• Tuesday evenings, March 2, 9, 16, 23, starting at 6:30 p.m Perennial Garden Design - A Four Week Intensive Seminar
at Natureworks, 518 Forest Rd. (Rte.22), Northford. Fee: $100
This great beginner’s class covers all the basics, including basic design principles; how to draw a
plan; succession of bloom; and specific perennials, illustrated with slides. You will receive plant lists of a variety of gardening conditions. You can
finish the class with a completed garden plan. To download a registration form
go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Thursday, March 4th, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Design your own Design Class
at Natureworks 518 Forest Rd (Rte. 22), Northford. Fee: $25. This class is
limited to 12 students.
Students are asked to submit 3 topics that they want to learn more about, (think
color, repetition, balance, succession of bloom, foliage, structure, etc.) and
all submissions will be organized and presented in class. Students are invited
to bring their plans, no matter what stage of development they may be in, for
review and discussion. To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, March 13 9:30 a.m. - Bugs in the Garden with Carol Quish
No fee and no registration needed. Not all bugs are bad! Some are good guys, too. Come find out the identity of
which common insects are pests and which are beneficial in our gardens.
Management techniques for the pests will be also discussed. Carol Quish is an educator and researcher with UConn Home and Garden Education
Center.
• Sunday, March 14th, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Magical Witches of Winter
at Broken Arrow Nursery, 13 Broken Arrow Road, Hamden. Fee: $15.00. Pre-registration required.
Come discover the magical world of witch hazel (Hamamelis sp.) during this
program led by Adam Wheeler, our Propagation and Plant Development Manager. Adam will present a slide lecture that touches on the storied history,
ornamental appeal and noted selections of these underutilized shrubs. Following the presentation, he will lead a tour of the nursery grounds and our
extensive witch hazel collection.
• Thursday, March 18 6:15 p.m. Great Trees & Shrubs for Your Landscape with Chris Valley
No fee and no registration needed. Why should you have certain trees and shrubs in your landscape? What makes them
desirable? What are their advantages? Chris Valley, of Prides Corner Farms,
will give a PowerPoint presentation that will help you understand more about
what's going to be a success in your landscape.
• Saturday, March 20th, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Simplify your Gardens
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $18 Produced by Natureworks.
Celebrate the first day of spring with a new approach! Do you love to garden but
find that the landscape you’ve created is too much work for you to handle? You are not alone! This class
will help you to get a handle on the process of simplifying or possibly
downsizing your gardens to accommodate your changing physical abilities or
other realities. You will be asked to clarify your wants and needs, and be
given a systematic approach to making the decisions necessary to make your yard
a livable space for years to come. Using real gardens as case studies, you will
see how you can reassess, redesign, and begin enjoying your gardens again!
To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, March 20 9:30 a.m. Edible Landscapes – Eliminate the Lawn with Kris Treat
No fee and no registration needed. Edible gardening is a way of creating beauty and function. We all love fresh
fruits, vegetables and herbs. Discover ways to incorporate these healthy food
choices into your landscape. Use your yard as a palate for interesting fruit
trees and delicious vegetables and place herbs as ornamentals that love to be
picked. Eliminate the labor of lawns by using ground covers and simply put your
land to more functional use. Kris Treat is a master gardener, lawn-eliminating
designer, horticultural therapist, and CT Accredited Nurseryman.
• Saturday, March 20th, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Low Maintenance and Long Blooming
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $18 Produced by Natureworks.
Gardening is a LOT easier if you choose the right plants! Whether you are new to
gardening and want to assure success, or you are experienced and want to make
the work a lot easier, you will find this class enlightening and inspirational.
