Gardening seminar sprouting in spring at Sandyvale
Apr. 11—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — These seminars will help you get your green thumb ready for spring.
A series of five greenhouse sessions will be offered in April and May at Sandyvale Greenhouse at Sandyvale Memorial Gardens and Conservancy, 80 Hickory St., Johnstown.
"Part of Sandyvale's mission is to educate the general public on different topics, and since we're considered the hub of the community gardens in Johnstown and have a working greenhouse, we just naturally decided to do seminars to give the public some tips and help in gardening," said Diana Kabo, president of Sandyvale Memorial Gardens and Conservancy.
She said the seminars also are a social gathering.
"We have several people who sign up for every seminar every year because they enjoy them," Kabo said.
"You get together with people with similar interests, and that's what also attracts people."
Seminars will run from 10 a.m. to noon and include "The Imperfect Garden" Saturday; "Water Gardens" April 20; "Spring Pruning Workshop" April 27; "Nature Journaling" May 4; and "Herbs" May 11.
The Saturday session will be presented by Jessica Crum-Lasko, a Penn State University-certified master gardener. Participants will make their own red clay seed balls and seed bombs to sow in their gardens.
On April 20, Jesse Stuver, of Stuver's Riverside Nursery, will speak on what plants to use and how to care for water gardens.
The April 27 seminar will be presented by Sue Konvolinka, Penn State University-certified master gardener, who will offer easy pruning techniques related to species and growth habits. Participants should bring gloves and bypass hand pruners.
The May 4 session will be presented by Sister Jan Franklin, a Pennsylvania master naturalist. She will show how to record nature observations through words, pictures and numbers in a journal. Take-home journals and colored pencils will be provided.
On May 11, the Garden Club of Johnstown will present a program on growing herbs, their use in selected recipes, samples for tasting and take-home recipes. Attendees will plant a mini-herb garden to take home.
"We try to mix it up and try to find topics that would be interesting to people," Kabo said.
She said the seminars attract both novices and experienced gardeners who are looking for more ideas and information.
"People will learn about different types of gardening and plants," Kabo said. "Maybe they never tried to have a water garden before and were intimated by it, but maybe this will help them to feel more confident about creating a small pond in their yard. They might not know how to prune anything, but this will give them some tips and they can go home and prune their shrubbery."
In addition, the "Sandyvale Annual Plug Fest" will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 6. Attendees will learn how to transplant plant plugs into six-packs. There is no fee to attend.
Cost for each seminar is $25 per person. Each seminar will have handouts and take-home projects. Refreshments will be served.
Class size is limited to 30 seats per session and advance registration is required.
To register, call 814-266-7891 or email dmkdaylily@atlanticbb.net to receive a form that can be mailed to Sandyvale, P.O. Box 41, Johnstown, Pa. 15907.
Registration also can be done online at www.sandyvalememorialgardens.org.
Click on "Event Calendar" and select the seminar of your choice.
