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Garden Talk

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"GardenTalk", a regular feature for The Gazette, brings to you the combined experience and expertise of Holly Lake's dedicated gardeners and others. A continuing focus will be subjects of interest to anyone who has ever bought a packet of seeds or dug a hole in the ground for a plant, as well as the dedicated and sharp-eyed observers of nature. "GardenTalk" will not only inform you each issue but solicits your ideas and personal gardening experiences which you may wish to pass on to others. The hope is that "GardenTalk" will enrich us all as well as help make Holly Lake even more beautiful.

Wood County Master Gardeners

(Reprinted from June 2009)

Wood County Master Gardeners got tips on everything from yard art to growing earth worms in a regular meeting of the Association Thursday, May 21, in Quitman.

Master Gardener Kathy Ladewig summarized three days of gardening-related sessions at the state Texas Master Gardener meeting in Marshall last month for members at their May meeting.

Gardeners need to encourage earthworms to enrich their soil, said Ladewig who attended a lecture by George Damoff, an earthworm specialist. A pound of red wigglers which can be ordered from worm farms can contain from 600 to 1,000 of the tiny composters, she told the group.

The vermiculture (earthworm excretion) will fertilize seeds and plants and can help suppress pathogens, she said. Individuals can set up their own worm operations by composting their kitchen scraps (no meat), grass clippings and leaves. Ladewig said she dumps her kitchen scraps in one location in her yard and "the soil has changed dramatically,"

Master Gardener Linda Timmons, who also attended the annual conference, said Damoff has started a worm survey for East Texas and is seeking pictures of all types which wiggle through soil in this region.

Ladewig also summarized several other sessions:

· When putting out yard art whether metal, wood or pottery, follow some of the same rules outside the home as you would in decorating the inside. Pay attention to scale and proportion and repeat lines or colors.

· One speaker told of his research efforts in China where he brought back a variety of plants he is trying to adapt to East Texas. One was a variegated leaf camellia and another cypress tree which grows eight feet in one year.

· Another speaker explained that the registered Earthkind designation for hardy roses that flourish with minimum care has been expanded to include other types of plants. Planting Earthkind plants can lessen the need for herbicides, pesticides and water, she said.

· A bulb can be propagated by cutting an X in the bottom, then dividing.

In the business meeting following the talk, Master Gardener Linda Avant said the association will sponsor a science event for four third-grade classes from Quitman Elementary where youngsters learn about plants, rainwater, erosion, compost, mulch and water runoff in fun scientific experiments at the Gov. Hogg City Park in Quitman on May 27. They will make a bug sucker to catch bugs, pot a perennial plant and make a plant sombrero.

Avant oversees the association's Junior Gardener program.

In August, the association will sponsor a workshop to show elementary teachers science experiments involving gardening.

Submitted for publication

Anita Baker

Wood County Master Gardeners

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903 962-7350