A wide variety of flowers and trees flourish at Three Creeks Farm.  There are numerous varieties of Antique Climbing Roses and wild roses. The blooms of forsythia, daffodils, azaleas, rhododendrons, crape myrtles, blackberries and blueberries herald the coming of spring.  Pear, apple, cherry, plum, and peach fruit trees grow along the fences and creeks.   Pink and white dogwoods, redbuds, and Japanese Cherry trees add to the riot of color . American Elms, cloned from Dutch Elm Disease resistant stock thrive in the pastures. In the fall, the ridges to the Northwest are resplendent with fall colors.

Three Creeks Farm is managed as an environmentally sensitive ecosystem.  Since the pastures are bounded on three sides by creeks, a sixteen foot buffer zone is provided between the perimeter pasture fences and the creek banks.  The horses do not have access to the creeks.  Natural wild vegetation is encouraged on the creek banks to prevent erosion and as a habitat for birds and animals. The popularity of Hummingbird feeders and Bluebird boxes are indicative of the health of the ecosystem.  The grass is mix of fescue, bermuda, broeme, miscellaneous seasonal grasses, and clover. The pasture is fenced and cross fenced into 5 separate pastures and the horses are rotated to a new pasture weekly.  As a pasture is vacated, the manure in that pasture is picked up and spread on the pasture by a "Newer Spreader", which grinds it into small pieces.  This prevents "roughs" and reduces the parasite population. When the horses are returned to the pasture 5 weeks later, no sign of the manure remains. When the manure is being picked up, any noxious weeds are flagged and spot sprayed with GRAZON. No large scale spraying is required to control weeds.  Electrical tape temporary fencing is use to keep the horses out of bare spots that appear until they can be reseeded and recover.  Pastures are finish mowed every 7-10 days at 5 inches. Each pasture has an underground freeze proof faucet and a GFCI protected power connection for a water tank heater. Shade trees in the pastures are protected by board fencing. 

The barn/shop is 48ft x 48ft with a 24ft x 24ft loft. It is oriented North/South on the long axis to provide good air flow and cooling in the summer.  The stalls are on the South side, providing a windbreak and afternoon sunshine in the winter. The structure is supported by 4 x 6 treated posts embedded in 4 inches of concrete reinforced by rebar. The sides and roof are tin with a tar paper underlayment to prevent condensation.  There are turbines on the roof to ventilate the hay loft. Gutters drain into 4" PVC pipe,  routing water runoff from the barn into the nearby creek. Power is 100 Amp service and all wiring is armored 3-wire 12 gauge, earth grounded through conduit. All outlets and power connections are GFCI protected and both sides of the barn have fire extinguishers. The ceilings are 11 ft high in the 24 x 48 ft wide center section and open to the loft above the outer 12 x 48 foot sections. The loft is accessed by stairs and a trap door and a hay door on the outside wall. One side of the building is a 24 x 48 foot workshop containing a heated 12 x 12 foot tack room with sink, hot water, refrigerator and microwave.  The floor on this side is smooth concrete.  The other side is a 12 x 48 foot barn containing three 12 x 12 stalls, an infrared heated indoor warm water wash rack and a 12 x 12 foot hallway.  There is also a 8ft x 8ft outdoor warm water wash rack. The floors in the barn hallway and stalls are rough texture finished concrete to prevent them from being slick.  Rubber mats are also used in the hallway and the stalls. Each stall has 4 ft. wide dutch doors on the inside hallway and on the outside wall, two hay racks, a feed bucket, and a ceiling fan.  There is water piped directly to each stall. The walls in the stalls and barn side are constructed of 1" thick rough pine lumber in varying widths cut and sawn from a wooded area here on the farm by a neighborhood logger. The boards are mounted vertically to discourage chewing and screwed or nailed to pressure treated framing. To control flies, the barn floor, walls, and the paddocks are sprayed weekly with a barn spray concentrate of Permethrin and fly strips are hung near the ceiling.

 The horse environment in the barn is designed to be "comfortable" from the perspective of the horse. As prey animals, horses do not like small confined areas. They prefer open areas and the opportunity to see and evaluate their surroundings for possible danger.  For that reason, the stalls are open to the loft above, providing almost a 20 foot ceiling with no hay stored above them, creating a dust free environment.. In addition, an exhaust van in the end of the barn above the stall area creates a rising air flow, removing any dust stirred up from the bedding and preventing any heat buildup above the stalls.. The 12 x 12 ft. stalls are large enough to allow the horses to move about and lie down comfortably if they wish. Since the ceiling is high and the stalls are open on both sides, there is a feeling of openness instead of confinement.  Each stall opens into a small bare gravel-sand corral and under normal circumstances, the outside doors are never closed.  The horses have the option to walk outside and "look around" at any time they feel threatened.  The corrals have power and heated water tanks. Each  corral is attached to a small grass paddock to provide short periods of turnout during extreme weather. In the summer, the inside dutch doors are left open by using chain stall guards to improve air flow from prevailing winds.  In the winter, the inside doors are closed to reduce drafts and provide a warmer environment in the stalls.

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The Legend of the Cherokee Rose.

No better symbol exists of the pain and suffering of the Trail Where They Cried ("Nunna daul Tsuny") than the Cherokee Rose. The mothers of the Cherokee grieved so much that the chiefs prayed for a sign to lift the mother's spirits and give them strength to care for their children. From that day forward, a beautiful new flower, a rose, grew wherever a mother's tear fell to the ground. The rose is white, for the mother's tears. It has a gold center, for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem that represent the seven Cherokee clans that made the journey. To this day, the Cherokee Rose prospers along the route of the "Trail of Tears". The Cherokee Rose is now the official flower of the State of Georgia.

                                                                                                       Wild Cherokee Roses at Three Creeks Farm