Learn all about perennials, flowering shrubs, and small flowering trees that
will add color, texture, and excitement to your borders in every month of the
growing season without making you a slave to planting and maintenance
To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, March 27th, 2PM. Vegetable Gardens Made Simple
at Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace, 749 Col. Ledyard Highway Rt 117, Ledyard
Wayne Henson. 860-464-8400
Sandy Merrill: Herbalist and Gardener. Learn the "tricks of the trade" to
planting and raising your own fresh produce. Free lecture. Limit 50. (Ledyard
Only)
• Wednesday, March 31 6 p.m. Make It & Take It Easter Flower Basket
Preregistration is required; call 860-643-8474 or email
woodlandgardens@sbcglobal.net We’ll help you plant an Easter basket for yourself, your family, or your Easter
hosts. Our design expertise is free; you pay only for your materials. The cost
is around $19 if you bring your own basket; $24 if you buy a basket here.
Advance sign-up is necessary because space is limited.
• Wednesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 7th, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Design your Foundation Planting
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $20 per
session or $40 for both sessions. Produced by Natureworks.
This is a two week class that will actually enable you to draw up a detailed
planting plan for the front of the house in time for spring planting.
Session 1: Learn how to analyze your existing foundation planting, measure and
draw it to scale on graph paper, and develop a set of design criteria for your
new design. Explore basic design principles, opening up your possibilities to
wider and more creative bed shapes, the view from inside the house as well as
the street, and special challenges such as slopes and large areas of ugly
concrete.
Session 2: Learn about a wide range of dwarf and semi-dwarf evergreens,
deciduous shrubs, long blooming perennials, colorful foliage plants, ground
covers, and ornamental grasses. Make the best selection to provide you with color and interest in every season.
To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, April 10 9:30 a.m. Four-Season Gardening with Sarah Bailey
No fee and no registration needed. The year doesn’t end with the first frost – why should your garden? We’ll look at ways to make your gardening a pleasing asset in all four seasons,
using woody ornamentals, perennials, containers, and more. You’ll look at your landscape and garden with new eyes and great ideas. Sarah Bailey
is a Certified Advanced Master Gardener and a CT Accredited Nursery
Professional. She is the Hartford County coordinator for the UConn Cooperative
Extension Master Gardener Program.
• Saturday, April 10th, 11:00-1:00 p.m. Designing with Flowering Shrubs
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $16 Produced by Natureworks.
Learn about four ways to incorporate flowering shrubs into your landscape: as
specimens, integrated into perennial borders, as mixed shrub borders, and as
part of your foundation plantings. Learn about shrubs of every size, color, and
description, native plants and rare imports, shrubs for sun and shade. To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, April 10th, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Pruning Flowering Shrubs
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $16 Produced by Natureworks.
Pruning classes in the past have tried to cover all categories of plants in one
brief session. This class is dedicated ONLY to flowering shrubs. Learn when to
prune, how to prune, and why this knowledge is so important to the health and
longevity of your plants.
To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Shade Gardens Made Simple. Sunday, April 11th, 2PM
at Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace, 749 Col. Ledyard Highway Rt 117, Ledyard
Wayne Henson. 860-464-8400
Judy Gasparino: Master Gardener & Author. A lively lecture and slide presentation describing the challenges and
choices of successful shade gardening. $5.00 per person. Limit 50. (Ledyard
Only)
• Tuesday, April 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Care of the Perennial Garden March through November
at Zion Episcopal Church at 326 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford. Fee: $16 Produced by Natureworks.
You’ve started to invest in perennials. Now it’s time to learn how to care for them. What do you do, when do you do it? Using
all organic practices, Nancy DuBrule-Clemente will take you through the growing
season, month by month. Topics covered include waking up the garden, spring
pruning and feeding, mid-summer feeding, preventative and emergency insect and
disease control, pinching and pruning, staking, mulching, watering, division,
and putting your garden to bed. Your garden will be healthier, tidier, and much
more floriferous.
To download a registration form go to www.naturework.com or call 203-484-2748 to register by phone.
• Saturday, April 17 9:30 a.m Choosing Trees & Shrubs – a Walk Through the Nursery with Clint Covell
No fee and no registration needed. Clint Covell, long-time nursery specialist at Woodland Gardens, will take us on
a walk through the nursery yard, pointing out and explaining different shrubs
and trees - their needs and their advantages. This is a very popular walk & talk that will help you learn a lot. Bring your notebook and pencil!
