I am impressed with the pre-digging and refilling! Remind me closer to time if you think of it - remember, i have CRS! I think that is a weekend we will have kids - so i doubt we could do it...but man i wish i could!

Thankyou so much for posting this early on....I have missed this dig for the past few years....Mainly because I don't find out about it soon enough and have to work.

This way I have plenty of time to put in a request off day!

My daughter went last year and came back with some awesome plants. So I know I"m looking forward to this!

Hi, I'm in Florida but possibility I might be moving back home to AL (after 25 yrs here). I am intrigued with the idea of getting plants at a landfill. Could you explain to me about this? Does someone grow the plants from cuttings thrown away there? Please explain. Thanks!

If you had an email contact on your GW page I would send this directly to you but it is a good opportunity to explain this to everyone. Birmingham has a landfill on the northside of the city. They are forever expanding it. The Birmingham Beautiful Bd hosts a plant dig each February to rescue plants before they are bulldozed. They idea is to help improve the landscaping of the homes in the city for free. The terrain can be pretty rugged. It is on a small mountain and ther are several valleys and hills, blackberry vines and smilax sawbriars. Much of it is along an Alabama Power right-of-way which is sometimes bush-hogged. The R-O-W as bush hogged last year so it will probably be grown up this year. I've been going for more than 15 years.

So do you just show up with shovel in hand? I have not heard of this event before, but would love to participate.
Is there any cost involved or a place to register once you get there? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm intrigued.

Yes, just show up and bring a shovel. You will have to sign a release from liability (City of Bham) and you are on your way. No entry cost, just the price of your gasoline there and back. I urge you to bring cold drinks for afterwards, wear heavy clothing and long sleeves to protect you from briars, and dress appropriately depending on weather. For anyone who is a novice gardener, I suggest you bring a sharpened, round-pointed shovel for digging. I've seen people out ther with straigt-flat pointed shovel which should be used for scooping loose gravel or sand but not suitable for digging and cutting roots. You wil be better off with a shovel with a long handle so you can get more leverage when you rear-back on it to uproot plants.

Michelle, my daughter, and I went with Terry last year. There were Oak Leaf hydrangeas all over the place. Of course we brought a lot home and are now planted in Michelle's yard.
We had a great time, especially looking at Terry's greenhouse and plants. We didn't dig there though!! :O)
We also had a wonderful lunch at Terry's. It was so nice to get to meet Sylvia.
You all have a great time. Listen to Terry about the tools and clothing, especially if you plan on going where ever you need to to get what you want.
Lynn

bumping this up.

Thanks for posting this. I'm brand-new to this site and it looks like I found out about the dig just in time! Hopefully I'll be in town to take advantage of it.
Tom

Tom you will love this site, alot of helpful and super nice people. I noticed on your page you said you have alot of sun check out the daylilies forum, they love sun.
Jill

I am planning on going with two of my co-workers. This will be my first time at such a dig. I hope to see some familiar faces there!

Susan.

I went Saturday. The weather was quite pleasant. I dug a bunch of oakleaf hydrangeas. I planted a few along the road in front of the house and put a few in a trench in the back for later use. Susan, I didn't see you there. Sorry I missed you. You know it is amazing how many people have no idea what they are seeing and overlooking. There was/is a clump of hydrangeas in full view near the road. I pointed them out to some folks last year. They were still there this year. I filled my poke full of hydrangeas and then went back to the ones near the road and dug 4 or 5 of them. Next year, since these are so accessible, I'm going after them first.

Terry, I was there and dug a lot of plants. I didn't see you or Susan either. Lots of people there.

Tony

I found out about this dig just days before it occurred. I gathered up my sister & Bro-in-law and we went in search of plants. We came away with quite a few hydrangas and a tree or two. I'm gonna have to learn to identify more plants in winter to be ready for next year. Does anyone know of a good resource?

-liz

Has the plant dig at the Turkey Creek landfill in Pinson already happened?

Carol

Tufaleaf, you don't have an email link on your GW page so I am replying here. Turkey Creek is the Jefferson County landfill. That landill is no longer operated by the county but is leased to a private company out of New York (if memory serves me correctly). They have not had a plant dig there since taking over about 2 years ago. You can thank former county commission president Larry Langford for this. Langford has never seen a dollar he didn't lust after or spend.