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• Kimberly Counts - Clemson Extension Water Resources Agent - Carolina Clear

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Kimberly Counts - Clemson Extension Water Resources Agent - Carolina Clear

Personal Profile: Kimberly Counts

Personal hobbies: Gardening (of course), Anything paddle (canoe, kayak, surf, and stand up paddle board), Running, Bike, Soccer, Photography, Birding and Botanizing, and leisurely newspaper reading

First Memories of the Garden: Picking up pine cones, pre-Hugo. One of my most vivid memories of my childhood on James Island included my brother and I picking up the countless pinecones in our parents yard.  After the Hurricane, this was no longer necessary as we lost nearly 20 pine trees in our 1 acre yard.

Favorite Plants: Anything maritime, from Drawf Palmetto’s to Sweetgrass

Plants I Like to Grow: South Carolina Native Plants.

My Least Favorite Thing to Do in the Garden: Fighting encroachment of crabgrass on landscaped beds

Things that Interest Me in Horticulture/Agriculture: On the residential scale, I am very interested in utilizing native plant species to support ecological diversity in the home landscape. On a community scale, I am interested in community gardens and efforts to support local farmers.

Biggest Mistakes in My Garden:  Over planting! That is, planting for today as opposed to tomorrow.  I am beginning to compensate for this and learn from my past mistakes! Particularly when it comes to rain garden design. As rain gardens collect runoff from rooftops they often times receive excess nutrients and in turn grow in a rich environment, causing the rain garden to grow up tall and to grow up fast!

People who inspire me to Garden or Have Inspired Me: My family has and continues to inspire me. My grandfather was a farmer in Orangeburg County. Trips to the family farm serve as a reminder to our connection to the land. I honor my grandfather each time I pick a muscadine grape or get itchy hands in my okra patch.  Also, my parents instilled an innate connection to nature in me, much of which was formed while spending time outside as a child.  This appreciation of nature manifests itself in the garden for me, much as it has for them. The book I recommend most is Bringing Nature Home by Dr. Douglas Tallamy!

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