Growing a Greener World

A Greener World is made possible in part by... - [Woman] the Subaru Crosstrek designed with adventure in mind, built in a zero landfill plant.

So you can roam the earth with a lighter footprint.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Growing A Greener World.

- [Announcer] And the following: Rain Bird.

Corona Tools.

And Milorganite.

(soft music) - I'm Joe Lamp'l.

When I created Growing A Greener World, I had one goal, to tell stories of everyday people, innovators, entrepreneurs, forward-thinking leaders who are all in ways, both big and small, dedicated to organic gardening and farming, lightening our footprint, conserving vital resources, protecting natural habitats, making a tangible difference for us all.

They're real.

They're passionate.

They're all around us.

They're the game changers who are literally growing a greener world and inspiring the rest of us to do the same.

Growing A Greener World, it's more than a movement.

It's our mission.

Moving into a new house, it's one of those milestone moments.

And for many, the ultimate up-cycling project.

Taking something that's old and tired and breathing new life into it by making a few changes and putting your personal stamp on it.

But the process, it can take a really long time, and sometimes feel like it's never-ending.

Like here at the garden farm, I'm just now getting around to one of those remodel projects I've had on my list since day one.

So now I can finally unpack those last few boxes.

But you know, beyond the unpacking and the furniture moving and the new coat of paint, maybe the remodel job, many of us never take it beyond these four walls.

But your house is just the interior.

But the home you live in should include the landscape too.

And sometimes making a change out there can repurpose your entire life.

Today we'll introduce you to a man whose yard inspired an entire new way of living for himself, his family, and countless other families too.

And who knows?

Maybe it will inspire you also.

(soft music) - So it wasn't until I owned my first home, which is this home, that I really realized that I had anything to do with the ground, with plants, with dirt, with doing anything handy.

But I was literally, when I was walking through this yard, when it was still kind of a mess that I kind of remembered back to when I was a kid and I was out in the yard with my mom and my dad and my grandparents were all huge gardeners.

And that's when I kind of discovered that this is kind of something that I'm, you know, a part of, that it's me.

- [Joe] But before Doug Scott's revelation, it started with him and his fiance, Brittany, and a 40-year-old house no one wanted.

- Doug and I were engaged and looking for a house to buy, and we had looked around and we put flyers in people's mailboxes of houses we liked, but one day I was on a walk with a friend and we were in this neighborhood.

I'd never been in this neighborhood before, and there was this house for sale, and it was overgrown, but it had a nice big yard and everything we looked at seemed to have been a smaller yard, and it seemed like it had a lot of space of a house.

So it looked like it had a lot of potential.

- Potential is a key word, because at that point, you really couldn't see the house from the street.

And since we were, like she said, we were engaged, we were planning a wedding, I just knew that we couldn't take on this project and survive our engagement and eventually get married if we were trying to also, you know, tackle this house.

So we passed on it.

But not surprisingly, because it was such an overgrown mess, it was still for sale when we were married for about three or four months and came back and Brittany trusted me enough and trusted the vision that I had, and we put an offer on it and made it our first home.

- [Joe] As he tried to tame years of overgrowth in the yard, Doug found something he didn't expect.

- As I started to uncover, you know, getting rid of some of these nasty shrubs and opening up the trees to let sunshine in, that I started seeing some of these other plants that at one time had been loved and taken care of.

And I had to move them around a bit to get them now in the right place and the right sun, but that's really when I discovered that, you know, being outside, taking care of plants and making a space outside a cool place to be was really kind of who I was made to be, you know, what I was created to do, I guess.

- [Joe] But as is the case for so many, Doug's newfound passion took a bit of a backseat to his real life.

His job in corporate America limited the time he could devote to transform the outdoor spaces surrounding their home.

- Fast-forward about eight years, you know, I was out in the garden all the time whenever I wanted to be, because it was fun.

We had a major renovation to our home.

We had a couple of kids and, you know, and gardening had become more than just kind of this passing thing.

Yes, it was where I would find myself when everything was good in the world.

I'd want to find myself out there in the yard, building something, moving plants around, but it was also basically my medication when things weren't right with the world.

I would want to be out there and being outside in the garden is where I wanted to be.

So whenever we went on vacation, or whenever we went on trips, I mean, I would pack my bag with gardening magazines, with sketchbooks, because that is just, it's just who I was.

