Mock the secrecy surrounding this if you will, but when you’re living in Harvey Updyke’s world, I don’t think it’s crazy to keep the hedges’ location on the low down.
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Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
After the 1996 Olympics you could purchase official Georgia hedges that had been propagated from cuttings. I have one in my back yard. I wonder if that may happen again.
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Sorry. You must have been typing your comment as I was typing mine and clicked Post just before I did. I don’t think the first set was a big seller and they wound up with a lot left over. Maybe our Athletic Director will offer the leftovers in exchange for an additional donation and you will have to come to Athens to pick them up.
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It’s likely you will recall that when the hedges were replaced after the Olympics (Dooley referred to them as “Son of Hedges” since they sprouted from clippings from the original hedges.) there were twice as many plants as were needed to fill the stadium and they sold the leftovers at places around Athens (I got mine at Kroger.) I’m wondering how many fans have Georgia hedges growing in their yards.
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They were removed a third time on Oct. 7, 2000. ;-(
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The mental rolodex spun once, and yep.
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Let me be the first to lie and tell everyone that the new hedges were grown in a nursery in Tuscaloosa next to Dreamland BBQ.
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I love the hedges in the stadium where they can’t spread, but Chinese privet is an invasive species that you don’t need spreading into the wild where it will outcompete native plants.
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Even our hedges kick ass. GATA.
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That’s why “between the Kudzu” failed.
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The hedge is an English privet. I don’t know if that’s different, but it doesn’t spread.
I’m not a botanist, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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We’ll agree that you’re not a botanist. 🙂
There is no “English privet”. They all originate in Asia and Africa, and they are all invasive as hell. Because it grows so fast and spreads, it makes a good hedge if you work constantly to keep it under control. It is great at Sanford because they have full time groundskeepers. It is also pretty much indestructible on a permanent basis. Harvey Updike would have met his match if he tried. Which makes the secrecy a little funny to me, but tradition does matter. Do da link if you want.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privet
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I can attest. Privet grows on a hill on the side of my yard. I can’t keep up with it. Every few years, I get fed up, try to kill it, cut it back to 2 feet high, and the next year it’s back with a vengeance. I can only assume the UGA groundskeepers trim the hedges twice a day.
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They are good at catching tight ends.
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that is still just as funny. real time, however, I was worried he could be hurt cause fence. and sticky sticks.
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YES. Thank you. those things are the spawn of satan in the south. Aside from the hallowed grounds of Sanford stadium, they need to be eradicated.
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Goats. The only thing I have ever seen get rid of Privet is a herd of goats.
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A herd of goats will get rid of everything else also. Chicken wire, fire wood…
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They’ll eat everything but the grass. I have 20 or so on the farm. The highlight of my cowdog’s day is putting them up for the the evening, even though they are so whipped all she does is jump out of the truck and they haul ass to the barn. Woe be unto the tail end charlie, tho.
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Remember when they let people take pieces of the hedges before the Olympics and they were gone before the half?
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This story is a great example of what I love(d?) about college football. The dumb rituals that you went through because it was what you should do.
Now we are at a point where the immediate instinct is to mock it. I appreciate that there are at least a few folks at the university who are still doing this sort of stuff.
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I worked at Hackney Nursery and handled the hedges a few times. I knew where they came from but it was definitely a big secret. I remember watching the first televised game of the ’96 season and the TV announcer said that ‘part of them were grown at an undisclosed location in Florida,’ and my Dad (’68 Alum) and I looked at each other and smiled.
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After my brother in law died I suggested to my wife that he would have found it cool if we sprinkled some of his ashes in the hedges. On 93k day we did so. Afterward she was telling me how clever I was to think of it. I stopped her and said “I am NOT the first person to think of that. If you could resurrect all the ashes that have been placed in those hedges I expect you would have an army.”
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Great job by the AA on this one. I’m all for protecting them.
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Very good read. Thanks for posting this, Senator. Also, kudos to you all for adding your personal stories, etc.
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I planted one of the old hedges from 1996 that they sold when they dug them up for the Olympics in my yard, and like many have said, it is basically indestructible. I have pruned it to a nub in January and it has survived hard freezes and been back in full bloom by March/April. I never water or fertilize it and it still looks amazing. Have to prune it a lot as it will grow 10-12 feet tall if it goes unattended for 5-6 months. Kind of a fun thing to have in my yard, but I never stress when opposing fans pull out a sprig of the hedges in Sanford since I know those things grow like weeds and are basically impossible to kill. Plus, they could easily be replaced and grow back in a few months, unlike the AU oak trees.
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OK, my hedge story. Those did not sell well at Kroger in 96. After a few weeks, UGA took them back and delivered a ton of them to the physical plant. Thru a connection, I acquired quite a few.
Well, I planted everywhere I needed to and had one left. I set the bucket aside and did not touch it for years.
About 6 years ago, I cut the roots off the bottom and advertised it for sale on Craigslist. Still had the authentication tag on it. Sold one rootbound hedge for $60.
If McGarity REALLY wanted to make some money….
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I was working at Cofer’s Home and Garden in Athens at the time and we got several of the extra plants from Dudley Nursery. We had no trouble at all selling them.
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