Residential Winner—March
The March Beautification Board residential winner is the home of Robert and Stacey Goggins at 1016 Conner Circle
Residential Winner—April
The April Beautification Board residential winner is the home of Richard and Louisa Squires at
3041 N. Grande View Cove
Commercial Winner— April, May, June
The April May and June Beautification Board commercial winner is Boohaker Family Cosmetic Dentistry at 117 Buck Creek Plaza
Master Gardener David Doggett comes to the Albert L Scott Library
David Doggett is an Advanced Master Gardener with certifications in both Japanese maples and hydrangeas. A retired computer programmer living in Irondale, he has been a gardener for the last 20+ years and a Jefferson County Master Gardener since 2010. At Aldridge Gardens, Doggett gives guided tours to adult groups. He loves propagating hydrangeas and is currently president of the Alabama Hydrangea Society. He is also an avid collector of Japanese maples and created Aldridge Gardens’ Japanese Maple Trail, which consists of over 50 different cultivars of Japanese maples.
Did you grow up in Alabama? How did you get interested in gardening? Do you have a particular mentor who helped you get to your level?
I grew up in Birmingham and have lived in Irondale for the last 44 years. A few years ago, my yard received an Irondale Beautification Award, but for the first 20 years my only “gardening” was mowing the grass. Seeing a friend move into a new Irondale house and transform her yard inspired me to take an interest in my yard. I took a gardening class from Extension agent Larry Quick, and the next step after that was to look into the local Master Gardener program.
What is a Master Gardener?
In 1972, the Cooperative Extension System in Washington State experimented with training a group of volunteers with a passion for gardening to assist in providing gardening services and education to local communities. Since then, the concept has spread to all 50 states and Canada. There are 40 “interns” in training this month at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens who will become Jefferson County Master Gardeners upon completion of their studies. Shelby County has a similar program that meets in Columbiana. There is a service requirement in exchange for this education. Master Gardeners help with plant sales, grow food to donate to charities, answer a telephone helpline, volunteer at botanical gardens, and give talks to garden clubs. If you do additional, concentrated study in some specialized topic of gardening, you can become certified as an Advanced Master Gardener; for me those subspecialties were Japanese maples and Hydrangeas.
How did you get involved with Aldridge gardens?
As part of my master gardener service requirement, I volunteered to help Aldridge Gardens with their annual spring plant sale. Through that, I got to know Eddie and Kay Aldridge and wanted to be more involved with this beautiful and very special place. I began giving tours of Aldridge Gardens and later helped develop their Hydrangea Garden and Japanese maple collection. Last year, I designed and installed a new native azalea garden there. I love investing time in a garden that can be enjoyed by so many. Some know me there as “the guy with the shovel.”
Can you give us a taste of what you will be discussing in Alabaster?
We learned on day one in master gardener class that the average lifespan of a tree growing in an undisturbed woodland is 150 years while the typical life of a tree planted in a commercial or residential area is less than 35 years. Improper planting is the main problem. In my workshop, we will learn how to mimic nature’s way. If you think of your landscape as being divided into rooms, shrubs are the room’s furniture. Like furniture, shrubs can be moved around for the best effect—thus it’s useful to know how to transplant a shrub. We’ll also talk about re-potting container plants.
How did you get interested in Japanese maples? Are they hard to grow? Are their needs different than other trees?
One writer calls Japanese maples “the aristocrat of trees.” I fell in love with their grace, their spring and fall color, and their incredible variety (there are hundreds of varieties of this single species of maple). Aldridge Gardens offered a grafting workshop about 15 years ago, and I have since grafted and grown hundreds of Japanese maples. I planted 60 young trees that now form Aldridge Gardens’ Japanese Maple Trail. Even though these trees are native to Japan, they adapt beautifully to our climate. The average temperatures here in North Central Alabama have changed quite a bit in the last decade or so, and Japanese maples are now easier to successfully grow here than our own native dogwood.
Is spring your favorite season for gardening?
The garden centers are filled with shoppers in spring, and this makes sense for planting annuals and perennials, but late fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs so they can get established before the intense heat of our Alabama summers. I love in spring seeing the native azaleas, fringe trees, and hydrangeas bloom and the bright burgundy of Japanese maple trees. But I garden hardest in October and November planting trees and shrubs at Aldridge Gardens.
Any gadgets or gear that you highly recommend for working in the garden?
I am currently the president of the Alabama Hydrangea Society, which meets at Aldridge Gardens. We have programs on topics such as the history of hydrangeas, pruning, changing the bloom color, and landscaping uses. A member suggested a program in which we all bring our favorite garden tool or practice and share with the group. I would bring and show a hose I recently discovered with a swivel head that avoids kinks. I’d also bring my favorite garden tool—a brand of Japanese hand pruners that are lightweight and fit in my hand and pocket.