Former University of Georgia board member Sonny Seiler, of Savannah, left, and former UGA football player Billy Payne help plant the new hedges at Sanford Stadium during a ceremony Monday, Aug. 19.photo: Rob Carr/Morris News Service

Web-posted August 19, 1996

By C. Jemal Horton
Knight-Ridder Newspapers

ATHENS, Ga. - It was almost like a scene from ``The Wizard of Oz.'' As if Vince Dooley had clicked his wingtips together and barked, ``There's no place like home.''

Yes, it was that mushy.

In what turned out to be a ceremony, Georgia's famed hedges were replanted in Sanford Stadium on Monday morning after being removed last year so the stadium could accomodate Olympic soccer.

Dooley also revealed that about 1,200 of the rooted cuttings from the original hedges had been kept in a nursery in Quincy, Fla., while the other half were in Thomson, Ga., near Augusta.

``The hedges are back where they belong,'' Dooley bragged to a small crowd. ``Now we know the hedges are safely out of Florida. We welcome Hedges II.''

Dooley, with ACOG chief Billy Payne, Georgia alumnus Don Leeburn and Uga V owner Sonny Seiler, shoveled dirt under the hedges.

``These are the sons and daughters of the original hedges,'' Dooley said. ``They're home now.''

Payne, an All-SEC defensive end for the Bulldogs in 1968, was just as sentimental.

``It's no secret of the affection I hold this stadium and these hedges,'' Payne said. ``It's a great experience taking part in this new era.

``I'll make good on my final Olympic responsibility, which is putting these hedges back where they belong.''

Ron Deal, co-owner of Classic City Gardens, said all the hedges should be in place by the end of the week and they should begin to take root within two weeks.

Classic City Gardens employee Derek Addison pours soil around the newly installed hedges at Sanford Stadium on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga., Monday, Aug. 19, 1996photo: Rob Carr/Morris News Service

The English privet hedges were put in the stadium in 1929 and have been a fixture in Georgia history since. When workers from Dudley Nurseries left Thomson at 9:15 a.m. Monday to return the hedges, many Georgia fans lined the highway to get a picture or videotape of the moving. Dooley said many Athens residents did the same as the hedges approached the stadium.

``It got pretty wild,'' said Tommy Dudley, co-owner of Dudley Nurseries. ``One guy said his only regret was that he didn't send his two children to Georgia, so he wasn't going to regret not getting a picture of the hedges.''

Dudley said Ben Nobles, president of the Charlotte (N.C.) Bulldog Club, would make trips to Thomson just to spend time with the hedges.

``He'd go in there and walk around, just spend two hours by himself with the hedges,'' Dudley said.

``Operation Hedges'' was put on almost entirely by Georgia graduates. A company in Valdosta provided the containers in which the hedges were grown. The soil (pine bark) came from Cairo and the fertilizer from Bainbridge.

But the most important role was left for George Hackney, owner of Hackney Nuseries in Quincy, Fla., 10 miles from the Georgia state line and 25 miles west of Tallahassee. Hackney had the chore of maintaining the hedges and keeping their location a secret.

``It was really tough,'' said Hackney, who had the clippings since April 1994. ``We have about 30 employees and most of them didn't know where (the hedges) came from or what they were for.

``It's a tremendous honor to take care of them, but we're glad to get rid of them. In classic football terms, we're handing them off.''

Like a true Georgia man, Dooley wouldn't actually acknowledge that the hedges were kept in Florida, home of the hated Gators.

``That's South Georgia, not Florida,'' Dooley said with a smile. ``They were grown with Georgia soil and Georgia horticulturalists. These were South Georgia hedges.

``But we didn't want to let it out that they were in Florida.''

The only thing missing was Toto. But then again, that may have made Uga V a little jealous.