DIY Network

Governor's Landscape: Plan, Costs and Products Meet Governor Purdue and his wife--and find out the gardening challenge plan. From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-312

Walter with Governor Purdue, his wife, Mary, and DIY producer Jay Shatz.

Meet Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue. He lives in the Governor's mansion in upscale North Atlanta with his wife, the first lady, Mary Purdue. The mansion is set on an estate with 18 beautiful acres that attract thousands of tourists each year.

The landscape is gorgeous and changes with every season, but some of the trees are overgrown and the sun-thirsty grass beneath them is dead. Plus, there is a lack of flowers in the flowerbeds that are shaded.

The first family would like to see more color on the front lawn, but want to be mindful of the taxpayers' budget. They think perennials like azaleas might be a good solution. We agree.

Host Walter Reeves and his crew work with the governor's head groundskeeper, Don Nichols, who points out that Governor Purdue is an avid outdoorsman and farmer who knows a lot about plants.

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	The Georgia governor's mansion was a work in progress...
	that quickly became a stunning sod sensation...
	with sculpted grounds that feature a fountain,...
	healthy hedges and colorful flowers and plants!

Required Project Timeline

The Governor's mansion project took two days to complete with a team of helpers.

Project Details

This DIY Garden Sense project is a bit different than previous projects--mainly because the Georgia governor's mansion is set on 18 acres of land. The catch--the team has two days to finish the project but couldn't spend a dime of taxpayer money. As a result, DIY enlisted the help of several experts.

Designer Brian Caldwell had a bold plan for fixing the landscape. He drew lines for new, bigger planting beds. The beds are so enormous it took dozens of trees and thousands of plants to turn the plans into reality.

Another contributor is Zack Campbell, President of a Metro Atlanta Landscaping Association. He convinced Georgia nurseries to donate nearly 9,000 plants for the project! Zack also convinced friends like Brian and Ken Strickland to donate their time and talent. 70 other volunteers also helped.

Ken Morrow's company donated two and a half acres of sod and its own group of volunteers to the project. They replaced the dying grass with new sod.

Georgia State Flowers and Trees

To find the state flower and tree for all the U.S. States, explore the United States National Arboretum site.

Note: Kudos to all of the companies who donated supplies to the governor's mansion project and to all the volunteers who spent time getting the work done. As a result, the mansion grounds have a new look, new sod and more than 9,000 new plants with absolutely no expense to Georgia taxpayers!

Special thanks to Sod Atlanta (www.sodatlanta.com), Georgia Sod Producer's Association and Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association (www.malta-inc.org).

For more information about the Georgia Governor's Mansion, visit http://www.gov.state.ga.us/about_mansion.shtml.

Dollars and Sense

DIY used more than 9,000 plants in this project.

For sensible savings when planting a shade garden, split hosta to double your money and get ivy clippings from friends.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

RESOURCES :

A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants
American Horticultural Society
Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc.
ISBN 0-7566-0616-0
Website: www.dk.com