The Eve of THE EXPERIENCE

Well, it's the eve of the Carolina Yard Experience. If you don't know what it is, or are deciding whether to go or not, read on for all the insights.
Come join Clemson Extension Tri-county Master Gardeners, Clemson's Carolina Clear Program, the Ashley Cooper Stormwater Education Consortium, Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester County Recycling, DHEC, and the Charleston Exchange Park for the first ever Tri-County Carolina Yard Experience!
Based on the Carolina Yards & Neighborhoods program, this event will inspire participants to create attractive and healthy yards by working with the
environment, rather than against it. This is a free, environmental event focused on the home landscape-including environmentally friendly gardening
practices, recycling, rainwater harvesting, pond management and much more! Hands-on demonstrations and educational displays by county extension agents and Master Gardeners.
If that is not enough to get you to come, here are some of the things that are actually happening.
What to bring:
An electronic for recycling. Items such as Home and office equipment: CPUs, monitors (color and b/w), laptops, hard drives, keyboards, mice, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, adding machines, calculators, telephones, cell and cordless phones, PDAs, pagers and shredders.
Audio visual equipment: TVs, VCRs, stereos, radios, camcorders, CD players, DVD players and cassette players.

Hazardous Household Materials for recycling. These include: Household Cleaners and Polishes, Pesticides and Repellents, Paints and Solvents.
A bucket and shovel for your free compost. There will be a mound of compost available for the public to load up on as much compost as they want!
Lawnmower blade for sharpening. Someone will be on hand to sharpen lawnmower blades so that your lawnmower can run better and longer.
Sample of your soil to get free advice on the health of your soil.
Lastly…. The Lawn Mower Exchange
Trade in your gas powered lawnmower for an electric lawnmower at a discounted price at the Second Annual Lawn Mower Exchange held in the parking lot from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Demonstrations, Lectures and Seminars:
10:00 AM -- Carolina Yards and Neighborhoods Overview-Water Smart Landscaping
11:00 AM -- Pond Management 101
11:00 AM -- The Good, Bad and Ugly...In the Garden: Integrated Pest Management
12:00 PM -- Environmentally Friendly Turf Management
1:00 PM -- The Good, Bad, and Ugly...In the Garden: Integrated Pest Management
11:30 AM -- Saving a Rainy Day: Rainwater Harvesting 101
12:30 PM -- Rain Garden Installation
1:00 PM -- Beautiful Borders: Installing Vegetative Buffers
All Day Long Demonstrations:
Garden Zone:
Secrets to Great Container Gardening
Plant Crimes: Victim or Perpetrator--Tree and Shrub Management
Lasagna Gardening
Proper Fertilizer and Pesticide Application and Safety
Water Zone:
Pervious Hardscaping
Green Roofs
On the Water: Boat Maintenance
Rainwater Cistern Technology
Plant Zone:
Ask a Master Gardener
Wheel of Horticulture
SC Native and Well-Adaptive Plant Sale
Carolina Yard Zone:
Vegetable Gardening
Self-Guided Tours
Compost Zone:
Composting Methods and Demonstrations
Composter Display
Wildlife Zone:
Bird and Butterfly Garden Installation
Kid Zone:
Build-Your-Own Pine Cone Bird feeder
Parsley Planting
Storm Drain Marking
Displays in the Ag Building:
Charleston Water Systems
Community Pride
SC Amphibian, Arachnid and Reptile Society
Charleston County Mosquito Control
Fields to Families
Berkeley County Water and Sanitation
Clemson DPI/Invasive Plants
Dorchester County Recycling
Charleston County Recycling
Berkeley County Recycling
What will be for sale:
Master Gardener Books
Master Gardener plants
Mepkin Abbey Native Plants
Come ready to eat!
The Hanahan Band Boosters will be selling food so come check it out!

As you can see, this is going to be an event filled day. The weather, I hope, is going to co-operate....I think it will. This event has been in the planning stages since February 2009. Please come on out! I look forward to seeing everybody at THE EXPERIENCE!
Happy Growing!
Darren