Crabapple Green Scene Events - April is National Garden Month

 April is National Garden Month®, and everyone’s thoughts are turning to landscapes, flowers and vegetable gardens.  Annual Earth Day is celebrated on April 22.  Let Crabapple LandscapEXPERTS suggest several ways to spread the “spirit of gardening” in the neighborhoods or the communities you manage.

Green Scene Custom Garden Events Tailored for your neighborhood

The Crabapple LandscapEXPERTS Team is throwing a garden party just for you and your neighbors! Talk to your Rep and we’ll schedule an exclusive event personalized to your HOA or Landscape Committee and we’ll bring the (crab)apple donuts, (crab)apple cider and fresh, aromatic coffee, too. 

Let Crabapple plan a fun, hands-on workshop for your committee that offers a chance to meet, greet and grow. Choose from topics like

·         Container Gardens

·         Host a community Plant Swap

·         Pot en Fleur Baskets

·         Veggie Farm-to-Table Grow-fest

·         How to Plant a (Crabapple) Tree

Seasonal workshops such as 

·         Spring Success with Tomatoes, America’s Favorite Vegetable

·         Plant Parenthood (propagating more plants from one)

·         Pumpkin Carving (parents with kids over 6)

·         Natural Wreath Making

Make then take home your creation, courtesy of Crabapple LandscapEXPERTS.  

Cooperative Extension Classes  

Look to the local Cooperative Extension Agent and Extension Master Gardeners for garden and landscape classes. http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/fulton/anr/index.html

Specialty Plant Sales

Many plant societies have Plant Sales and Private Garden Tours during April, such as the Azalea Chapter (Atlanta) of the American Rhododendron Society http://azaleachapter.com/Plant%20Sale%20Flyer%202013.pdf Plant Sale at Oak Grove United Methodist Church parking lot (off LaVista) Saturday, April 13

Or

 Georgia Native Plant Society Spring Plant Sale Saturday, April 20 at McFarlane Nature Park, Atlanta Country Club, Marietta, GA http://www.gnps.org/plantsale/Plant_Sale_13/Plant_Sale_Flyer.pdf

Or

Georgia Perimeter College Native Plant Botanical Garden Lunch and Learn Fridays and plant sales  http://depts.gpc.edu/~decbt/

Garden Tours of private gardens provide ideas

The GA Perennial Plant Society Intimate Garden Tour May 4-5 http://georgiaperennial.org/events/2013_tour_1/index.htm

The Atlanta Botanical Garden Connoisseurs Garden Tour May 11-12 http://www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org/events-classes/events/gardens-connoisseurs

Decatur “Gardens of Eating” Garden Tour April 27-28 http://decaturgardentour.com/

Community Gardens

If there is a Community Garden in your community, after the neighbors get done swapping tomatoes and zucchini, consider PAR Plant a Row for the Hungry.

Help those in need by growing extra vegetables in the garden this summer. Plant a Row for the Hungry is a national campaign, sponsored by the Garden Writers Association, to help feed hungry families. The concept is simple. Plant extra produce in your garden and donate it to a local food shelf, shelter, or soup kitchen. It's a great way to help your community, and if you include your kids or grandkids, a valuable life lesson.  Contact the local food shelf or agency to determine the best type of produce to grow and when and where they most need it

Organize a Poetry Circle

Every one of us has stories to share. For a change, why not share them in the form of poems? Like gardening, writing and reading poetry helps us explore and share our individual style. Poetry encourages precise use of words as we home in on what we wish to communicate.

MORE Crabapple Ideas for celebrating National Garden Month in your community:

Start a Neighborhood Garden Club

Get up a group to visit your local farmers' market.

Compliment a neighbor on his or her garden.

Get together with neighbors to purchase spring flowering bulbs in bulk quantities.

Volunteer to plant and maintain a garden at your town library, school or fire station.

Interview an elder on NPR Story Corps to learn what foods his or her family grew when he or she was a child.

Seek out neighbors from various ethnic groups to learn about their native cuisine and gardening techniques.

Celebrate other important "green" holidays: Earth Day (April 22) and National Arbor Day (April 26).

Take a Field Trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden (Atlanta), the State Botanical Garden of Georgia (Athens) or Gibbs Garden (Ball Ground). 

Share your garden's bounty with a neighbor or with the local Food Bank.

Have fun doing a gardening project with a child.

Deliver houseplants or flowers to a nursing home or children's hospital.

Donate past issues of gardening magazines to your library, or buy the library a gift subscription.