smith Middle School, Matthew Monson contacted me about planting a garden area on school grounds,” said Melissa Voynich, the Dale County Extension director. “I told him we can do something about that because Extension does that. So I called our Claybank Master Gardeners, and it was a perfect match.”
The Alabama Extension Master Gardeners program trains and certifies hundreds of new dedicated volunteers annually. Thanks to their work over the past calendar year, new and revitalized gardens exist all across the state, including in Dale, Mobile and Talladega counties.
MIDDLE SCHOOL POLLINATOR GARDEN
When walking to the main entrance of D.A. Smith Middle School in Ozark, Alabama, visitors can enjoy the sights and scents of a new pollinator garden. The project got its start thanks to Voynich making a connection.
“I like to say that a good county Extension director serves as glue,” Voynich said. “So, when I talk with a principal like Mr. Monsoon and he has an agricultural need that our Claybank Master Gardeners can meet, my function is to simply link the two of them together.”
Once bare bones, the site is now brimming with lantana, butterfly bushes, camellias and other blooming plants.
“Our fall 2024 intern class took on this project to put their skills to work,” said Susan Rigsby, president of the Claybank Master Gardeners. “They acted as a consulting group, providing ideas of how to amend the soil and what to plant.”
Technically a pollinator garden, the space was designed to attract pollinators of all sorts — from butterflies and bees to hummingbirds and wasps. Students’ contributions are also noticeable within the project, thanks to hand-painted stepping stones and birdbaths.
“This garden has meant the world to our kids, and that’s the most important thing,” Monson said. “They come out here for class and see lessons come to life, whether that’s the plant cycle, the water cycle or observing insects. It gives them an outlet to express their creativity. With the swing, it’s a tranquil, calm space where they can relax, but they can also come out here and get their hands dirty as they help care for the garden.”
Now that the garden is well established, the Claybank Master Gardeners are committed to providing routine maintenance, which also presents opportunities for education.
“They work with our students to show them how to plant, how to use garden tools, how to lay mulch and how to water correctly,” Monson said. “In 15 years, students will remember those lessons and can use them at their own home or even in a career. I know the students have gained confidence in their skills, but I hope this will also create some future Alabama Extension Master Gardeners.”
STARTING A SENSORY GARDEN
In Talladega, Alabama, staff of the Presbyterian Home for Children wanted to build a sensory garden for residents to enjoy. Over the years, the nonprofit has shifted from serving children to providing housing for Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind graduates who work for one of the school’s campuses. At that same time, Alabama Extension Home Horticulture Agent Jacob Turner was looking for a project for his fall 2024 Talladega County Master Gardeners intern class.
“This fell together and worked out great,” Turner said. “An Extension Master Gardener from Foley, Alabama, designed the project. Then, I provided input on plant selection for things that would work well in our area. The intern class worked two days building the garden. They gave input on plant placement, keeping accessibility in mind. I loved seeing them put lessons I’d taught into action.”
As a sensory garden, they included elements that appeal to all five senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.
“Things like pathways, sitting areas, bird feeders, birdbaths and water features are important to include in a sensory garden,” Turner said. “In the future, our Master Gardeners hope to add signs, which will include braille and be placed higher to be accessible for people in walkers or wheelchairs. A project like this one makes me happy. When the residents here come home from work, they can get outside and experience something different now.”
Along with helpful volunteers, Turner said receiving expert advice from Alabama Extension helps increase the chances of long-term success for garden projects.
“Our famous saying is ‘right plant in the right place,’” Turner said. “You have to have a good game plan. You have to know how much space plants need. In five years, that small bush you planted could grow to 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide. In this garden, we knew we didn’t have a reliable water source, so we chose drought-tolerant plants as much as possible. It’s one of my duties as a home horticulture agent to share my knowledge, and I love to help others. That’s why I work for Extension.”
GROWING VEGETABLES FOR GOOD
Pratt Paterson joined the Mobile County Master Gardeners fall 2024 intern class. He is executive director of Wilmer Hall Children’s Home, a nonprofit that provides housing, job training and life skills education to young adults. He joined the group with the hope of revitalizing the facility’s large outdoor garden.
“I lived in east Tennessee for a while and thought I was a good gardener,” Paterson said. “It turns out I just had the perfect climate and dirt up there. Gardening is much different on the Gulf Coast. I needed to learn new things to be successful in Mobile.”
Thankfully, his intern class decided to take on the project. They worked with Alabama Extension Home Horticulture Agent Jack LeCroy and Commercial Horticulture Agent Jacob Kelley to tackle the transformation.
“At Extension, our mission is to serve, but I can’t always be everywhere,” LeCroy said. “Through working with the Mobile County Master Gardeners, they’re making it possible for Extension to serve even more people in the community.”
The first step was installing a new irrigation system. Next, the Mobile County Master Gardeners brought in new soil, fertilized the beds, planted vegetables and established a caretaking schedule. Summer 2025 provided a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables for residents and staff to enjoy. A chef also used the produce to teach residents how to prepare food, including preservation methods.
For the fall, volunteers have already cleared out spent plants and added new seedlings. It should produce throughout the season and into winter. That’s thanks to the Alabama Extension Master Gardeners hard work and Mobile’s more temperate climate.
“Their goal is that the beds will not lay fallow again,” LeCroy said. “We also have a friendly challenge going on. We’ve taken good records on what the garden produced, and we want to improve on that next year. So, it’s a lot of fun and all for a good cause, too.”
EXTENSION DOES THAT
Want to become an Alabama Extension Master Gardener? Registration for the next intern class will be open Nov. 1-30. Read more about Alabama Extension Master Gardeners at www.aces.edu.
Creating beautiful landscapes and pollinator gardens? Extension does that and so much more. Extension also supports youth leadership development through Alabama 4-H. Plus, Extension educates Alabamians about staying healthy, whether that means quitting vaping or eating better during pregnancy. Discover all those stories and more at www.aces.edu/discover.
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