Submitted by ADeFrancesco on

How Does Your DAR Garden Grow?

Our back yard has a massive live oak tree in the center.  Although we love watching the birds and squirrels play on it, the shade of the tree kept grass from growing.  A few years ago we turned the entire back yard into a garden with a path along the azaleas, impatiens, hydrangeas and caladiums.  

It was time to trim the Jasmine vines which grow on a fence adjacent to our driveway.  I started very early in the morning, knowing the job wouldn’t take long, as the key to gardening in Houston is to do it before the heat forces us inside.

My trusty 10 year old hand pruners struggled to snip the vines and finally broke in two with only a portion of the project completed.  No problem – I grabbed my Dad’s ancient pruning shears only to learn they were last sharpened about 30 years ago and were no longer effective.  As a last resort, I plugged in the old electric pruners which an uncle purchased at least 40 years ago.  They still worked, although often frequently lopping off far more than I intended.  In fact, they aggressively cut everything within reach, including the fishing line which was holding the vines to the fence.  So I spent even more time trying to salvage what I could and retie the vines to the support on the fence.  All the while the south Texas heat was increasing and the mosquitoes were feasting!

It occurred to me that had I used the proper tools, the job would have been finished sooner with much better results.

I’ll bet you can guess where I’m going with this.  How does your DAR garden grow?  What tools does your chapter use to attract and retain members? Is your chapter welcoming and encouraging?  Does every member feel included and valued even if they are unable to attend meetings?

 If your growth is stagnant and finding chapter leaders is an issue, perhaps your tools need to be updated.  Please take advantage of the many tools available in the DAR toolbox on the Chapter Development website.

http://members.dar.org/committees/chaptDev-Rev/index.htm

The Membership Committee also has excellent resources for your use. 

http://members.dar.org/committees/membership/index.htm

Please share with us how your chapter has grown and flourished so we can include more success stories on our website.