CORRECTION: The gardening workshop is called CSUN-al Gardening, not CSUN al-Gardening.

The CSUN Botanic Garden hosted a gardening workshop last Saturday morning.

The workshop was about converting a garden into an Audubon Habitat and was conducted in Chaparral Hall by Alan Pollack, chair of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society.

Pollack introduced different ways to convert gardens into a wildlife habitat for plants and animals. He explained the importance of preserving wildlife in gardens, conserving water and providing shelter to animals.

“Our wildlife is important because life on our planet depends upon our biodiversity,” Pollack said. “We need all the wild animals and the wild plants that live in our planet in order for humans to survive.”

Brenda Kanno, Botanic Garden manager, said that more than half of the 120 attendees came from CSUN’s surrounding communities.

Kanno said she feels good because these events are helping CSUN be a good neighbor.

Lynn Ruger, a resident in Woodland Hills, has been coming with her husband to the gardening classes since 2006.

“They are really great and we are grateful to CSUN for being supportive of this,” said Ruger. “We have learned a lot.”

CSUN staff that attended the workshop said they were pleased that the Botanic Garden continues providing this important information for them.

Susan Mueller, history department administrative support specialist, said she wants to “reduce her footprint,” meaning she wants to reduce her demand on the Earth’s ecosystem, by recycling and composting fruits and vegetables. She is using native plants now to help her achieve her goal.

Louise Adams, testing center administrative support staff, said she has also joined the movement to protect wildlife in gardens. She has already removed her lawn at home to bring in more native plants.

Workshop facilitator Pollack offered to personally help some of the attendees with their home gardens, and provided them with his business card.

“I hope to plant seeds in people’s brains that will encourage them to think about what kind of garden they have and [how] to make it wildlife friendly,” Pollack said.

He also added that a number of colleges are becoming more wildlife-friendly and have vastly improved in their landscaping.

Kanno said that the drought-tolerant landscaping approach has already started at CSUN.

“The campus recognizes the need to reduce water usage when they can, [while] still having something attractive to look at.”

The CSUN-al Gardening series has taken place the past 8 years and according to Kanno they will continue in the future.

The next workshop will be held in January 2014. The main topic will be about rose pruning.

The project of reopening the Theological School of Halki reached a milestone last week when a team from the Neapolis University of Paphos, who had undertaken the landscaping of the school gardens, gave a presentation of the completed structure at a ceremony attended by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Prior to the presentation, the team from Cyprus, led by Leptos Group founder and NUP board chairman Michael Leptos, attended a church service at the Patriarchal Church of St. George (Ayios Georgios) at Fanari, Constantinople, during which His Holiness read out a message for the day of prayers for the welfare and protection of the natural habitat.
Bishop of Proussa and Prior of the Holy Monastery of Saint Trinity of Halki, Elpidoforos, also a Professor at the Aristotelion University of Salonica, who leads the efforts to reinstate the operation of the Theological School of Halki, expressed his sincere gratitude and satisfaction for the work carried out by the workgroup, and presented Michael Leptos, the Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of European and Research Projects and project leader Dr. Julia Georgi, and architect Heleni Antonara, as well as the other members of the workgroup, with commemorative gifts.
The official public presentation of the project by Dr. Julia Georgi took place at the Ceremony Hall of the Theological School of Halki, during which Dr. Georgi and the team pointed out the importance of the landscaping project, which aims at combining and enhancing the surrounding area of the school by establishing a strong link to its long and important history, thanks to which it is often referred to as the “Lighthouse of Orthodoxy”.

Photo shows the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew offering Michael Leptos a copy of the Holy Bible.

Where do graduates of horticultural colleges find work in the gardening world, especially in a tight job market like today’s?

Well, municipal parks departments are still one of the biggest employers of professional-trained horticulturalists.

Arborists are always needed to prune and care for street trees, and city parks and boulevards still have to planted and maintained throughout the year.

Golf courses are another major employer of graduates with turf-management skills and nowadays many courses pride themselves on having flower and shrub borders that look attractive year round.

Garden centres are increasingly focused on hiring staff with plant knowledge and gardening expertise, as well as excellent marketing and communication skills.

The GardenWorks chain, with a total of six stores — two in Burnaby, one in North Vancouver and three in the Victoria area — is one of the biggest garden retail employers.

The Nurseryland chain is a buying group comprising 80 independent garden centres across Canada, 40 of which are members and 40 are associate members that participate in the buying process in order to keep prices down.

Other popular garden centres that have achieved an instantly recognizable brand include the Art Knapps and David Hunter chains, and there are numerous others, such as Dykof’s in North Vancouver, Amsterdam Greenhouses in Pitt Meadows and Triple Tree in Maple Ridge, that have been serving gardeners for years and have many professionally trained people working for them.

