We need trees for many reasons. Trees reduce air pollution, filtering the air we breathe. The leaves absorb ozone, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide and release precious oxygen. Trees reduce the threat of flooding by intercepting storm-water runoff. Trees provide homes for wildlife, and tree-houses for us, of course. The benefits of trees econom-ically, environmen-tally and socially are overwhelming.

The benefit we probably think of first, though, is shade. Strategically placed trees can cut down on cooling bills in the sum-mer, and I dont know many people who want to have a picnic out in a hot, open area.

This time of year, many phone calls come in pertaining to lawns, a lot of which have to do with moss overtaking the lawn. Moss is not actually taking over the lawn, of course, it just hap-pens to grow in conditions unfavorable for the growth of grasses nature plants a ground cover where lawns do not grow well.

What is moss? Mosses are small, green, primitive

plants with reduced leaves and a mass of fine, threadlike stems. They form a low, green mat atop the soil, which makes an excellent ground cover. Mosses do not steal nutrients and water from lawn grasses as they pro-duce their own food and can absorb nutrients directly from the air when the humidity is right.

I love the almost lime green color of some of our mosses. Many homeown-ers may gasp at the thought of moss growing in their landscape, but it is quite beautiful and has been a part of Japanese gardens for years. It is also a good bioindicator of air and water quality.

Where do mosses grow?More than 400 species of moss

(liverworts and algae, too) grow in the Southeastern United States. As you can imagine with so many species, moss grows in a variety of places, some even in full sun. But for the most part, moss thrives in Alabamas shady areas. We see it often in our forested areas.

Seeing as how moss will grow on the side of a brick, compacted soils are no problem remember the nutrients are coming from the humid air, not the ground. Perhaps your yard does not drain well and a good rain leaves behind soggy areas, which shade exac-erbates. No worries moss will grow there too. Maybe your yard is au nat-ural, with no fertilizer or lime moss doesnt mind. Now ask yourself: What do shade, soggy soil, low fertility and compaction have in common? These are all places lawn grasses do not grow well, usually in the shadow of trees.

What can I do about it?Unfortunately, there is not a magic

cure. Sure, you could spray it with something that would work tempo-rarily, but the moss will return and the grass still wont grow there. To actually rid yourself of moss, you must modify the environment.

You have a choice to make: To allow in enough light for grass to grow prop-erly, it is usually necessary to open up tree canopies or drastically thin or remove trees so the grass receives more sun. I always pick shade the heat of July and August make up my mind for me. Besides, shade may not be the only factor. Fertility, soil pH, soil compaction and water drainage all need to be addressed if moss is not in your landscape plans.

How do I grow it?Nature does a good job of plant-

ing moss. It really is an excellent, low to no maintenance ground cover in gardens and around shady areas. If you already have moss growing, great. Hand remove, or chemically remove, any surrounding grasses and weeds. Scratch the surface lightly the moss will spread faster.

You can relocate a few clumps here and there, planting it in areas devoid of other plants. Keep relocated moss watered, although nature will usually do this for you, and harvest it from areas similar in environmental condi-tions to where you are transplanting. For instance, you will have better success transplanting moss growing under one tree to a nearby area under another tree rather than moss growing on a piece of wood or stone statue.

Speaking of which, there is a way to speed up the process of growing moss on stone statues or brick paths as well. It may take a month or more before moss starts to establish. Try a simple recipe of 2 parts moss (off your own property), 2 parts water and 1 part but-termilk. Blend well and spread over the area you are trying to cover. Remember to sprinkle or mist often you dont want it to dry out.

For help on other home and garden questions, call the Master Gardener Horticulture Helpline at 1-877-ALA-GROW (1-877-252-4769) or visit us online at aces.edu.

Page 8E Sunday, June 1, 2014 The Anniston Star LIFE & ARTS

Dani Carroll

On Gardening

A sunny landscape

gathers no moss

BEEEastaboga Bee Company tackles more than honeyas busy as a...

