Marc Fadding will discuss the planting and maintenance of small fruits on March 16.
Ward's 2019 Spring Classes
Classes help customers plan and prepare their gardens by exploring different topics in more depth. Professionals make time to answer questions and guide customers through current and potential garden issues.
Classes are held in Ward’s greenhouse where flowering bulbs, cold-hardy annuals and herbs for early spring will all be available for purchase.
Classes FILL UP QUICKLY!!! To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
Seed packets have information you need to start them.
SATURDAY March 2
10 am – Seed-Starting Savvy
with Sue Lavallee, Coast of Main Organic Products
Sue will share her tips, successes (&failures), and wisdom harvested from many years of seed-starting. learn tips like pre-planning on paper, what seeds to choose, what type of soil and containers and how to avoid seedling 'assassins.'
Norway spruce trees are rarely bothered by deer or other pests.
10 am – Spring Garden Problem-solving
with Morgan Gasperini, Dexter Mason and Claire Ward; Ward’s Nursery Staff experts
Did you have problems last year with pests or mold? No flowers on your flowering shrubs? Are deer eating everything? Do you run from roses in fear and trembling? Bring your concerns and join the Ward's expert staff and other gardeners like yourself who have spring garden problems to solve.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
Summer Pot. Photo by Viridissima Design.
SATURDAY March 9
10 am - Container Gardening
with Jenna O'Brien, Viridissima Horticulture and Design; Becket, MA
The art of the container comes from creating combinations that can handle the same environment while making an impact of contrasts and similarities. Whether you want continuous flowers, herbs or even vegetables, containers and their mobility can offer new options.
Jenna’s slides will give you loads of ideas and the basic principles about designing a container; then, you will participate in the creation of one from Ward’s current plant offerings.
Appealing hardscape sets off the flowers and architecture. Photo provided by Okerstrom-Lang Ltd. Okerstrom-Lang.com
2 pm - Designing for Curb Appeal & Creative Outdoor Landscapes
with Craig Okerstrom-Lang, RLA, ASLA, Okerstrom-Lang Ltd Landscape Architects, Great Barrington, MA
Craig will guide you through design strategies to improve the entrance to your home. This class should appeal to beginning gardeners or new homeowners who want to celebrate their homes architectural features and minimize flaws with effective plantings and hardscapes. Attendees can take a few photos of their home’s problem areas and bring them for discussion at the end of the class.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
SUNDAY March 10
1 pm - Designing with Annuals and Tropicals: How to Care for and Maybe Keep Them
with Valerie Locher, Horticulturist, Housatonic, MA.
Let’s play with color! Experiment with inexpensive Annuals! Try out showy Tropicals! These plants give their all through summer but most won’t really last beyond fall because, yes, we garden in Zone 5, a very non-tropical location. But there are ways to enjoy these glorious plants in summer, fall, and maybe keep a few over the winter for next year, too.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
Blueberries need acidic soil and protection from birds.
SATURDAY March 16
10 am - Small Fruits: Planting and Maintaining Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries
with Marc Fadding, Certified Arborist, Horticulturist and owner of Marconica, Inc.; Glendale, MA
Learn to grow your own strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in your home garden from a professional. Marc Fadding has been growing berries for his clients and at home for decades, and will present tips on small fruit production – from soil preparation to harvesting.
Flowering PJM Rhododendron fronting Forsythia
2 pm - Ideal Trees & Shrubs
with Dexter Mason, Staff Horticuturist and Greg Ward, Co-owner, Ward's Nursery & Garden Center
Hear the merits of many familiar and some unfamiliar trees and shrubs that are perfect for the Berkshires. Some are native but not all. You may just find an attractive shrub or tree for that problem spot on your property!
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
SATURDAY March 23
10 am & 1 pm Sessions- Principles of Pruning for structure and sustainability
with Tom Ingersoll and Melissa LeVangie, Massachusetts Certified Arborists
10 am -11:30 am - Tree Pruning Principles
Are your landscape trees out of control? Proper pruning that starts at planting time can help with a host of problems: improving form and aesthetics, boosting disease and pest resistance, maximizing fruit and flower production, etc. Tom and Melissa will explain and entertain while demonstrating various techniques for enhancing the structure and health of your favorite trees.
1 pm - 3 pm - Shrub Pruning Principles
Are your shrubs a mass of leafy-stems with no flowers or looking dead in the center? Proper pruning that starts at planting time can help with a host of problems: improving form and aesthetics, boosting disease and pest resistance, maximizing fruit and flower production, etc. Tom and Melissa will explain and entertain while demonstrating various techniques for enhancing the structure and health of your favorite shrubs.
Special note: Earlier afternoon class than usual should encourage you to sign up for both if you wish. The brief break in the middle will allow for eating your own bag lunch or stepping out and picking up a snack.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
Lacey leaves caused by Japanese Beetle
SATURDAY March 30
10 am - Stop Bugging Me: Pest Prevention in the Garden
with Ron Kujawski, Garden Writer, Author, and Consultant; Great Barrington, MA
Improve your harvests by getting ahead of pests in the home veggie garden. Learn more about what the pests are, (insects, yes, but weeds too) and strategies for preventing some serious damage.
Herbs can grow in bright light indoors, too.
2 pm - Baker's Dozen of Herbs
with Sandy Merrill, Gardens by D’esign, New London, CT
Herbs may be the easiest plants to grow – so don’t baby them! They love sun and rocky, quick-draining soil. Most were just ‘weeds’ that someone noticed smelled nice when touched, and through trial and error, discovered how versatile herbs really are. Sandy will share tastes, scents, special qualities, and pest-control hints for 13 popular herbs.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
Oriental Bittersweet
SUNDAY March 31
1 pm - Managing Invasive Plants
with Jess Toro, Native Habitat Restoration, LLC; Sheffield, MA
Through Native Habitat Restoration, LLC; Jess and co-owner Sari Hoy assist landowners, conservation organizations and municipal agencies remove invasive plant species from sensitive environments and landscapes, and restore the diversity and function of native habitats. Jess will help you determine the degree of your problem and offer different strategies for clearing small to large areas of Japanese knot-weed, Bishop’s weed, Purple Loosestrife, Oriental Bittersweet, Phragmites grass, Garlic mustard and Creeping Charley and more. If you aren’t sure what your plant is, bring in a photo and sample (in a sealed plastic bag) to get specific advice.
To pre-register for classes, click this link to our registration page.
May 18th & 19th - 62nd Anniversary Weekend!
Garden experts are here from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday May 18th to answer your gardening questions!