It brings me great pleasure to be sharing the stage
with two amazing professionals in the field of Horticulture.
Won't you join me for the
Spring Garden Symposium ‘09
February 21, 2009
8:30 am Registration/refreshments
9:00 am Welcome
9:15 am Sustainable Gardening
Professor of Environmental Sciences, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Sustainability is a term often used with large-scale agriculture but is equally applicable to home-level gardening. Sustainable gardening begins with site evaluation, soil testing and selection of appropriate plants, including heirloom varieties. Equally important is the maintenance of soil health, especially through the build up of soil organic-matter via techniques such as composting (regular and vermi-composting) and mulching. Many of these techniques lead to water conservation but more specific procedures, such as drip irrigation, should be considered.
Healthy soils lead to healthy plants that resist pests. However companion planting and other biological pest control methods are good practices.
10:30 am Break/refreshments
10:45 am The Rock Garden Unbound
Roz Bliss, painter, sculptor, organic gardener, and Monroe County Master Gardener.
A walk through Roz Bliss’s garden via her slide presentation and commentary detailing how to use rock garden plants and bulbs with perennials and edibles to have a year round esthetic experience when you step out of any door of your home. Construction techniques for long term easy maintenance will be covered.
Noon Buffet Lunch
1:00 pm Your Backyard Herb Garden.
Arleen Oliver,
owner and creator of Cranberry Creek Herbs and Director of Buckland House in Brighton. 
A comprehensive lecture for creating a healthy and beautiful herb garden sharing simple instructions and a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of herbs, including ideas for recipes and herbal crafts and gifts such as soaps, handmade paper, sachets and oldfashioned
remedies.
2:15 pm Door prizes and evaluations.
