nitarian purpose, she added.
The Country Club Residence Garden is designed to demonstrate how to include edible plants in a landscape while maintaining the yard’s aesthetics, Hentges said. This garden includes a hobby greenhouse and a potager garden, she added.
Many people think they must sacrifice the appearance of their gardens to grow food, but this is not the case, she said. This garden is a good example for people who live in a neighborhood where they have to maintain a certain appearance, she added.
“The idea is to give people options and to make them aware of different types of systems and technologies they can employ in a backyard setting to grow food or flowers,” said Steve Upson, horticulture consultant who assisted with developing the project. “The emphasis is for food security.”
People think food deserts are either an urban or a rural problem, but they are everywhere, Hentges said. Having a backyard garden gives people more control over their food, she added.
Cost may prevent people from starting a garden, Upson said. Many think gardening is too expensive for them; however, by exposing them to different systems they can purchase or build, they can find the best solutions for their situations, he added.
People can create a cost-effective garden if they do not mind getting their hands dirty and putting a little “sweat equity” into the project, he added.
Much of the backyard garden construction was featured on "Oklahoma Gardening," a TV show produced by the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources that airs weekly on Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Hentges said.
“Everything in the garden is educational whether you notice it or not,” said Bailey Lockhart, project coordinator for Oklahoma Gardening. “Around the garden are QR codes in front of the displays. If you scan them, they will take you to a video showing you how to build that concept.”
The gardens have been planned all the way down to the walkways, Lockhart said. One walkway connects the three gardens, and the walkway’s pavers change for each garden to show visitors different patterns and styles they can use in their own gardens.
The backyard gardens are located within The Botanic Garden at OSU, which is open year-round. Visitors are encouraged to walk around the backyard gardens, scan the QR codes, and learn how they can bring gardening to their own backyards, Lockhart said.
“We want to show people that gardening does not need to be expensive,” said Shelley Mitchell, associate extension specialist in horticulture and landscape architecture. “Anyone can do it.”
On March 18, 2022, the first Backyard Gardening 101 event was hosted at the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center. Registration was free and 39 people attended.
The event was advertised for beginning gardeners and gardeners in an urban setting, said Bailey Lockhart, project coordinator for "Oklahoma Gardening."
“I came for some tips from experts, and I sure got them,” said Dana Bessinger, attendee. “They gave me a lot of great ideas and things to do and how to take care of problems that might come up.”
Story By: Jill Scott | Cowboy Journal