Home improvement stores like Home Depot and Revy also have large garden centres.

B.C.’s top wholesale nurseries — responsible for growing all the plants the gardening public are looking for — are scattered all over the province, but there is a concentration of them in the Fraser Valley.

In Abbotsford, there’s Valleybrook Gardens, one of Canada’s biggest perennial growers, as well as the long-established Kato’s Nursery and Van Belle Nursery, which has introduced an innovative Bloomin’ Easy marketing program featuring foolproof shrubs.

In Langley, key nurseries include Dutch bulb suppliers and plant growers Van Noort; Clearview Horticulture, the biggest clematis nursery in Western Canada; Devry Greenhouses, which specializes in growing bedding plants; and Darvonda, well known for the flower crops it produces for Costco, such as poinsettia and cushion chrysanthemums.

Burnaby Lake Greenhouse, of Surrey, is one of the biggest operations with more than 1.8 million square feet of growing capacity and is one of the top suppliers of cactus, succulents and houseplants for florists.

In Maple Ridge, Rainbow Nursery specializes in container-grown roses, spirea, hydrangeas and potentilla.

In the Okanagan, Bylands Nursery in Kelowna has set industry standards with its growing of hardy shrubs and trees and has a well-established track record for growing and marketing top-notch plants.

There are many other nurseries employing greenhouse horticulturists, trained to handle propagation, pest management and general plant marketing and shipping.

The CSUN Botanic Garden hosted an al-Gardening workshop last Saturday morning.

The workshop was about converting a garden into an Audubon Habitat and was conducted in Chaparral Hall by Alan Pollack, chair of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society.

Pollack introduced different ways to convert gardens into a wildlife habitat for plants and animals. He explained the importance of preserving wildlife in gardens, conserving water and providing shelter to animals.

“Our wildlife is important because life on our planet depends upon our biodiversity,” Pollack said. “We need all the wild animals and the wild plants that live in our planet in order for humans to survive.”

Brenda Kanno, Botanic Garden manager, said that more than half of the 120 attendees came from CSUN’s surrounding communities.

Kanno said she feels good because these events are helping CSUN be a good neighbor.

Lynn Ruger, a resident in Woodland Hills, has been coming with her husband to the al-Gardening classes since 2006.

“They are really great and we are grateful to CSUN for being supportive of this,” said Ruger. “We have learned a lot.”

CSUN staff that attended the workshop said they were pleased that the Botanic Garden continues providing this important information for them.

Susan Mueller, history department administrative support specialist, said she wants to “reduce her footprint,” meaning she wants to reduce her demand on the Earth’s ecosystem, by recycling and composting fruits and vegetables. She is using native plants now to help her achieve her goal.

Louise Adams, testing center administrative support staff, said she has also joined the movement to protect wildlife in gardens. She has already removed her lawn at home to bring in more native plants.

Workshop facilitator Pollack offered to personally help some of the attendees with their home gardens, and provided them with his business card.

“I hope to plant seeds in people’s brains that will encourage them to think about what kind of garden they have and [how] to make it wildlife friendly,” Pollack said.

He also added that a number of colleges are becoming more wildlife-friendly and have vastly improved in their landscaping.

Kanno said that the drought-tolerant landscaping approach has already started at CSUN.

“The campus recognizes the need to reduce water usage when they can, [while] still having something attractive to look at.”

These al-Gardening series have taken place the past 8 years and according to Kanno they will continue in the future.

The next workshop will be held in January 2014. The main topic will be about rose pruning.

JUNEAU | Both veteran and novice gardeners are invited to learn more about gardening and landscaping in the next Master Gardener Volunteer Level 1 training program.

Dodge County UW-Extension will offer a 13-week Level 1 Master Gardener volunteer training from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning March 4, and concluding in late May. Training will be held at the Dodge County Administration Building, 127 E. Oak St., Juneau. This program is offered every other year.

The program cost is $140 and includes training and a comprehensive set of UW-Extension horticulture publications. The training is open to the general public and participants must be at least 18 years of age. Registration will be on a first come, first served basis and class size is limited to 40 participants.Registration deadline for the class is Feb. 17, or until the class is full. Register by calling the Dodge County UW-Extension Office at 386-3790. To become a Certified Master Gardener Volunteer, participants must complete 24 hours of community service.

Community service work can easily be accomplished through working on local community projects, providing educational assistance and training, or answering horticultural questions referred to you. Dodge County Certified Master Gardener Volunteers work at local public gardens, nursing homes, community beautification and education projects, home show exhibits, county fair displays and much more.

For more information about the Dodge County Master Gardener Volunteer Level 1 Training Program or to register, contact the Dodge County UW-Extension office at 386-3790, visit http://dodge.uwex.edu/ or connect on Facebook.

