Groundwork: A Gardening Symposium

A rainy Saturday morning didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of about a dozen and a half of interested gardeners who gathered to learn from the several of members of the Master Gardener Association of the Piedmont. Originally scheduled to be held at several locations in Hatcher Garden, all three sessions were held at the Jesse Taylor Pavilion, due to the inclement weather.

The symposium opened with a presentation on Landscape Design by Master Gardener Jeanette Robinson. Jeanette elaborated on examining your landscape and the plants you want to place there. She also discussed the catastrophic change that Hurricane Helene initiated in our area, devastating local wholesale growers of most if not all their inventory. Word of the day: snag, a tree that is hollowed out due to age and is in danger of collapsing.

Next to present was Master Gardener Mary Snoddy whose subject was Growing a Pollinator Garden. Mary Snoddy was a former board member of Hatcher Garden and former president of the Master Gardener Association of the Piedmont. She puts up weekly blog on plants of interest. Pollinators include flies, beetles, wasps and bats besides the normally associated butterflies and hummingbirds. She went through the list of plants by season that pollinators like and look good in your garden as well a couple things to look out for.

Our final presentation was presented by Master Gardener Joyce Cooper Coggins on the subject: Gardening Smarter, Not Harder. When fellow Master Garden Lori Waddell introduced Joyce, she said they considered calling the session “Gardening for Geezers,” because your body is your main gardening tool, you need to take care of it. She broke down her discussion into “Mind Your Body”, “Easy Does It”, and “Cool Tools.” Like any other exercise, it is important to stretch before gardening. Protective clothing, staying hydrated and work in short intervals to conserve energy were among the topics discussed. “Easy Does it “ covered choose your time of day, decide before hand the tools you will need, and would different types of gardening would be best: raised beds, vertical and container gardens. Joyce then introduced some of the latest tools and adaptations of tools to aid in preventing damage to your body.

The pleasant and informative symposium ended with a tour of the garden by Executive Director Dan Shook.