Hurricane restoration project kicks off community garden program MARYSVILLE, Ohio, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, the world's largest marketer of branded products for consumer lawn and garden care, today announced plans for the second year of its multi-year partnership to support Keep America Beautiful(R) and its Great American Cleanup(TM), the nation's largest annual community improvement and beautification program. Together, ScottsMiracle-Gro and Keep America Beautiful will continue building community gardens and green spaces in cities across America as well as provide educational outreach on environmental issues. The effort began today with the 2006 Great American Cleanup kickoff event in Biloxi, Miss. As part of a broader restoration project, the two organizations teamed with other corporate sponsors to rebuild the destroyed gardens and green spaces in downtown Biloxi and near a local school, Nativity B.V.M. Elementary. ScottsMiracle-Gro delivered more than five tons of garden soil and mulch to the site, and more than 500 community volunteers worked on the project. "The benefits of community gardens and green spaces are clear and there is probably no better place to begin this year's effort than the Gulf Coast," said Rich Martinez, chief environmental officer at ScottsMiracle-Gro. "Our hope is that the restoration of community green spaces in Biloxi will continue bringing hope and optimism to this city as it continues to recover from Hurricane Katrina. We are proud not only to be supporting this effort, but also in helping to build public gardens in other communities." ScottsMiracle-Gro and Keep America Beautiful also will build community green spaces throughout the spring in San Antonio, Texas; Oakland, Calif.; Chesapeake, Va.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Chicago, Ill. In each city, the gardens will be used for educational purposes for local students. "San Antonio has a strong history of and commitment to creating and preserving a better environment for all residents," said Francisco Martinez, executive director of Keep San Antonio Beautiful. "With support from ScottsMiracle-Gro, we will be planting a new legacy of environmental stewardship in San Antonio." Last year, ScottsMiracle-Gro and Keep America Beautiful partnered to create community green spaces in Orlando, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Norfolk, Virginia; and Long Island, New York. The two organizations also distributed educational materials to nearly 2 million consumers to help them understand the best ways to incorporate environmental stewardship principles when maintaining a healthy lawn and garden. That outreach effort will continue in 2006. Keep America Beautiful(R) is celebrating the 21st anniversary of its signature program, the Great American Cleanup, which takes place annually from March 1 through May 31. The program is expected to involve 2.5 million people this year, who will volunteer more than 8 million hours to clean, beautify and improve 15,000 communities during 30,000 events from coast to coast in all 50 states. Last spring, 2.4 million Great American Cleanup volunteers collected a record-breaking 208 million pounds of litter and debris; cleaning 176,000 miles of roads, streets and highways and 10,250 miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines; and planting 4.2 million flowers and bulbs. ScottsMiracle-Gro is continually developing new and innovative ways for communities and homeowners to maintain a healthy environment. ScottsMiracle- Gro is also one of the country's leading recyclers, using about 6 billion pounds of recycled organic waste every year in its growing media business. The Company provides consumer education and environmental stewardship tips through its award-winning Web site, http://www.scotts.com/, its toll-free help line, 888-270- 3714, and other outreach efforts. "We're excited to grow our effort of beautifying communities and providing useful information to homeowners by combining resources with ScottsMiracle- Gro," said Ray Empson, president of Keep America Beautiful. "Our shared commitment to the environment and beautification makes Keep America Beautiful and ScottsMiracle-Gro ideal partners in this important effort." About Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community's environment. The Great American Cleanup(TM) is the organization's signature program that mobilizes millions of volunteers to improve their communities through hands-on participation. For more information, visit http://www.kab.org/. About ScottsMiracle-Gro With more than $2.3 billion in worldwide sales and more than 6,000 associates, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care, with products for professional horticulture as well. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts(R), Miracle-Gro(R) and Ortho(R) brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup(R) brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. The Company also owns Smith & Hawken(R), a leading brand of garden-inspired products that includes pottery, watering equipment, gardening tools, outdoor furniture and live goods, and Morning Song(R), a leading brand in the wild bird food market. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol(R), Pathclear(R), Evergreen(R), Levington(R), Miracle-Gro(R), KB(R), Fertiligene(R) and Substral(R). For additional information, visit us at http://www.scotts.com/. DATASOURCE: Scotts Miracle-Gro Company CONTACT: Jim King, Senior Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, +1-937-578-5622 Web site: http://www.scotts.com/ http://www.kab.org/

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