• Saturday, April 24 9:30 am Opening the Rose Garden with Marci Martin
No fee and no registration needed. Marci Martin, Consulting Rosarian for Elizabeth Park in Hartford and for
Woodland Gardens, will show us how to do spring pruning and any other maintenance our roses need
at this time of year. This is important so you can get the most out of your
roses this summer.
• Secrets of Organic Weed & Pest Controls. Saturday, April 24th, 2PM
at Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace, 749 Col. Ledyard Highway Rt 117, Ledyard
Wayne Henson. 860-464-8400
Lorraine Ballato: Master Gardener and Author. Lorraine is a representative with
the Neudorff Corp., makers of the world's organic controls; environmentally
safe alternatives. Free lecture. Limit 50. (Ledyard Only)
• Sunday, April 25th, 10:00 a.m. Woodland Beauties: Perennials for the Shade Garden
at Broken Arrow Nursery, 13 Broken Arrow Road, Hamden. Fee: $15.00. Pre-registration required.
Spring has to be one of the most spectacular seasons for woodland wildflowers. Colorful flowers and foliage bring the woods alive after their winter rest. Nursery manager Andy Brand will present a lecture that showcases the newest and
best of this cool group of plants. Selections of Anemonella, Arisaema, Hepatica and his all time favorite genus
Epimedium will be discussed.
• Saturday, May 8th, 10:30 a.m. (tour), 1:00 p.m. (lecture and tour). Yellow-Flowering Magnolias for New England Gardeners.
at Broken Arrow Nursery, 13 Broken Arrow Road, Hamden. No cost and no registration required.
The first yellow-flowering magnolia (‘Elizabeth’) was introduced to horticulture in 1977 and was an immediate hit. Since then
many new yellow magnolias have been introduced, with a wide array of options in
flower color, flower form, and growth habits. Broken Arrow has an outstanding
collection of yellow-flowering magnolias and in his talk, magnolia expert
Stefan Cover will discuss the impressive range of choices now available to
gardeners. Come and learn why you should knock down your house, live in a
refrigerator box, turn all your property into a garden, and plant tons of
magnolias. You will also have an opportunity to stroll through one of the
largest collections of magnolias in the Northeast, including 15+ yellow
flowering forms. Stefan will also be leading tours of our collection
emphasizing the attributes of many of the cultivars and species that perform
best in our climate. Attendees will receive a 10% discount on all magnolias. All are welcome to bring their lunch and spend the day. For more information,
email us at info@brokenarrownursery.com, visit our website
www.brokenarrownursery.com, or call 203.288.1026.
• Roses Made Simple. Sunday, May 16th, 2PM
at Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace, 749 Col. Ledyard Highway Rt 117, Ledyard
Wayne Henson. 860-464-8400
Dave Candler: Local rosarian and former president of the CT Rose Society.Dave
will talk you through the most common mistakes people make when growing
roses-and how to avoid them! Free lecture. Limit 50. (Ledyard Only)
• Saturday, May 22nd, 10:00 a.m. Understanding Color in your Landscape
at Broken Arrow Nursery, 13 Broken Arrow Road, Hamden. Fee: $15.00. Pre-registration required.
The eye perceives color in relation to its environment, and for the gardener
that often means an ever-changing palette. Outdoors, it is more important to understand what a color looks like than what
it actually may be. Plant textures, lighting, distance and color juxtaposition all influence how a
color will appear. Landscape designer Amy Sampson will first explore the basic qualities of color
and ways in which to balance each in the garden, including how to create “illusions”. With these basic concepts in hand, participants will learn how to identify,
define and combine pastel, pale, vivid, rich, muted and hot and cold colors as
they are found in the garden. The talk will conclude with examples of how to create a variety of color
combinations using a color wheel. Participants are encouraged to bring a color wheel if they own one.