ARTISAN GOODS HANDCRAFTED IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA

Sweet homemadea l a bam a

BY LAURA MONROElmonroe@annistonstar.com

With his dog, Jake, by his side and a smoker in his hands, Justin Hill is only slightly joking when he says his coworkers are honeybees. He doesnt need to wear gloves anymore, but pulls on his veiled hat as he laughs and says, Lets go charm a bee.

The owner of Eastaboga Bee Company began keeping bees on his 300-acre farm six years ago. A fourth-generation farmer, Hill was already growing fruits and vege-tables and raising horses and cattle, but he was eager to try something new.

I think there are a lot of people that do this as a hobby, but I dont know that a lot of people do it to make money, he said. I was looking for another way to diversify. Its just like any other small business ven-ture except Im a farmer, too.

Hill had the time and the space, but knew nothing about honeybees. He start-ed reading books about beekeeping, and met with beekeepers from across the state to learn from their experience. He has learned a lot along the way, but says hes still learning.

Everything changes daily, weekly, Hill said. The challenge that you had last week is not the challenge youre going to have this week.

In the beginning, the greatest chal-lenge to the self-taught beekeeper was simply getting over the fear of handling the bees to harvest the honey, Hill said. He tried to concentrate on everything he learned and to remember everything he read, but when he heard the buzz of thou-sands of angry honeybees, his natural instinct told him to run. He didnt though, and now, after years of harvesting honey, Hill has 80 beehives on his farm.

I just try to give them a great envi-ronment to flourish, Hill said. You cant make them grow, but if you set them up with everything they need, they will grow.

Hills honeybees make their home in white painted boxes built from trees that fell during the April 2011 storms. Most of the boxes are grouped together, while a few sit alone in the distance under the trees where Hill captured their swarms.

With all his hives, Hill quickly realized he could sell more than just jars of raw

honey. As he had done before, Hill taught himself to make new products through trial and error, and a lot of reading. He said he threw away trash cans full of trials gone badly until he eventually got it right.

I was just so proud to have made something, he said.

In addition to honey, Eastaboga Bee Company now sells multi-ple products, including soaps, lotions and lip balms. One of the most popular products is the vanilla-scented body butter made with cocoa butter

and beeswax. All of Hills honey cre-ations can be found in co-ops and at festivals throughout the state, and can be purchased on the companys website, eastabogabeecompany.com, as well. Hills honey is also used in other locally produced products like Richard Sher-rods Angry Apricot Mustard sauce, and in Cheaha Brewing Companys Heather Ale. Since branching out, Hill has seen an increase in sales both online and in spe-cialty stores that carry his products.

One such store belongs to Susan Smith, owner of Girlfriends in Oxford, who says the honey is the most popular Eastaboga Bee Company product they sell.

People buy it because its made local-ly, she said. Those that have bought it have come back for more. Several of us in the shop buy it and use it ourselves.

Hill hopes to one day open a store of his own where people can learn about honeybees while trying his products. He has some new products in the works,

including a hair balm that will be avail-able this summer.

Hill plans to stop at 300 hives because thats all one or two people can do, he said. In the meantime, he will continue adding hives and searching for ways to protect his honeybees from the same threats facing every beekeeper mites and disease, for instance, can destroy an entire colony.

In the last few years, studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found the honeybee population is decreasing, which the department says threatens crop yields because bee pol-lination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year. No single cause has been determined, but according to the USDA website, sci-entists believe it could be a combination of pathogens, parasites, stress and pollen scarcity.

Hill said he likes to think he is helping the bees, even if he is only playing a small part.

Its not why I started doing this, but its nice to think I might be making a differ-ence, he said.

He offers everyone the same advice advice that might just help them and the hon-eybees at the same time: Plant a flower and call your mother.

Photos: Stephen Gross/ The Anniston Star

ABOVE: Eastaboga Bee Company sells raw honey

and other honey-based products. INSET: Owner

Justin Hill inspects a honey-comb on his Eastaboga farm.

