LAURINBURG — Despite the fact that the dark cloud of coronavirus is hanging over the nation, at least one Scotland County resident is doing his best to brighten things up.
Jack Williams, a retired Vietnam veteran who served in the military for more than 21 years — with tours in both Korea and Vietnam — takes pride in the blooming trees and plants in his yard.
“When my late wife Mollie and I first moved here in 1973, the place was full of pine trees,” said Williams. “I think we cleared out at least 30 of them for pulp wood and removed the stumps.
“I am originally from Maryland, but while at Fort Bragg, a friend of mine brought me to Laurinburg to show me what he called one of the most beautiful little towns he had seen and we decided to stick around,” he added.
His yard is now full of dogwood trees and azalea bushes, both in the front and back yard.
“Some of these were already here, hidden in the pines,” said Williams. “And some of the dogwood trees self-rooted off of the other ones. These in the front yard are some of the biggest dogwood trees I think I’ve ever seen. As for the azalea bushes, I rooted some of those off of the bigger bushes that were also already here when we bought the house.”
Williams said it wasn’t a tough process.
“It’s not that difficult to root them,” added Williams. “I took a longer branch and dug a hole in the ground and placed a brick over it to hold it down. Once it was rooted I would clip that branch off the bush and plant the newly rooted plant somewhere in the yard. It’s a long process, but it’s an easy process. You just have to have patience.”
For a while now, he has taken on the task of keeping his yard exploding with color on his own. Williams lost his wife in 2003 after her battle with lung cancer.
“It’s just me here now after losing my wife,” said Williams, “But I have a gentleman that comes and cuts the grass for me on a regular basis — and actually my grandson, Eric, is coming by soon to help clean the yard.
“With everything going on, it’s nice to be able to stop and smell and look at the flowers,” added Williams.
JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected].
