We’ve gone through a year of gardening tips and have decided to end the class for now! We may start a fresh class at another time.

Join us for our “Yardening” class on the first Wednesday of every month at 10:30am, starting October 6 – we’ll help you deal with all your yard and garden challenges! We’ll meet in the Fellowship Hall of Fayette Presbyterian Church. This class is free, but registration is required because of room capacity.

Yardening will be led by Frank and Patty Hiller. We call it Yardening because we’re not just talking about vegetable gardens but would cover all things in a yard: trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, lawns, soil, raised beds, gardening in small spaces, watering, fertilizing, disease control, pest control, weeds and a host of other monthly and season-specific topics of interest, like shortcuts, tips, money-saving steps, safety, tools, pots, hoses, composting, leaf disposal – the list goes on and on.

Frank and Patty Hiller 

Frank and Patty Hiller are originally from the Northeast.  Frank had a 26 year career in the US Army Medical Department and served as a hospital commander in Desert Storm, Army medical department plans and operations officer, and as a certified instructor at the AMEDD Center and School. After numerous overseas and US assignments Frank and Patty were transferred from Texas to Georgia in 1993 where Frank subsequently retired at Fort McPherson.

Frank and Patty are both retired Clayton County Master Gardener volunteers and Master Birder volunteers with the Atlanta Audubon Society.  They were both “certifiers” with the Audubon Society for the “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” program, and both are certified Master Naturalists and graduates of the Warnell School of Forestry Course presented in Douglas County.

They have also been honored to be associated with The Shepherd Spine Center in Atlanta.  Through the Audubon Society, they took on an ongoing volunteer opportunity at the Center’s Horticulture Expo several years ago and have facilitated numerous birding programs with Shepherd’s participants in the program.  They have presented programs to wheelchair patients on overnight outings (bird rolls) to Phinizy Swamp in Augusta, Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Monroe, Callaway Gardens, and Unicoi State Park in Georgia as part of the Shepherd Center’s Marcus Community Bridge Program.

They have given numerous bird talks to numerous garden clubs, church groups, and extension offices all over the south metro area and are delighted to speak on numerous nature, gardening, and birding topics as requested.

The Hillers reside in Jonesboro with a very spoiled rescue dog named “Vinny”, a 6-year old Cairn Terrier.