Adding beauty to Habitat homes
For Kimberly Lyn, a board member of both Chilton County Master Gardeners Association and Habitat Autauga and Chilton Counties in Alabama, volunteering to landscape the yard of a Habitat home is a perfect opportunity to meld two of her passions.
She and her fellow master gardeners have clocked hundreds of hours on flowerbeds, bushes and the lawn of a Habitat home being renovated.
“We wanted to keep the plan simple, something that looked pretty, but didn’t require a lot of physical labor or time” for the family, she says. “The things we put in are perennials, so they don’t have to be replaced.”
The master gardeners started volunteering with Habitat after Kimberly suggested the group lend its expertise to homeowners. Gardeners must complete 100 hours of training and volunteering to earn the title “master.” Their knowledge has paid off.
“While we were trying to restore existing flower beds in the front, the more we dug, the more we realized nothing would thrive there,” Kimberly says. “There was no nutrition left in that soil.” The volunteers worked to reintroduce the proper nutrients so that the native, easy-to-maintain plants can thrive.
Kimberly says her faith drives her to do her part to help others. She and the other master gardeners can see the family working to build their home and who will be enjoying the yard when it is done. “All of our volunteers have met the future homeowners,” she says.
Donating materials, time, landscaping work — all add up to helping Habitat do more and keeping a home affordable for a family. “It’s the same as if we were putting up the walls on the inside,” Kimberly says.