The Louisiana Master Gardeners’ 4-week Basic Gardening Series will be held at the Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday evenings beginning January 21, 2010. The educational presentations provide research-based information targeted toward beginning and intermediate gardeners and homeowners. Mark your calendar and invite your friends and neighbors. All four programs are free and open to the public.
Week 1, January 21st - “Hey Look Me Over: Assessing the Mature Landscape” opens the series by asking you to consider your mature landscape as a whole. Ask: What can stay? What needs to go? An Excel spreadsheet is used as a tool to help each of you inventory and assess your own property. In the talk “Isn’t that Rich?” you will learn to make clay soil into a great landscape asset and review how to use and understand the use of fertilizers. “Easy Seeding Sunny Annuals” presents an easy and economical way to successfully produce flowering plants common to our area.
Week 2, January 28th - “The Tall and Short of Trees & Shrubs” centers on selecting and planting the right trees and shrubs for existing landscapes. Price is an immediate consideration but what are the real long range pluses and minuses of various types? “Did an Insect Do THAT?” Learn specific steps to recognize insect problems on plants and how to identify culprits.
Week 3, February 4th - “Goodbye Shade, Hello Sun…” The loss of shade trees has become an altogether too common predicament in our area. When a shady yard becomes sunny, what do you do? The speakers tonight give you some practical suggestions on solving this problem. “Jeepers Creepers” explains what to expect from ground covers in general and details specific characteristics of a wide variety of ground cover choices.
Week 4, February 11th - “Creative Container Gardening” introduces the use of containers in a creative way to enhance your environment and add to your landscape. “Landscaping Made Easy” presents photos which illustrate basic considerations in developing your personalized landscape plan – texture, form, structure, and more.
The Louisiana Master Gardener™ Extension Volunteer Program is an education program of the LSU AgCenter. This Basic Gardening Series has been presented by the East Baton Rouge Parish Master Gardeners since 2004. The series pinpoints horticultural problems unique to gardeners in our area.