I have often fantasized about having a yard, which has been landscaped by a professional. It would take on a natural look, with lots of pools and stones with cascading water, cattails, water lilies, and whatever else my landscaper decided to place there.
Unfortunately, I have to do it myself, and I am limited by a retired school teacher”s budget and time. What”s a dreamer to do?
East Columbus has a new business that offers choices for your yard and garden projects. It”s called Yardworks and is owned and managed by Cindy and George Hern.
Yardworks occupies the lot where the go-cart race track used to be, at the intersection of Highways 182 and 69. I stopped by last Thursday to see what they had.
Yardworks is unique in that it is more of a “hardscape” landscaping business rather than a nursery. As a matter of fact, nurseries in the area often come by Yardworks for things they don”t have themselves. I think this is called mutual symbiosis. Cool.
Playing in the dirt
Cindy Hern, co-owner, was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years after doing some interior designing, mostly in the Memphis, Tenn., area.
“Not long ago George asked me if I wanted to play in the dirt for a living,” she said.
Cindy manages the site during the week, and George takes over on weekends.
“We want it to be a family business,” she said. “Maybe our kids will open a lemonade stand this summer and sell some painted rocks like those,” she said, pointing to two whimsical round rocks with cartoonlike expressions.
“People take a second look when they see me on the backhoe,” said Cindy Hern. “They”re not used to seeing a woman on a piece of heavy equipment like this. … When people come in to buy large, hundreds of pounds and sometimes tons, of stones, soil or rocks, they ask whose available to load it. That would be me,” she said.
What”s for sale?
I took an inventory of what was for sale on the neatly organized grounds. I saw rocks, small boulders, stones, gravel, mulch (some of it colored), plants, railroad ties, picnic tables, statues and fountains.
“We”ll be adding new items every week,” said Hern. “Cobblestone is on the way.”
She told of a couple came in to buy what they wanted for a small pond.
“It made me feel good to be able to sell them everything that they needed,” she said.
Yardworks sells rocks by the palette and the pound. A palette weighs about a ton. West Texas lime costs $425 a palette or 45 cents a pound. Arkansas creekstone and Tennessee flagstone both go for $350 a palette or 35 cents a pound.
I saw big ferns for $15, Confederate Jasmine, hibiscus, firecracker (hummingbird attractant) and hanging baskets for $12.50.
“Most of our plants are heat resistant,” she added.
Stop by 92 Alabama St. and see if there”s anything for your own yard or dream garden. They”re open from 8 a.m. until dark-thirty. The number is 662-327-0399.
A drive to the farm
I just got back from a drive to the Wren community where I stopped by D&G Farm. I had heard on a local radio station that they had remarkably sweet, large strawberries last week, and I wanted to check it out for myself.
Ginger and Don Autry and Don Sr. have had a nice run with strawberries this spring. Unfortunately for strawberry lovers, the season is too short. Get some while they”re still available.
Not only do the Autrys grow strawberries, but they have (or will have) tomatoes, cucumbers and squash; peas, beans, corn and peppers; garlic, okra and eggplant; cantaloupe, watermelon, potatoes, onions and cabbage.
It took me a while to find their farm, but you won”t have to make the trip; they plan to come to the Hitching Lot Farmers” Market.
“The demand for strawberries this spring was phenomenal,” said Ginger Autry. “We sold quite a quantity to a few local restaurants. This was our third strawberry season and it gets bigger each year.”
If you want to drop by the farm on your way to Tupelo, cross over the Highway 78 and 45 intersection and take the second county road to the left, marked Prospect Road. It”s about a mile ahead, on the left. Or let them bring it to you here in Columbus.
Their telephone number is 662-401-1782.
John Dorroh is a semi-retired high school science teacher, who writes a business column for The Dispatch.
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