On a warm and sunny Saturday morning, four area garden clubs planted approximately 30 shrubs around each of the four homes built by Habitat for Humanity in Moore County during the 2006 Builders' Blitz.

The Blitz was a national event that took place between June 2 and June 10, resulting in over 500 homes built nationally. Members of Long Leaf Garden Club, along with those of the Loblolly, Pinehurst, and Olmsted Garden Clubs, installed the landscaping for each of the four homes -- digging holes for the plants, adding mulch to the beds around each home to enrich the soil, and covering the yards with pinestraw.

Habitat for Humanity is a national project of National Garden Clubs Inc., of which the Longleaf Club is a member. Joyce Johnson of Longleaf Club, along with club president Mary Kilkka, and Judie Wiggins, the Habitat volunteer coordinator, initiated the idea of utilizing the skills and enthusiasm of the women of local garden clubs to lend a hand with landscaping the four new homes.

Shrubs and materials were purchased by Habitat at special discounts from Aurora Hills Garden Center. Food and drinks for all of the workers on hand were donated by Biscuitville, FirstHealthMoore Regional Health, a local sponsor of Habitat, Aberdeen Coca-Cola, and Aberdeen Produce.

The families who own the new homes attended a workshop designed to help them maintain the shrubs in the warm North Carolina summers. Plans are in the works to meet again with the homeowners to talk about plant care during the winter months, and to discuss further possibilities for adding plants and flowers indigenous to North Carolina.

"The landscaping was hard work on a hot day, but all the participants enjoyed the camaraderie and left with a feeling of satisfaction at having contributed to the completion of the four homes," says a spokesman. "Plants and shrubs add beauty to the homes' exteriors, making them feel truly finished and part of the neighborhood."