Presentation Descriptions
FRIDAY, March 30, 2012
Birth of the Palmer Tree
Coalition
Judith Rice Jones, Founding Member
Colorado Springs' trees are one of the most valuable
components of our city's landscape. Judith will kick
start our day by describing the precious legacy from
General palmer and the importance of trees in our
community. She will also recount the forces that led
to the creation of the Palmer Tree Coalition and its
hopes for protecting these irreplaceable assets.
Urban Greening and the
Environment: What Does the Research Tell Us?
Dr.
Kathleen Wolf, College of the Environment,
University of Washington
Local decisions makers face tough choices as
public budgets decline. Reductions in spending for
parks, landscape and trees is a smart choice as
beautification and recreation are non-essentials,
right? Wrong! Research from the past several decades
points to a wide variety of benefits gained from
modest green investments in communities –
environmental, economic, and social. This
presentation will present the latest findings and
demonstrate why it is important to continue
investments in nearby nature to create vibrant,
livable communities.
Recommended
Trees for Colorado Springs
Becky
Wegner, Consulting Forester, Mountain High Tree
Care and Consulting
Looking to plant a tree that can survive and thrive
in Colorado Springs' erratic climate? Before you
make one of the biggest investments in your
landscape, join Becky as she describes a
variety of trees that perform well in Colorado
Springs. She will cover large trees, ornamental
trees and conifers. She will share her expertise
about how to choose a tree that matches the
conditions of your site, as well as color, fruiting,
and water requirements. For each tree she will
explain its best characteristics and potential
limitations.
Watering
Trees and Shrubs: Striking The Balance Between Plant
Health and Water Conservation
Ronda
Koski, Research Associate, Colorado State
University
How much water does a woody plant actually
needs to remain healthy? And what happens in a woody
plant when it doesn't have enough soil moisture? The
impact of water in the root zone of herbaceous
plants- as opposed to trees and shrubs- is fairly
easy to track. Generally, if you give a plant some
water, it will grow. And when you stop giving a
plant water, it will gradually die. While some
plants will begin to wilt within a few days after
water is withheld, others will maintain a healthy
appearance for weeks or months after the last
irrigation. How do these principles apply to trees
and shrubs? This presentation will present findings
from several woody plant water studies and relate
those findings to tree and shrub watering guidelines
for Colorado landscapes.
Drip
Irrigation Workshop for Residential Landscapes
Dennis
Slibsager, Ewing Irrigation,
Joe Dixon, Owner,
Dixon Irrigation
Carla Anderson,
Landscape Architect
Has drip irrigation seemed mystifying to you? Would
you like to achieve the water savings of drip
irrigation but are not sure where to start? Learn
how to design and install a drip irrigation system
without the headache. This is a “hands-on” workshop
designed to provide homeowners with information that
can be used for design and installation of drip
irrigation systems for shrub beds, perennials,
trees, flower pots, or vegetable gardens. <Back>
Shrub Pruning and Maintenance Workshop
Al
Wegner, Mountain High Tree, Lawn and Landscape
Company
Learn how to prune deciduous shrubs and evergreens
as the proper techniques are demonstrated. Covered
topics and methods include hand pruning vs.
shearing, rejuvenation techniques and the
appropriate timing for pruning various kinds of
shrubs.
Landscape Design for Water-wise Beauty
Loretta
Mannix, Landscape Designer and
Horticulture Consultant
Well designed water-wise landscapes reduce
lawn areas and create opportunities for useable
spaces with enhanced visual appeal. Discover how to
create landscape features that evoke the beauty and
drama of Colorado by looking to the plains, foothills
and mountains for inspiration. Join Loretta as she
shares before and after images of transformed
Front Range landscapes, plant ideas,
common blunders to avoid, and reveals how to craft a
well designed water-wise landscape.
SATURDAY, March 31, 2012
Every Yard Counts! How Everyone
in the Community Benefits from Quality Landscapes
Dr.
Kathleen Wolf, College of the Environment,
University of Washington
Since ancient times people have enjoyed the
beauty of private and public gardens. Many have also
had intuitions about the opportunities for renewal
and restoration that green spaces provide. Recent
research confirms those hunches, and adds much more
to our understanding about the positive returns from
nearby nature. Learn more about how urban greening
provides both personal and public benefit. In
addition new approaches to green infrastructure
planning and management include the potential of
both public and private green spaces to create more
livable communities. <Back>
So You Think You Want to Convert Your Bluegrass
Lawn? Alternative Lawn Options in The Pikes Peak
Area
Carey
Harrington, Colorado Native Plant Master,
Certified Colorado Gardener
Converting a traditional bluegrass turf lawn to
something else takes planning and work! I'll look at
conversion considerations (why convert? usage? soil
and exposure? irrigation? maintenance? how much time
will it take? how much will it cost?) as well as
some alternative turf options, their requirements,
advantages, and drawbacks. Using a buffalo grass
case study, I'll share advice on planting,
establishment, and continued maintenance.
Ruthless Gardening:
Learning Tough Love for the Home Garden
Shane
Smith, Director, Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
This is a talk on how gardeners literally love
their plants and their gardens to death. It explores
human nature in the garden and how our attitude
toward being more ruthless in the garden can
contribute to both a better more fruitful, enjoyable
garden and provide personal therapy.
Apple Trees for Colorado's
Front Range
Joel Reich, Colorado
State University Extension, Boulder County
Do you like the idea of biting into crunchy, sweet
apples from your own tree(s)? Of course you do!
While our climate can be challenging, with the right
information you can grow great apples. Joel will
help you understand how to a successfully grow your
own apples, with information specific to the Front
Range. Learn why ‘Honeycrisp’ is a great variety for
us, but ‘Granny Smith’ would be a terrible choice.
How do you choose between an M.26 rootstock and a
B.9 rootstock? What should you do if your tree
becomes infected with fireblight? All of these
questions and more will be answered. Topics covered
will include: variety selection, rootstock
selection, basic structural pruning, common pests
and diseases and site selection.
Soil
Savvy: Working with Your Local Soil
Dr. Jean
Reeder, Ph.D. Soil Scientist
Soil is the most fundamental component of a
healthy landscape, yet it is the resource we usually
know the least about and often tend to ignore in
establishing and managing landscapes. Water-smart
landscapes begin with an understanding of basic soil
properties that influence water infiltration and
retention in the soil. Plant-smart landscapes begin
with a selection of plants that are compatible with
soil type. Maintaining healthy soil that supports
healthy plants begins with an understanding of
improper management practices that contribute to
salinity and nutrient imbalance in the soil. This
presentation discusses the basic soil properties
that gardeners should understand in order to develop
appropriate management practices to create and
maintain a healthy landscape. <Back>
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