That's who I had become is a guy who dreamed about cool spaces outside.

So we'd made some really cool spaces outside that we really loved, but the house and our yard really hadn't taken on our personality as much.

Didn't really have kind of the Scott stamp on it.

And it was really Brittany who, when she signed my oldest and me up for a family vegetable gardening workshop at the botanical gardens, that really, I think our personality really started to kind of show through here.

So again, my oldest and I went to this vegetable garden workshop and I thought I'd come home with a proverbial lima bean in a cup, and we could put it in a pot and be done with it, but that wasn't the case.

We came home with 70, you know, little seedlings in Dixie cups, and I had to figure out what am I gonna do in a shady yard with 70 vegetable seedlings.

So I rented a sledgehammer and that lasted for about 10 bloody knuckles, and then I had a friend who has a Bobcat, and he came over here and took away part of my driveway where I actually had sun, and that's where really kind of the Scott part of our yard started to take life, right?

We had our vegetable garden, which was unlike any other vegetable garden that we'd seen, but it had the Scott family stamp on it.

And it had our story.

It had the story of my daughter and me going to this vegetable garden, family vegetable garden workshop.

And, you know, I have pictures of them helping me build these raised beds and, you know, picking their first tomato that they shoved in their mouth.

And, you know, not knowing how long you should leave a zucchini on there, and by the time we got it, it was bigger than they were, right?

And so it was just awesome, but that was really where everything really started to take off from there.

- [Joe] And take off it did.

Now 15 years after moving in, Doug has re-imagined almost every square foot of the three quarters of an acre property, and every bit of it is custom designed for his family and their lifestyle.

It's a remarkable blend of functional spaces and whimsical touches, a showcase of blooms and plant textures, places for gathering together and spots to get away from it all.

- One of the areas in our backyard that really showed the biggest transformation was right outside of our back basement door.

At the time when we first bought the house, the AC unit was literally right outside that back door, and it was really one of the last places that you'd want to hang out, because every 15 minutes, (imitates AC buzzing) you know, it'd make this huge, horrible sound.

So I moved it around the corner so it wasn't as loud right there, and I built a deck with a pergola and put clematis armandii up there, which now kind of gives you this kind of romantic kind of cascading feel.

So we also added this hanging day bed, which is the perfect place to hang out, to take a nap, to read a book.

I mean, it literally is what once was the last place we'd want to be in our backyard is now probably the place that we fight over because it really is just a really cool, beautiful spot to spend time in.

We at one time had the swing set right smack dab in the middle of the yard, because that's where we wanted to see our girls play right outside our kitchen window.

But once they got older and were not playing there all the time, we didn't want to be looking at this big monstrosity of a playset, so we moved it away.

So we decided, well, what do we want to put there?

So that's where we put our fire pit.

That's an awesome place for us to hang out as a family and hang out with friends.

So every year my wife tries to make a decision that moves us forward in living a healthier life.

She knows that if we try to do it all at once, that it would not be sustainable at all.

So the first step was our vegetable garden and it was awesome.

Our girls started to understand where food came from.

They're getting a little bit of dirt under their fingernails.

And so the next year was why don't we try to get eggs?

Why don't we get chickens?

But we had no idea where to put them.

I didn't want to put them right outside of our back door.

So we had this side yard that literally was a wasteland.

There was a dying tree.

So we decided that's where we're gonna put our chickens, and we literally transformed what was this forgotten area into what is what we now affectionately call the Scott Family Farm.

We have a chicken coop, a bunny hutch and chicken run and potting bench with a rain barrel and shed for everything that we need.

I mean, it really is, you know, this little farm that you would never expect to see out in the suburbs of Atlanta, and it's just in our side yard.

My girls have been talking about wanting to have a playhouse, and I knew where I wanted to put it generally, but it was pretty close to the chicken coop area.

So I was like, well, I need to hide this somehow, so one of the ways I thought of hiding it was to put it up underneath the umbrella of a Magnolia tree and make it a tree house.

And I mean, it came out really cool.

I made it big enough to where not only would they enjoy it, but big enough to where the four of us could get up there and camp out.

And it is often where we have friends over with kids, it's one of the first places they beeline to.

- Whenever I would come home from school upset or sad, I would climb a tree that we have and just sit there and think about the day, and it would just always make me feel better.

Just hearing all the sounds and hearing the birds chirping and the wind.