SAN ANGELO, Texas —
The Concho Valley Master Gardeners in San Angelo want to extend an invitation to attend their Fall Landscape Symposium, Saturday, Sept. 21. The symposium will be held at the Stephens Central Library Community Room, 3rd floor, 33 W. Beauregard Ave. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the programs begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 4:15 p.m.

There will be three speakers in the morning session:

Allison Watkins, AgriLife extension horticulturist for Tom Green County, will talk about “EarthKind Landscaping and Wildflowers”. Watkins has been a county extension agent since early 2009. During her time working in extension she has enjoyed focusing on EarthKind landscaping principles, with a special emphasis on water conservation. In 2012 she earned the Early Career Award from the Texas County Agriculture Agent’s Association, and in 2013 she received the Superior Service Award from Texas AM AgriLife Extension Service as part of the EarthKind team.

John Begnaud, AgriLife extension agent, retired, will talk about “Hardscapes” and how to incorporate them into your landscape. Begnaud served as the county extension agent-horticulture for Tom Green County for more than 30 years. He gives educational presentations and horticultural advice. Begnaud is a contributing author to Neil Sperry’s Gardens magazine, teaches rangeland soil science at Angelo State University and has earned many awards including the Superior Service and emeritus status with the Texas AM AgriLife Extension Service. He has earned lifetime member status for several organizations including the Texas Pecan Grower’s Association.

Dr. William Welch, professor and landscape horticulturist for Texas AM, will talk about “Innovative Choices for West Texas Landscapes”. Welch writes about garden history and has several books that have been popular references, including Perennial Garden Color, Antique Roses for the South, The Bountiful Flower Garden and The Southern Heirloom Garden. Welch has been recognized by the Southern Garden History Society, the American Horticulture Society and the Garden Club of American for his work.

Following lunch: Alan King, landscape architect, will talk about “Exceptional Design in Drought Conditions”. King is a registered landscape architect. Some highlights of his work include the landscape designs for the 2005 HGTV Dream Home in Tyler; the television show episode of “Extreme Home Makeover” located in Washington County; and the Southern Living Idea House 2006 in Bryan. As a designer he understands the level of detail required to produce a finished product with minimal build cycle and design changes. In collaboration with other design staff, he investigates how modern methodology and historical precedence interact, to design systems that take full advantage of available opportunities.

The cost is $20 per person or $30 per person and includes refreshments and lunch.

Call 325-659-6522 to register. RSVP by Wednesday, Sept. 18, to assure seating and handout materials. No child care will be provided.

Click photo to enlarge

LAKE COUNTY — The Clear Lake Trowel Trellis Garden Club (CLTTGC) recently elected its officers for the year: President Carol Dobusch; vice presidents Marva Brandt and Susan Buckles; Treasurer Debra Watson; Secretary Helen Turley and Parliamentarian Jo Shaul.

Dobusch said she wants to begin her year by extending an invitation to prospective new members to attend a meeting. In addition to her skills as a gardener, she has been an elementary and college drama teacher in the area for years, Watson stated.

“This is a club for everyone who loves gardens, gardening and landscaping, whether you have many years experience or need advice or cheerleading toward getting started in your own yard. We have so much fun together, and we do so many wonderful things for the community,” Dobusch said.

Members can choose to work on several community beautification projects, including planting and upkeep of the club’s garden at the Hartley Cemetery Chapel; flower beds at the Lake County Library and Library Park in Lakeport; the Blue Star Memorial garden honoring past, present and future U.S. Military personnel at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport and the native garden at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville. “This group is made up of all ages and levels of gardening knowledge; it is incredible how much I’ve learned from some of the members who have belonged to this club for decades, and it is so much fun to interact with other new members, too,” Watson said.

The group also donates seedling trees to the Mendocino National Forest every year.

Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month except July and August with lunch at noon at the Scotts Valley Woman’s Clubhouse, located at 2298 Hendricks Road in Lakeport, and open with a “Flower Roll Call” period.

“Every member brings a plant they need identified or that is of interest to the rest of the group and one-by-one, these are presented to the group for roll call,” Brandt said.

Buckles adds, “Oftentimes, there is a fascinating or funny story attached to the plant and other times we all are just awed by a particularly beautiful specimen or learn to identify a plant we had not previously known about.”

The two vice presidents have also lined up guest speakers for the meetings as well as field trips, which include special garden tours to public and private gardens, as well as garden-related festivals and events. Other CLTTGC activities are what Dobusch refers to as “gifts to the community” and include the club’s November Chrysanthemum Show, the March Daffodil Tea and the Ka-Ba-Tin flower arranging group.

The club has meetings with lunch at noon on the third Tuesday of the month except July and August at the Scotts Valley Woman’s Clubhouse located at 2298 Hendricks Road in Lakeport.

For information, visit www.CLTTGC.org or call President Carol Dobusch at 279-1169.