Saving the Best for Last?

This is the last Garden Beet article showcasing our Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens presenters. Have I saved the best for last? Well, who knows which will be the best presentation? They all sound exciting to me! Join us on October 27-28 and November 3-4 for Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens. Sixteen 1½-hour lectures with Q&A on timely and relevant gardening topics will be presented.

Be sure to register at jcmgamga@osu.net. The registration cost is only $30.00 for all 14 lectures; a little more than $2.00 per lecture. Now, that’s a bargain you can’t turn down! The zoom link will be sent to you the day before each symposium day and will be the same link for each class that day.

Speakers

Max Bennett

• Title of presentation: Trees on the Edge: Forests and Climate Change in Southern Oregon
• Description of presentation: How are the forests of Southern Oregon coping with a warming climate? Which species and ecosystems are most at risk?  How can we help local forests better adapt to the climate change, now and in the future? This presentation will review these and related questions while providing practical, “climate smart” guidance on native tree care for landowners and homeowners.

• Short bio: Max Bennett is a recently retired Extension Forester for Oregon State University. He spent 24 years advising forest landowners and managers on tree and forest health, wildfire mitigation, and small woodland management. He enjoys hiking and cycling the trails and backroads of s Southern Oregon.

 

Govinda Shrestha

• Title of presentation: What You Can Do to Identify and Manage Insect Pests in Your Garden
• Description of presentation: Gardening is an area where we would like to see no or minimal insecticide use. Govinda will share his knowledge on what integrated pest management methods (such as identification, pest monitoring, cultural control, biological control and biological insecticides) can be used to manage harmful pests in your garden.

 

• Short bio: Govinda Shrestha is an Assistant Professor (Practice) and Hemp Extension Specialist at Oregon State University. As an applied entomologist, Govinda has over ten years’ working experience in crop insect pest management. He is very passionate about gardening. Govinda sees gardening as a natural therapy center, improving mental health and family and societal bonding.

 

 

Neil Bell 

• Title of presentation: Avoiding the Green Meatball: How and When to Prune Flowering Shrubs
• Description of presentation: Often what passes for pruning in many landscapes is annual shearing of the plant into some sort of geometric shape; the sphere (or meatball) being the most popular. Besides being wretched and mindless horticulture, this practice often is more work than pruning to the natural habit of the plant. It also eliminates from the landscape the texture and form, and often flowers, that plants of different architectures contribute. This class will cover identification of growth habit and flowering of shrubs so that the array of plants in your garden can be pruned the right way at the right time.

 

• Short bio: Neil is retired from the OSU Extension Service, where he was the Community Horticulturist and oversaw the Master Gardener program in Marion and Polk Counties from 2000 to 2021. His efforts with curriculum development for the Master Gardener program were presentations and written materials on pruning of ornamental plants and diagnosis of plant problems, among other topics. Since 2021, he has been employed one day per week by Extension to assist with a multi-year evaluation of 118 olive cultivars at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora.

 

Maud Powell

• Title of Presentation: Identifying and Managing Weeds in Your Garden
• Description of Presentation: Understanding weeds is the key to controlling them, whether in a garden, farm or elsewhere. Controlling weeds can save you time and money and make room for the plants you want to grow and thrive. This class will introduce you to what weeds are, how to identify them, and how to manage them.

 

• Short Bio: Maud Powell has worked in the OSU Extension Small Farms program for seventeen years. Additionally, she and her husband own and operate Wolf Gulch Farm, a small, diversified vegetable and seed farm in the Little Applegate Valley. She is passionate about reinvigorating rural communities by strengthening local economies and increasing food and fiber production.