ONLINE VIDEO See more of Hill and his bees at

annistonstar.com

BY KIM PALMERStar Tribune (Minneapolis)

When Natasha Cronen got married last year, she knew what her bridal bouquet would look like, down to the petal.

Thats because shed made it herself, two days earlier, along with all the other flowers for her wedding.

Cronen, of Woodbury, Minn., and her bridesmaids gathered at Market Flowers near the Minneapolis Farmers Market to craft coral and white roses into bouquets, center-pieces, corsages for the bride and grooms mothers and bou-tonnieres for the fathers.

I had never done anything like that before, said Cronen, who had worried doing all the flowers might be stressful or her friends would get bored. Actually, it was a lot of fun.

She loved the way her flow-ers turned out. I

got a ton of com-pliments on them. And she also saved a lot

of money, spend-ing about $500 total on wed-ding flowers vs. the estimated $2,000 it would cost for a florist to create similar pieces.

The explosion of online tools and the trend toward casual outdoor weddings have fueled a wave of DIYers trying their hand at wedding flowers. With how-to instructions just a Google search away, and inspi-rational photos abloom on Pin-terest, amateurs now have the resources they need to nurture

their inner florist.Its really grown, said

Diane Barriball, owner of Market Flowers, which started offering use of its facilities to DIY-ers several years ago. They can pre-order the flowers they want or choose from whats available, make their creations at one of six design stations, then store in the cooler for a day or two before the big event.

The first year it offered the service, Market Flowers hosted one or two DIY groups, Barri-ball said. Last year, they were booked every weekend from May through October.

Its the whole Pinterest, Etsy thing, Barriball said. And the whole vintage, outdoorsy wedding thing lends itself to what we do.

Even some professionals are catering to the DIY crowd.

Minneapolis-based Bach-mans offered its first DIY bridal

floral class last fall, which sold out, said Leah Schmidt, wed-ding and events manager. It was a big hit. There was huge demand for another one. So Bachmans offered a class last month, and it, too, sold out.

At the most recent class, about two dozen women gath-ered in the cool, fragrant base-ment of Bachmans Minneapo-lis store to learn how to make a bridesmaids bouquet.

Instructor Karen Ortiz demonstrated how to wrap rib-bon to finish a bouquet handle, add a touch of bling and make a boutonniere using beargrass without getting a paper cut.

One of the hurdles for beginners, Schmidt said, is that theyre often too timid about altering flowers to get the look they want. People get nervous about taking the petals off, or the foliage ... They dont realize how sturdy flowers are.

And it can be tricky for an amateur to pull off the sophis-ticated designs popular today. There are design elements that we study line, structure and color that the brain reg-isters as beauty, Schmidt said.

At Market Flowers, Cronen got the advice she needed to complete her arrangements.

Diane gave me a lot of good information about what flowers would be in season, said Cronen, who changed her floral plans as a result. My colors were Tiffany blue and coral, and originally, I was thinking Gerbera daisies for my bridesmaids and hydrangea for myself. But Diane cautioned me, especially with that hot summer last year, hydrangeas start turning brown very easily.

Barriball also let her know that daisies in her chosen color might be in short supply for her September wedding. The Ger-bera daisies coming into sea-son were mostly hot pink and baby pink; they werent getting a lot of coral, Cronen said.

In the end, she switched to roses to ensure getting the color and look she wanted. On the day of the project, Diane put us on an assembly line, and showed me cool techniques and tricks for the day of the wedding, like how to open the flower heads to make them look fuller, Cronen said.

The process went so smoothly she may do it again with a different bride. My maid of honor is getting mar-ried this August, and we might be going back.

Brides take f lowers into their own hands

Renee Jones Schneider/Minneapolis Star Tribune

Jessica Dye, right, makes bouquets with sister Sarah for her wedding at a DIY florist class in Minneapolis.

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