> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > Learn how to upgrade your garden at symposium
|
Learn how to upgrade your garden at symposium
|
| |
By Lori Szepelak
Correspondent
HOLYOKE Master Gardeners from across the region will offer a day of interesting lectures for gardening enthusiasts on April 5.
The 12th annual Spring Gardening Symposium titled "2008 . Your Best Garden Ever" will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Dean Technical High School on Main Street, hosted by the nonprofit Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association. The cost is $30 per person.
Twenty gardening workshops are planned, along with a keynote address by Lee Reich, Ph.D. Reich is the author of "Growing Fruits in Your Backyard," "A Northeast Gardener's Year," "The Pruning Book," "Weedless Gardening," and "Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden." Reich's garden has been featured in publications including Martha Stewart Living, and has won awards from National Gardening and Organic Gardening magazines.
Reich's lecture from 10:30 a.m. to noon is titled "My Weedless Garden," and will introduce a novel method of caring for the soil that will result in fewer weeds throughout one's garden, including under trees and shrubs.
Following registration from 8 to 8:30 a.m., morning lecture options from 8:45 to 10 a.m. will include:
"Floral Design and Techniques" by Sally Cavanagh of Sixteen Acres Garden Center. Cavanagh will demonstrate flower arranging using frogs, oasis, nontraditional flowers, garden flowers and fillers.
"New and Noteworthy Sun-Loving Perennials" by Karen Olson of Sunny Borders Nursery. Olson will show participants new and noteworthy perennial plants for improved performance in a sunny garden.
"Leaf Garden Ornaments" by Master Gardener Dianne Willetts. Willetts will demonstrate how to create concrete casts from a real leaf.
"Summer Flowering Bulbs, Bold and Beautiful" by Ron Kujawski, horticulture consultant. Kujawski will review the boldest and most colorful summer-flowering bulbs.
"Alternatives to Foundation Plantings" by Tom Smith, Natural Places Landscape Design at Springfield Technical Community College. Smith will teach the design process for reshaping and planting foundations with old favorites and new or underused plants.
"Birds and Butterflies" by Jennifer Ohop of Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary. Ohop will demonstrate how to attract and keep these "living flowers" in your garden.
"Shade Gardening with Ferns and Wildflowers" by Leslie Duthie of Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary. Duthie will explain how native wildflowers and ferns make a spectacular addition in a shady garden.
"Berries in the Home Landscape" by Sonia Schloemann, University of Massachusetts Extension Small Fruits Specialist. Schloemann will examine the horticultural requirements (site and soil) and care (pruning, nutrition) for the major berry types used in the home landscape. Berries to be discussed include strawberries, brambles, blueberries, grapes, currants and gooseberries.
"Cooking with Herbs" by Master Gardener Chris Brown. Brown will present a cooking demonstration of how to enhance the flavor and healthfulness of meals every day using garden herbs. Cooking techniques and recipes will be included.
"Designing a Rainwater Garden For Any Site" by Master Gardener Toi Graham. Graham will show participants how to create a beautiful garden with native plants that solve water problems naturally. Graham's goal is to give participants a lovely, low maintenance garden which protects one's landscape from rainwater runoff and improves water quality in one's community.
A coffee break with light refreshments will be observed from 10 to 10:30 a.m., followed by Reich's presentation until noon.
The second set of sessions will be conducted from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. and include the following:
"Tomatoes and Vine Crops" by John Howell, a University of Massachusetts Extension Vegetable Specialist. Howell will discuss tips and techniques for growing a great crop of tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, to name a few. He will also teach participants how to avoid common diseases and problems.
"New and Noteworthy Shade Loving Perennials" by Karen Olsen of Sunny Borders Nursery. Olsen will introduce participants to the new perennials that are suitable for shady gardens.
"Honeybees in Crisis" by Master Gardener Bonita Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary. Conlon will discuss Colony Collapse Disorder and how it is threatening the bee population. Conlon will also discuss what is affecting the friendly pollinators, what is being done to help, and what plants we can grow to attract pollinators to our gardens.
"Apple Trees on a Wire" by Wes Autio, Professor of Pomology and coordinator of the Stockbridge Fruit & Vegetable Program, University of Massachusetts. Autio will guide participants on the process of managing dwarf apple trees.
"Insects and Diseases of Woody Plants" by Ken Gooch, a Massachusetts State Arborist. Gooch will teach participants how to combat common diseases and insects that attack our trees and shrubs, such as tent caterpillars, gypsy moths and wooly adelgids.
"Planning a Solar Green House" by Steve Morse. Morse will teach participants how to extend the gardening year and warm one's house with an attached south facing solar greenhouse.
"The Pondless Waterfall . Simple . Safe . Soothing!" by Jeff Paquette of Picture Perfect Ponds. Paquette will review how a pondless waterfall might be right for your garden.
"Being A Good Neighbor to a Stream" by Master Gardener George Kingston. Kingston will teach participants how to use smart garden design and eco friendly integrated pest management to minimize the impact of your gardens on streams and local ground water quality.
"Residential Landscape Design" by Dan Hartley of Hartley Bros. Landscaping. Hartley will explain how to design a four-season garden.
"Fearless Pruning" also by Lee Reich, will take the mystery out of pruning by teaching gardeners the why, how and when of pruning to ensure trees and shrubs look their best and remain in vibrant health.
Organizers have announced they will not be offering soil testing at this year's symposium, however, they will have a list of dates and times of local farmers' markets where master gardeners are available to test soil as well as answer questions. Additionally, organizers remind area residents that workshops fill up fast and early registration is advised. The deadline to register for the program is March 22.
To register or for more information, visit www.WMassMasterGardeners.org.
|
|
|
|
> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > Learn how to upgrade your garden at symposium
|
|
