SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19

New home? Tired old lawn? Bitten by the gardening bug? Want to provide healthy home-grown food for your family? Great! There are tried-and-true ways to start a vegetable garden and have success in the first year and beyond. Author and Master Gardener Bill Thorness provides a guide from the ground up: creating new beds, building soil, acquiring the most essential tools and gear, creating a planting plan, choosing the right crops, joyfully tending your garden, and feeding yourself and others from the bountiful harvest.

A regenerative garden is so much more than sustainable. It’s more than resilient. Learn how and why you should transform your garden into a self-sustaining ecosystem that follows the path of nature. Stephanie will share the key components of a regenerative garden, including how to turn your space into a functioning ecosystem and help you become a better, more eco-conscious gardener.

The Joy of Attracting Birds to your Garden

Daphne Legg - Bird enthusiast and award-winning store manager, Wild Birds Unlimited

As we clearcut our forests into fields of cement and high-rises, we are destroying habitat for wildlife. But we all share the planet with wildlife, so we must do more to make up for the habitat destruction. Here are three experts to show you how you can best attract, cohabitate, and enjoy a myriad of wildlife in your garden. Daphne Legg will help you discover the best ways to attract songbirds to your garden, using plants, food, water, nesting boxes and more. Thyra McKelvie shows you why the gentle solitary bees are critical pollinators for food and ecosystems and are fast becoming the new bee to host in your yard. And don’t miss NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski as he shares a myth-busting talk about bees, wasps, snakes, bats and other so-called “scary” garden wildlife, explaining their natural behaviors, why they’re important, and how to avoid any problems with them.

As we clearcut our forests into fields of cement and high-rises, we are destroying habitat for wildlife. But we all share the planet with wildlife, so we must do more to make up for the habitat destruction. Here are three experts to show you how you can best attract, cohabitate, and enjoy a myriad of wildlife in your garden. Daphne Legg will help you discover the best ways to attract songbirds to your garden, using plants, food, water, nesting boxes and more. Thyra McKelvie shows you why the gentle solitary bees are critical pollinators for food and ecosystems and are fast becoming the new bee to host in your yard. And don’t miss NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski as he shares a myth-busting talk about bees, wasps, snakes, bats and other so-called “scary” garden wildlife, explaining their natural behaviors, why they’re important, and how to avoid any problems with them.

As we clearcut our forests into fields of cement and high-rises, we are destroying habitat for wildlife. But we all share the planet with wildlife, so we must do more to make up for the habitat destruction. Here are three experts to show you how you can best attract, cohabitate, and enjoy a myriad of wildlife in your garden. Daphne Legg will help you discover the best ways to attract songbirds to your garden, using plants, food, water, nesting boxes and more. Thyra McKelvie shows you why the gentle solitary bees are critical pollinators for food and ecosystems and are fast becoming the new bee to host in your yard. And don’t miss NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski as he shares a myth-busting talk about bees, wasps, snakes, bats and other so-called “scary” garden wildlife, explaining their natural behaviors, why they’re important, and how to avoid any problems with them.

Raised bed gardening is increasingly popular, especially for gardeners with limited growing space or contaminated soil. This seminar will present the science-based nuts and bolts of raised bed gardening: how to select the proper materials, what to use as planting media, and how to manage soil fertility, weeds, and pests in environmentally friendly ways. Handouts containing the text of the talk will be available to download.

Pruning is both an art and a science. A well-pruned tree or shrub both enhances its beauty and its value to a landscape. An entire world of tree pruning all comes down to the three basic cuts: Removal cuts, reduction cuts, and heading cuts. People spend their whole careers just learning where and when to use these three basic cuts. We will delve into what these cuts look like, where to use them, and where to not use them.

Do you struggle with finding room for everything you want to grow in your veggie garden? Learn Christy’s invaluable process that you can repeat season after season to plan your vegetable garden ahead of time. Discover tried and true methods for tracking progress and crop rotation, as well as tricks of the trade for making the most of every square inch. You will reap a bountiful harvest with some spring garden planning!

Are you tired of waking up in the morning, checking the news, and feeling overwhelmed? Fight back by learning how your garden can stave off the apocalypse blues. Even a small garden can help slow climate change, enhance wildlife habitat, and improve our physical and mental well-being. Every little action we take matters, and time and effort spent in the garden is the best antidote for a world gone crazy.

To meet the challenges of climate change, today’s gardeners want a sustainable garden that last without excessive use of resources or maintenance, while providing habitat for wildlife. Gardeners can achieve this by incorporating long lived, drought tolerant, and adaptable conifers that support wildlife, yet require little care once established. Dr. Albers, scientist, and garden expert, will show you how to select, design with, and use these aesthetically and functionally versatile plants in your landscape.

Flowers and Foliage are nice to have, but fragrance can bring your garden to the next level. The memories and places that fragrance can invoke give your garden emotional depth. Learn about some of the best plants for fragrance in the garden as well as some tried and true fragrant plants that will thrive in your garden.

Dahlia House owner Anne Long will share everything you need to know to grow these popular spring and summer cut flowers. The following information will be covered for each variety listed: best time to plant for growing zone 7 – 8; ideal growing conditions (temperature, sun exposure, wind consideration, when to water); soil preparation and amendments; season extension; effective staking and corralling techniques (for peonies and dahlias); harvesting and vase life extension; identifying and controlling pests. This year will be your best ever for growing these fabulous florals!

The most important pruning for training young trees can be quickly done with hand tools, yet it is often overlooked until much later, when the pruning options and efforts are much more difficult. Learn how to nip those potential problems in the bud with five basic steps for inspecting the structure of a young tree and how to prune early for future structure and long-term beauty.

It all starts in the garden, growing fresh herbs—then the journey continues with learning how to use them. Discover harvesting tips for the best ways to fully capture the essence of all your herbs, how to preserve them, freezing and drying techniques, and how to use herbs in infusions. Also learn proper storage and herb blending ideas for use in teas, culinary dishes, and natural beauty, healing, and personal care, and more.

Don’t let bareroot plants or bulbs intimidate you this spring. Learn from Sean and Allison how to confidently handle and plant bareroot perennials like Itoh peonies, coneflowers, and more. You’ll also learn bulb planting techniques and ideas to level up your bulb game with “Lasagna” layered bulb containers for both spring and summer flowering bulbs. Take away planting skills, like bulb planting depth, handling, and tools, to help your plants thrive this spring and summer.