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Farmer's Market

Excitement takes root

The Discovery Garden at the UF extension office in Seffner will live up to its name and let experts show, not just tell.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published September 16, 2005

SEFFNER - Horticulturist Sydney Park Brown pauses on a wooden bridge over the water garden to highlight the carnivorous plants growing in a Florida bog. She points out the mulch made from recycled tires.

She's growing a garden full of ideas.

Imagine these: Sample plants to shade a backyard patio and grill. How to achieve an Asian minimalist landscape. Ways to conserve water with xeriscape plants.

Half a dozen landscape themes are taking root in the courtyard of the University of Florida's agriculture extension office in Seffner.

Starting next spring, homeowners can tour and take notes for their back yards. The Bette S. Walker Discovery Garden will provide a living classroom on landscaping and environmentally friendly gardening.

"We do a lot of telling people how to do it," said Brown, a specialist in environmental horticulture at the Seffner office. "Now we can show them."

Four years in the works, the Discovery Garden is something new to the region. A partnership between UF and Hillsborough County, the extension office already offers monthly classes on landscaping and water conservation. But the closest similar educational garden sits outside Orlando.

Right now, master gardeners in the courtyard are planting feverishly. They are following landscape architect Ted Kempton's conceptual plans, which divide the courtyard into theme gardens. Plants likely will be in the ground by November, but the garden won't officially open until the spring. This will give the lush landscaping time to grow.

Already, the space holds sights to delight a gardener.

Water lilies float on a small ornamental pond. A rock waterfall separates the water garden from another pond, where swamp hibiscus are growing as an example of foliage for a retention pond. Bright orange koi swim in the ornamental pond. Killifish have taken over the natural aquatic habitat.

From a wooden bridge, visitors also can study the vegetation that thrives in Florida bogs. Pitcher plants, which trap small insects, demonstrate one option for low-lying, moist areas in the back yard.

A nearby kumquat tree marks the beginning of a plant collection that will appeal to children - through taste, smell and touch. These smaller plants, clustered in a so-called sensory garden, also address the needs of disabled people.

"If you are in a wheelchair, you have access to the garden. You can still feel and get close to nature," said Lynn Barber, a master gardener and part-time project coordinator for the Discovery Garden.

Each garden theme also teaches about environmental consciousness.

For ground cover, recycled rubber mulch looks just like cypress mulch, but no one had to cut down a tree. A deck resembling wood actually is made of sawdust and recycled plastic.

Instead of pouring a concrete walkway, garden designers installed different kinds of pavers throughout. These demonstrate ways to reduce runoff after heavy rains, allowing water to drain into the soil.

The county's Water Department provided more than $40,000 for the garden's drainage system, which models water conservation. The money came from fines that people paid for violating county rules on watering lawns.

The garden's funding includes about $150,000 in government grants and private contributions. Nurseries and landscape businesses have donated plants and services. Total costs, including the value of donations and volunteer hours, likely reach $300,000, Brown estimates.

Brown hopes that the garden will attract people to an already bustling extension office. Last year, nearly 1,000 came to Seffner for gardening advice. Another 500 attended classes on landscaping and conserving water.

Stacks of free brochures on plants, animals and Florida gardening are neatly labeled by topic on shelves, waiting for interested gardeners. The office's horticultural experts encourage people to treat the outdoors as an extension of their homes.

"Think of your yard as the inside of your house," Brown said.

ON THE WEB: Learn about gardening in Florida at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu For information on the Hillsborough extension office, visit http://hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu

IF YOU GO: The Bette S. Walker Discovery Garden won't open to the public until the spring. Until then, the University of Florida's Hillsborough extension office is offering classes on gardening and free information on plants that thrive in Florida. The office is at 5339 County Road 579, just north of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Seffner.

[Last modified September 15, 2005, 11:02:11]