Spring Fling

Events sched­uled by Clark County Exten­sion, Mas­ter Gardeners

BY LOLA E. BILLIEL

SPRINGFIELD — While gar­den enthu­si­asts patiently wait for spring to arrive, plans are under way for hor­ti­cul­tural events and activ­i­ties in Clark County.

Mas­ter Gar­den­ers of Clark County and Ohio State Uni­ver­sity Exten­sion offer area res­i­dents an exten­sive all-day pro­gram, 2013 Gar­den Fling, April 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The fifth annual Spring Fling has as keynote speaker Kathy Smith, who is Ohio State Uni­ver­sity Exten­sion spe­cial­ist in forestry. Smith will speak on “Inva­sive Plants in Clark County,” such as hon­ey­suckle, and what to do to get them under control.

Linda Ase­brook of the Clark County Mas­ter Gar­den­ers said other pro­grams for Gar­den Fling include:

*Ask the experts where you can get your gar­den ques­tions answered

* Back­yard green­houses and how to build and main­tain your own greenhouse

* Con­tainer plant­ing shows how to plant your out­door con­tainer the proper way

* The birds and bees explores how to attract the birds and bees to your yard

* From seed to plant edu­cates one in start­ing their own plants at home

* Tree selec­tions helps you choose the cor­rect trees for your yard

* Lawn grasses explores what is new in grasses for your yard

* Perennials/succulents shares new peren­ni­als and suc­cu­lents avail­able on the mar­ket and lastly *tree plant­ing for suc­cess instruct­ing on how to plant trees correctly.

Par­tic­i­pants will also have the oppor­tu­nity to browse the gar­den bazaar to pur­chase garden-related items. Jo Brown, OSU Office Asso­ciate, said the event has won­der­ful pro­grams each year and the classes are always very infor­ma­tive. Lunch will be available.

For those wish­ing to attend, the admis­sion price is $7 and will take place at Ken­ton Ridge High School, 4444 Mid­dle Urbana Road, Spring­field. Addi­tional infor­ma­tion can be attained by call­ing 937–521-3860 or e-mail clark.osu.edu.

The hor­ti­cul­ture pro­gram in Clark County is staffed by Pam Ben­net, Hor­ti­cul­ture Educator/County Exten­sion Direc­tor. Not only does the exten­sion office spon­sor the Spring Fling, but it also has the Gate­way Learn­ing Gar­dens, which are cul­ti­vated by the Mas­ter Gar­den­ers. The gar­dens are used for hands-on teach­ing and are open to the public.

Included are an herb gar­den sur­rounded by sen­sory gar­dens and a butterfly/hummingbird gar­den. The peren­nial gar­den fea­tures the lat­est vari­ety of peren­ni­als. An Early Ohio Set­tlers Gar­den con­tains many of the plants that would have been planted in the early Ohio set­tle­ments. Many of the plants there are from heir­loom seeds that go back many years.

Also a part of the Gate­way Learn­ing Gar­dens is a Vic­tory Gar­den, which, accord­ing to the horticulture/extension depart­ment, is a 10,000-square-foot gar­den planted and main­tained by Mas­ter Gar­dener vol­un­teers and the SEEDS com­mu­nity gar­den project. Vol­un­teers plant and main­tain veg­eta­bles to be har­vested for local food banks. Cor­po­rate part­ners include Ben­jamin Steel and Gor­don Food Service.

Another gar­den is the annual field tri­als where one can see the newest vari­ety of annu­als being tested in con­junc­tion with the Ball and Win­ners seed companies.

Pro­gram Assis­tant Car­olyn Allen sums it up by not­ing ” the Spring Fling gives gar­den­ers a chance to jump-start spring and it’s a good way to start spring”.

For more infor­ma­tion on either the Spring Fling, the Gate­way Learn­ing Gar­dens or the Mas­ter Gard­ner pro­gram, call 937–521-3860.

March 20 is the first day of spring and, for garden-thinking indi­vid­u­als, it’s just around the cor­ner. This is a time when thoughts of bloom­ing bushes. trees, and flow­ers fill the minds of would-be gar­den­ers through­out west-central Ohio.

Lola Bil­liel writes for the

Sid­ney Daily News.

Posted by Rachel Lloyd on Feb 28 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.