Sunday, January 15, 2006
Wait until a sunny day with temperatures just a bit above freezing. Cut branches from a spring-flowering woody plant (shrub or tree) that are crossing, rubbing against the house or for some other reason are not helping the plant.
Bring the cut branches into your house, recut the branch bottom so it will absorb more, and plunge it into really warm, almost hot water. Then watch as the branch buds produce blooms sometime in February or March.
It's tough to garden in Maine during the winter, but you can use the time to become a better gardener. Winter is the time to take gardening classes - from a two-hour class offered by your town recreation department or garden club to a 45-hour course offered by the University of Maine extension.
Most gardening professionals are too busy to take or teach classes during gardening season, so their classes are scheduled for winter. I just signed up to take two one-night landscape-design classes offered by the town of Cape Elizabeth, am booked to attend a Maine Nursery and Landscape Association day of programs on Tuesday and to attend the monster of all educational gardening events - New England Grows - Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Boston. I'll probably find some other classes to attend, as well. I'll fill you in on what I learn, but you can take some classes on your own, too.
MASTER GARDENERS
The University of Maine Extension's Master Gardener course is a great way to pick up gardening information. Cumberland County's program this year will be held at Maine Audubon Society's headquarters in Falmouth. Classes will be held mostly from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Fridays, March 3 through June 23.
The courses cover the basic information a person needs to be a gardener: botany, soil science, garden diseases and pruning, and the emphasis for the Cumberland County program this year is vegetables, tree fruit, small fruit and herbs. There is a limit of about 40 participants, and lots of people apply to take the course - with the instructors and staff picking 40 they find as most qualified.
The cost of the programs is $90, which includes materials, and graduates agree to give back 40 hours of time over the next 12 months in voluntary gardening work.
It's a great program, and they run such programs as Plant a Row for the Hungry and Gardening Angels, who help people who for some reason can't take care of their own gardens.
My only complaint with the program is its name. It implies that you can be a master gardener by taking 45 hours of classes. You can become a better gardener, but to become a master requires a lot more classroom and book learning, and a lot more experience.
Check your county extension office for when it is holding Master Gardener classes in your area.
GARDEN CENTER OFFERINGS
Many garden centers offer programs during the winter. Skillins offers programs at it's Falmouth, Brunswick and Cumberland stores on Saturdays throughout the winter. One that jumped out at me was a class in landscape design principles Feb. 11, at 9 a.m. in Falmouth and 1 p.m. in Brunswick given by Chad Skillin - 5th generation - and at 10 a.m. in Cumberland by Steve Mohr of Mohr and Seredin Landscape Architects. Another is a planting perennials party Feb. 18, where for $15 you get to learn the right way to plant perennials and take home two plants.
Chad Skillin also is teaching four-night landscape design courses Wednesday evenings - Feb. 1-22 in Falmouth and March 7-28 in Brunswick - at a cost of $35.
O'Donal's in Gorham is offering a series of classes for professional landscapers this winter, and company president Judy Johnson says they likely will offer consumer courses as well. The events will be posted at their Web site: www.odanalsnurseries.com.
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Morris Farm in Wiscasset, Merryspring Nature Park in Camden and Pine Tree Arboretum in Augusta all have programs scheduled. McLaughlin Garden in South Paris is on hiatus right now, but likely will have programs in early spring.
The Portland Flower Show - scheduled for March 9 to 12 - has not published its list of lectures yet, but I am sure you can learn a lot there. In addition, there is the New England Spring Flower Show in Boston March 11-19 and the Bangor Flower show April 7-9.
Cumberland County Master Gardeners is offering a March 11 (snow date March 12) trip to the Boston show. Tickets cost $40 and include the cost of the show. Reservation deadline is Feb. 11. Contact DRNPEDRO46@yahoo.com.
And be sure to check out programs offered by your town recreation department, library or local garden club. You can learn about gardening, get out and see some people and help the time go more quickly until it is time to garden again.
Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at: tatwell@pressherald.com
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