Composting really is fun! - by Jenna Messier

I have 3 compost bays in my back yard, the center bay is made of wood and the outside two bays were easily added with wire fencing and a few metal posts.  Honestly, it is extremely easy to make compost. Especially if you have little kids who waste a lot of food, their scraps always go to feed the worms and critters in the compost pile which makes me feel so much better!

3 bays for cycles of compost, boards will cover top to limit moisture

Embracing Organic Land Care – One Design at a Time Roots…

 Part I:

Embracing Organic Land Care – One Design at a Time Roots…

By Michael McCleese, AOLCP

Twenty-five years ago I took a job on a landscape crew as an out of shape, burned out social worker.  It was a particularly hot summer and I’ll never forget what it was like hefting 24” balled and burlapped boxwoods out of a trailer onto a planting bed.  I was used to carrying a pager, talking on the telephone, and having long lunches with co-workers.  Landscaping was tough. The sun was brutally hot. The work was hard and physically demanding. Sweat and grime soaked my clothes and at the end of the day; I was really, truly hungry.  As the weeks passed, leathery calluses began to replace the blisters on my soft palms.  I noticed something else that summer while I dug holes and mulched and edged and planted. As the calluses got tougher and my body slimmer, I started seeing colors in the garden, not just green, but 40 kinds of green and 20 kinds of yellow and lavender and blue!  I began to notice venation in leaves and that some shrubs and trees had exfoliating bark on their limbs and trunks.  Then the big surprise, I started noticing shapes and textures and grade changes in the landscape. Amazing! A garden designer was born!

Out & About with AOLCP Mike Wallick

Out & About with AOLCPs

Award-Winning Organic Turfgrass at the University of Texas at Austin

by Kathy Litchfield

Mike Wallick

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Someone once asked Mike Wallick if he knew what an “expert” was. The answer he received was “someone more than 50 miles from home, with a briefcase.”

As West Campus Supervisor for Landscape Services at the University of Texas at Austin for the last seven years, Wallick knows that diplomas and degrees carry weight. His brand new NOFA accreditation (PA course, 2013) is increasing his credibility not only among his colleagues and superiors, but within the greater Austin community.

“Becoming accredited is the career accomplishment I am most proud of, as it reveals a holistic approach to the concept of ‘land care’ and outlines the program for us to align ourselves with the natural processes at work and/or help to restore those processes,” he said.