Landscaping

SOUTH MOUNTAIN, Pa. -- For Kevin Braun, "giving it the old college try" meant an admirable climb up a tree to remove its dead limbs. The 19-year-old joined forestry classmates from Penn State Mont Alto to do landscaping Wednesday at the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" house being built this week on Loop Road. They pruned and removed overgrowth for several hours, then laid sod and planted pansies and shrubs in fresh mulch. "How many times in a person's life can you say you were a part of something like this?"

A series of workshops to help homeowners learn to design their own landscapes will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from Feb. 13 through April 2. The workshops are taught by Franklin County Master Gardeners. They will all be held at the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office in the basement meeting rooms at 181 Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg, Pa. The cost is $40 for the series. Stop by the extension office to register or call 717-263-9226 to reserve your spot in the workshops.

Sometimes, becoming a starting pitcher is like being a real estate developer. In both cases, the goal is to take something raw and build it into something durable and functional. Matt Durkin is working on laying the foundation for a major league career with the Hagerstown Suns. But before Durkin can control the 60 feet, 6 inches of land between the pitching rubber and the plate, he has to figure out a way to master the nine inches between his left and right ears. Durkin is blessed with the physical tools, so much so he was drafted second by the New York Mets in the 2004 amateur draft.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Surveyors spent part of this week marking the locations of new gas tanks for the Turkey Hill Minit Market coming to the intersection of CV Avenue and Pa. 16. The Laundry Station at the intersection since the 1960s soon will be demolished to make way for the tanks. A Turkey Hill spokeswoman previously told The Herald-Mail that 12 fueling stations are planned for the convenience store, which today is the shell of a building immediately behind the coin-operated laundry service.

Get rid of the deadwood Not all gardening tasks are glamorous. In fact, most of them aren't. They range from the mundane, such as weeding and spreading mulch, to the downright laborious, such as digging trenches and hauling stone. One of the least glamorous of all gardening chores is dealing with deadwood. If you have a lot of trees and shrubs in your yard, chances are you often have deadwood. That's because the branches of trees, even the healthiest ones, occasionally die, sometimes for no apparent reason.

andrear@herald-mail.com BOONSBORO - A public meeting to discuss the installation of a communications tower atop South Mountain drew about 70 people to Greenbrier State Park in Boonsboro on Tuesday night. About 13 police, emergency services workers and transportation officials from Frederick, Md., to Cumberland, Md., spoke in favor of the state Department of Budget and Management's proposal to install at least one new tower on Lamb's Knoll - the mountain's highest point - to improve public safety transmissions in Western Maryland.

The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources has released the harvest totals for the various deer seasons - bow, muzzleloader, bucks and antlerless. Another relatively new category is the youth (Class Q) season. At first glance the total is quite impressive - 204,650 deer. But a closer examination of the numbers leads to one very obvious conclusion: the number of deer in the state has been reduced considerably over the past few years. For example, in 2002, the combined harvest total was 265,356 deer.

Artist finds Western Md. has inspiring landscapes By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI / Staff Writer photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer Chemical-engineer-turned-landscape-artist Bill Schmidt relies on his technical and emotional responses to a scene when deciding what to paint. continued "Sometimes a scene is just so terrific - usually a mixture of beauty or drama and light effects - that it demands to be painted and I do it immediately," said Schmidt.

Name of business: Greenway Landscape Designs Owner: Joyce Angleberger Address: P.O. Box 873, Funkstown Opening date: April Services: Residential landscape design and indoor garden room design and installation; DIY consulting with a recommended plant list and care instructions. Plant disease diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Market area: Washington County What motivated you to start your business? "I love colorful, no-mow lawns, and want to promote organic gardening methods along with healthier wildlife by designing in their natural food, cover and nesting sites.

Editor's note: The If You Go box has been updated on Wednesday, April 4   Dreams really do come true. The Texas Tenors are living proof. Marcus Collins, JC Fisher and John Hagen will take The Maryland Theatre stage with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra Saturday, April 7. Their story is a modern-day fairy tale. The handsome protagonists - all classically trained vocalists - are friends whose paths had crossed but who never had thought about putting their voices together, Collins said in a recent phone interview.