- The best time I've ever had back here in the yard is probably when we got to spend the night in the tree house, 'cause we had dinner up there and we ate and then we slept up there, all four of us together.

- I'd say it's a pretty safe bet most of us would like to get more use from our backyards and spend more time outside with our families.

That is until that pesky mosquito shows up and those other nuisance bugs and it drives us right back inside.

Now, yes, there are sprays and other treatments that we could put on our skin and even to our backyards, but they're usually not very environmentally friendly.

Well, here's a really cool way to take back your backyard with some serious style and keep it green at the same time.

This project is a homemade mosquito and bug repellent tiki torch made with wine bottles.

It's a great project for the whole family and only takes a few minutes to make.

The star of the show, of course, is the wine bottle, and no doubt you have access to plenty of these one way or another.

You can find all the parts you need to make these torches at a home improvement store, and of course, online.

They include a nylon wick, a reducing connector that fits into the top of the bottle, thread sealant tape, also known as plumbers tape, small gravel, such as pea gravel or aquarium gravel to partially fill the wine bottle, and of course, the citronella oil.

And have a funnel on hand for adding the gravel and certainly the oil.

That's it.

To start the project, the first step is optional but recommended, and that's to prep the wine bottle.

If you want to leave the labels on, then at least rinse the bottle.

But for a cleaner look, soak them in the sink with some warm, soapy water for about an hour.

With minimal effort, the label should come off rather easily.

It might require a soft brush though, to get the remaining residue off.

But overall, this part is surprisingly easy.

Next, add the gravel.

You have lots of options here.

If you want the fastest way to get through this part of the process, then use smaller stones, like the kind you buy at the pet store that goes in the bottom of an aquarium.

The gravel passes easily through the funnel without getting clogged.

I found small bags of these stones at a dollar type store for a buck a bag, and each bag is the perfect amount of gravel per bottle.

Larger stones, on the other hand, like pea gravel, they look great in the bottle, but won't go through a funnel nearly as easily and tend to clog.

I found the best way to add these to the bottle is by hand.

While it's not hard, it just takes longer.

Now it's time to prepare the connector that holds the wick for a snug fit.

A common option for this is called a reducing connector that you can find wherever plumbing supplies are sold.

You'll need a 3/4 to 1/2 inch male adapter.

Each cost less than $2.

To create the snug fit when you insert the reducing connector into the bottle, have some thread sealant tape on hand, also known as plumbers tape.

Use it to wrap around the end of the adapter that goes into the bottle.

Simply wrap that portion of the connector enough times to provide a good seal and a snug fit.

Now fill each wine bottle with the citronella oil.

That's your fuel for the torches which produces that scent which repels those mosquitoes and other flying pests.

The final step is to insert the connector into the bottle and then slip the wick down through the connector so just a small amount is showing on the top end.

Now you're ready to light your torches for a pest-free outing in style.

Beyond the basics, if you're concerned about the bottle being knocked over and want to add a measure of safety, you can create various ways to provide added stability for that.

And you can buy metal caps that attach to the bottle's neck for snuffing out the flame whenever you're through.

The sky's the limit on what you can do.

If you'd like the step-by-step instructions for making these wine bottle tiki torches, we'll have a link to Doug and Brit's blog post on this, as well as a lot more information about other creative projects you can do to make the most of your outdoor living space on our website at growingagreenerworld.com Over the years, since moving in and starting a family, Doug's personal landscape projects had been growing, but something else was growing as well, and Brittany saw it too.

- I'll never forget the day.

I called him because he had created a space where I could spend time with the girls outside, and I stood in my window, I saw one swinging and one playing, and I said, thank you.

Thank you for creating this space that we can live in outside, that we can enjoy and have fun in and have, the girls and I can laugh in during the day, while you're at work, and I think that's when he started really redeeming the space so that we could use it purposefully to bring life to our family, to entertain and bring others into that, and I think that's the turn where he really redeemed this ground at our house.

- Redeeming your ground.

It's a key phrase in Doug's story, but it means more than just making the most of your landscape.

The word means to buy back, to regain possession or to compensate for the faults of something, and that's exactly what Doug's done in his family's once neglected landscape.

- So we'd been effectively redeeming our ground all around our house with all these things that said Scott, and a number of friends started to take notice and wanted me to do the same thing.

It was around the same time that I was realizing that yeah, I had a good job and I was making some good money doing it, and it provided comfort for my family, but man, it just didn't, it didn't do it for me.

