For the love of plants and gardening
Go green with the 2007 master gardener training class
June 28, 2007
BY LINDA
EDITED BY CHARLA BORCHERS
People develop all kinds of neurosis and psychosis from a mother-in-law. I wouldn't tell my husband that though. However, the one thing that my mother-in-law did for me was instill a love for plants and gardening.
Oh, yes, she did the other stuff, too. But my passion for gardening came from her. So when my husband complains that I spend too much money buying plants, I remind him that it's his mother's fault (God rest her soul!).
Any guess what plant my very first gift from her was? Why the mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata), of course.
'GREEN' IN THE GARDEN
Gardening is a wonderfully therapeutic thing. You can get your hands dirty and no one gets after you. Washing the dirt off, you can get wet and cool off by playing around and spraying down yourself and your spouse or children with a water hose after a hard day's work. The birds sing and the butterflies flitter around.
I love being out in the yard. I'd rather mow grass than do housework. And besides, the buzz right now is going "green."
There are a lot of people who possess a green thumb. But not everyone is as "green" as the next one. For some of us, killing a precious houseplant that a husband or cherished friend gives us, is mortifying.
So how do we develop a green thumb and quit throwing out dead plants?
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PHOTO BY VICTORIA COUNTY EXTENSION AGENT JOE JANAK |
CLASSES BEGIN AUG. 2
The Victoria County Extension Office, in conjunction with
the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, will again hold master
gardener training classes beginning Aug. 2. They are every Thursday (except
Thanksgiving week) until the end of November. The cost is $135 plus the
optional cost of transportation to visit the botanical gardens in
For your hard-earned money you get educated by leading
authorities in
The speakers procured for this program are some of the best in their fields. You will learn about plant science that is essential to everything else in gardening. How can you propagate properly if you don't know which end is up? How do you apply pesticides to your yard and to problem areas if you don't know how they will be absorbed? What do you do if you find bugs on your plants? Are they good bugs or bad bugs?
If your claim to fame is your vegetables and herbs, then come learn more to further sharpen those skills and increase the enjoyment you derive from being in the garden.
What about perennials and roses? Everyone loves roses. But
are they as difficult to grow as everyone says, or are you just not aware of
their criteria for optimum growth? Do you know what plants are annuals,
biennials, or perennials? Perennials can make picture-perfect areas of
otherwise barren space. With water being an issue in
Our speakers will help you to sort out all kinds of interesting details to help you manage your yard.
CLASS TOPICS
The following topics will be covered in the 2007 Master Gardener training class:
Responsibilities of
master gardeners; junior master gardener training
Botany (plant
science)
How and what makes
plants grow
Diagnosing and
understanding plant diseases
Plant propagation
Pesticide
safety/application techniques
Working with
Growing vegetables
and herbs
Identifying and
understanding insects
Perennials; roses;
Water gardens
Home fruit and nut
management
Tour of Corpus
Christi Botanical Gardens
Landscape
horticulture
Principles of
"Earth-kind" practices
Turf grass varieties;
irrigation
Plants recommended
for
While in the training program, you are assigned the title "trainee," and once the program is completed, you become an "intern." With the completion of 50 hours of volunteer service, you then are ready to wear the badge that designates you as "master gardener."
REGISTER BY JULY 27
For an application go to http://www.vcmga.org and click on "Members," then "2007 Master Gardener Training Application."
http://www.vcmga.org/MG_application.pdf
Who knows? You may even learn something "green" about gardening that you can share with your mother-in-law or the spouse of one of your own children.
The Gardeners' Dirt
is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an
educational outreach of