Writer: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Todd Williams, 972-204-7660, twilliam@ag.tamu.edu
Dr. Steve George, 972-952-9217, steve.george@ag.tamu.edu
ROCKWALL – Between the Rockwall County Courthouse and Rockwall County Library and their adjacent parking lots, an Earth-Kind research garden provides a welcome reminder of natural beauty amidst the concrete and asphalt.
“We have planted 23 different cultivars of dwarf roses along with a variety of annuals in four randomized, repeated patterns in this garden trial,” explained Todd Williams, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agriculture and natural resources agent, Rockwall County. “We knew we wanted to do an Earth-Kind trial in Rockwall County but didn’t know where we might try and establish one.”
Williams said the trial garden has four plots of annuals with each plot divided into two subplots. The annuals are evaluated objectively and subjectively. Dwarf roses are being evaluated for possible Earth-Kind designation.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service landscape specialist Dr. Steve George, left, with AgriLife Extension agent for Rockwall County Todd Williams. (Texas A&M AgriLife Communications photo by Paul Schattenberg)
“Earth-Kind is a registered trademark of AgriLife Extension,” explained Dr. Steve George, AgriLife Extension landscape specialist in Dallas, who has been collaborating with Williams on the trials. “Earth-Kind principles have been in use since the 1990s and emphasize environmental responsibility through water conservation and greatly reduced chemical inputs.”
George said they chose to test dwarf roses because they are more in scale with today’s smaller landscapes, and the small size of the plants makes them more appealing to children.
“We are evaluating the plants for floral impact, the length of their blooming season and natural growth habit without pruning,” he said. “We are also evaluating them for tolerance to certain soil types, heat, drought, diseases, insects and foliar discoloration, as well as overall landscape performance.”
George said they hope to identify several cultivars of dwarf roses that are beautiful and very low maintenance, that reduce irrigation by at least 70 percent, and eliminate the need for applications of commercial fertilizers and pesticides.
“We are looking for plants that would be wonderful additions to almost any sunny landscape bed, with attributes that would benefit homeowners,” he said.
The trial garden was established in January 2014 with the help of Rockwall County Master Gardeners, who also tend the gardens and provide educational outreach about the trials.
“We wouldn’t have the ability to do these trials without the hard work and dedication of the Rockwall County Master Gardeners,” Williams said.
Williams said two years of cool-season annual trials at the garden have been completed and another set of warm-season annual trials is underway. Dr. Derald Harp, a horticulture professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce, is collaborating on this trial.
Earth-Kind trials at Rockwall with county courthouse in the background. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Paul Schattenberg)
The roses bloom in cycles for 10-11 months of the year, providing an array of color for those passing between the courthouse and library.
Williams said the idea of placing the trial in this location came about from discussions with Rockwall County Commissioner Dennis Bailey.
“Mr. Bailey was the one who caught the vision and was instrumental in moving the process forward,” Williams said. “We discussed what we might plant in the garden and decided to go with roses as the ‘anchor’ plants for the trial garden and also test some annuals there.”
Bailey said he, Williams and George met to decide what to do with the space between the courthouse and library. He then took William’s and George’s recommendation to do an Earth-Kind trial to the court members, who were overwhelmingly in favor.
Williams also credits Rockwall County Commissioner David Magness for his staunch support of the gardens.
“These two gentleman have been longtime supporters of Extension programming and have been part of transforming Rockwall County from a farming county to one of the fastest growing areas of the nation,” Williams said.
Bailey said the gardens provide an opportunity for Rockwall County Master Gardeners to participate in the research trials, as well as an opportunity for children coming from the library to visit the garden and learn about horticulture.
“The garden is even a draw for many people coming to or from the library or courthouse,” he said. “We get a lot of positive comments from people saying they like how we’ve used this space. We also get a lot of inquiries about Earth-Kind gardening and what that means.”
Williams said the trials are focused on finding dwarf roses – those with a maximum height of 3 feet – with good insect, disease and drought tolerance. He said the trials have already yielded some interesting information about these roses.
“We also discovered that some of the rose varieties we initially thought would fare well didn’t and some of those we thought wouldn’t fare well did,” he said.
Williams said he was also interested in identifying what he called “more mannerly” roses.
“By that I mean roses that don’t have any random offshoots and are more uniform in their shape and structure,” he said. “These would be the types of roses that wouldn’t require too much maintenance in the home landscape.”
“We saw some spotting in these plants in June after we had an unseasonably heavy amount of rain,” he said. “But things dried out and the plants were ultimately able to handle it.”
Williams said he is pleased with the progress of the trials and hopes to do additional trials in the area.
Bailey too said he hopes to work with AgriLife Extension on further trials.
“We are looking into a larger trial at another location and are in the process of working out the details,” he said.
George said to his knowledge, Rockwall County is the only county in the nation to have two peer-reviewed Earth-Kind research studies being conducted simultaneously on its courthouse grounds.
“These trials are strong scientifically but also add great beauty to the courthouse landscape,” he said. “Scientifically and aesthetically, this cutting-edge research garden is truly an Earth-Kind masterpiece.”
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