And at the same time, we have these two young girls who are watching everything that we do and we want them to do what they're created to do and what they're, you know, - Passionate about.

- Passionate about.

And I certainly wasn't showing them in any way, shape or form what that looked like.

So I had a choice to make.

Stay in a great job in terms of making money, but not in terms of like bringing me life and therefore not bringing my family life, or jump off and take a leap of faith to do what I feel like I'm gifted and called to do to start Redeem Your Ground.

- So when Doug approached me about this idea he had about taking what his passion was possibly even leaving his job in the corporate world to pursue this 100%, I was receptive.

I knew I had been prepared for a change in our family and knew something was coming.

I had been prepared for a big change and I really felt like this was it, like this was what our next step was.

- And I wanted it to be different, though.

I mean, I was going into landscape design differently than most other people.

And my passions I think were very different.

My passions were really about the family and their experiences outside.

And what I found with other landscape design and architecture firms was they really focused on the what.

They focused on the plants and they focused on the fire pits and they focused on the water features.

But what people really wanted them to do is help them have an experience outside, and yes, have all those things, but those were all just things that would really kind of create the canvas on which they would have these amazing experiences.

I like to say I like to focus on the why first and the what then is actually, kind of comes fairly easily once you figure out what that why is, because the way that one family would want to redeem their ground, bring life to their family is different than what another family would want to do.

- [Joe] Redeem Your Ground is now a full blown exterior design studio, but it also encompasses a website that Doug and Brittany both contribute to with tons of ideas for improving your family, home and garden.

Whether it's Doug actually designing a landscape or Brittany's blog ideas on ways to get out and enjoy that yard more fully, the two have no shortage of ideas on how the average gardener can start redeeming their ground with just a little bit of effort.

- One of the things that works well to tie spaces together both functionally and visually is to add meandering paths.

Again, it gets you from point A to point B, but it also, when you're looking out your window, it allows you to kind of look to a specific spot.

So again, meandering paths is a really cool thing to do.

So one of the other ways in which you can make a space more harmonious is to use similar or the same plant material throughout your space.

So you will find in my yard GG gerbing azaleas in the foreground and the background and really throughout, and again, it just ties everything together, and then in front of that, you can layer in hostas and autumn ferns and lenten roses, and we have a ton of different hydrangeas.

I use mostly white.

So again, I repeat those, that plant material throughout so that you feel like you're in one space, although you're walking through multiple spaces.

- I just feel so grateful that I had a husband who had the vision to create this space so that we could have a place to gather as a family, to come and connect at home, that we could simplify and be here and give this gift to our kids.

- But there are a lot of other people that I think needed to be encouraged to get outside.

And again, the whole hope in that is to help people get outside, to have great experiences with friends and family.

Again, as we've done with our house, to make our exterior spaces as much a part of our home as our interior spaces are.

- This has been a really great opportunity for Doug and I to use our different gifts and our different skill sets to work together, to pursue something that we both believe in, and together we're able to help other people create exactly what we have been able to find right here in our backyard and create spaces where they can find life, just like we did.

- Leaving the safety zone of a steady paycheck can be a frightening proposition, especially for an endeavor as unpredictable and sometimes as fickle as gardening.

I know, because that's exactly what I did many years ago, and I have to say that mother nature is not your most accommodating coworker.

But at the end of the day, there's no job more rewarding.

I hope the Doug's story has inspired you to get outside and look for new opportunities to use those outdoor spaces and maybe even to start to redeem your own ground.

Thanks for watching us, everybody.

I'm Joe Lamp'l and we'll see you back here next time for more Growing A Greener World.

- [Announcer] Growing A Greener World is made possible in part by... - [Woman] The Subaru Crosstrek.

Designed with adventure in mind, built in a zero landfill plant.

So you can roam the earth with a lighter footprint.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Growing A Greener World.

- [Announcer] And the following: Rain Bird, Corona Tools, And Milorganite.

(soft music) - [Announcer] Continue the garden learning from Growing A Greener World.

Joe Lamp'l's online gardening academy offers classes designed to teach gardeners of all levels from the fundamentals to master skills.

You can take each class on your own schedule from anywhere plus opportunities to ask Joe questions about your specific garden in real time.

Courses are available online.

To enroll, go to growingagreenerworld.com/learn.

(beeping) (upbeat music)