Gardening in Your Environment’ classes

Brighten up your winter evenings as you prepare for the 2008 gardening season, and make this your best gardening year ever! The Master Gardeners of Adams County are teaming up with the Hanover Area Family YMCA in January and February of 2008 with gardening classes to be held at the Y.

The class will target novice to intermediate gardeners with this 7-week course on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., beginning January 9th. The format is a one hour lecture followed by a half hour Question and Answer session. Appropriate handouts will be distributed at each class. A variety of topics to be covered will provide an excellent background of information for all types of gardening.

The January topics start with ‘Gardening 10l’ on January 9. This class will provide basic gardening knowledge from the ground up: soils, compost, soil testing, and an overview of annuals, perennials, vegetables and more. On January 16, the topic will be ‘Bugs and Other Problems”. This course will teach how to apply modern approaches to garden pests and diseases, relying on the research and information provided by Penn State University.

On January 23, the class will be ‘Landscaping Basics’. Understand site preparation, how to select and then care for the correct plants for your environment, before you begin your next gardening project. January 30 will be a snow make-up date for any of the first three classes.

Beginning February 6, the class will feature ‘Native Plants’. Learn how to make your gardening easier by using the plants which have developed over time in our region, and survive our weather and insects. You will learn about the plants, as well as native plant sources in the region. Gardening with native plants reduces water consumption once the plants are established, and provides food, shelter and homes for wildlife.

“Woody Ornamentals’ will help you become familiar with bushes and trees available in the nursery trade, proper site selection, and the care level required by the varieties that interest you. The ‘Perennials’ class will answer all your questions about selection, care, dividing and maintenance of perennial plants.

The final class ‘Vegetable growing’ will include crop rotation basics, soil improvement, the right plant in the right place, and growing vegetables in containers.


Plan now to get ready for spring planting season by increasing your gardening know-how. For information, or to receive a YMCA winter brochure, call the YMCA at 632-8211.

We spirited Master Gardeners of Adams County look forward to seeing you there!

Becoming a Adams' Master Gardener

The Master Gardener program began in Adams County in 1990, with two Master Gardeners supporting the program. It is now 62 people strong! As a Penn State Master Gardener, volunteers commit their time and knowledge to assist Penn State Cooperative Extension in educating groups as well as individuals on proper horticultural practices. They have been trained to share their gardening knowledge with county residents under the direction of Penn State Cooperative Extension.

There's great pride and community service involved when becoming a Master Gardener.

Master Gardener Green Thumb Topics

If you are an avid gardener like I am, you have probably been sifting through the deluge of seed and plant catalogs that have arrived in the mail and are hoping for an early spring. To help get through these last weeks of winter, why not let the Adams County Master Gardeners help you enhance your gardening skills by attending their annual Green Thumb Series during March. They will be addressing several important topics.

All of us are concerned about the use of chemical pesticides in our food sources. More and more of us are buying organic foods in the marketplace and/or are choosing to grow our own vegetables and fruits. This year the series will be highlighting organic gardening practices including the use of organic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers as well as techniques such as companion planting and insect controls.

Water conservation and our area's recent years of summer drought have been another valid concern so one of the classes will focus on water wise gardening techniques and practices. This will include choosing plants suitable to our area, maintaining good soil heath, proper fertilization, use of compost and mulches; and water saving practices like home irrigation systems and rain water collection barrels.

Have limited gardening space? Solve that problem by learning how to use window boxes and other containers to grow your herbs and flowers.

Want to attract more butterflies to your garden? Come and learn about the types of host plants and nectar plants you can grow to encourage butterfly populations to come into your garden.

And finally, let's get the kids involved! A lot of children have no idea where the food they eat comes from (other than the grocery store). Come to our special Saturday seminar and learn how to get your children involved in gardening. You say you don't have any children or they have all grown up? Well, how about grandchildren, nieces, nephews or friends? With your guidance, the kids can plan and plant a small garden of their own while having a fun and educational experience. And who knows, they may even learn to enjoy eating their vegetables.

Program cost is $5.00 per session or attend all five sessions for $20.00. Pre-registration is required. You can pick up a brochure at Adams County Extension Office at 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg; or call

717-334-6271 to request a brochure or to register by phone. Here is a complete schedule of classes:

Organic Gardening - Monday, March 10, 2008 6:30-8:30 p.m.

This class will introduce you to the world of organic gardening. Master Gardeners Tom and Madeline Wajda, owners of a local certified organic farm, will share their expertise and explain methods of organic gardening. Discussion will include the use of organic pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides. Master Gardener Martie Young will follow up with a discussion of how to identify good and bad insects in your garden and the control options of these common garden insects.

Gardening with Children - Saturday, March 15, 2008 10-11 a.m.

Master Gardener Marann Jones will show you how gardening with children can be a fun experience for adults and a fun hands-on learning experience for children of all ages. Without realizing it children will be learning about botany, horticulture practices and garden design. Tips will be given on starting a small vegetable garden including how to work together with your child in planning and planting that garden and the easy to grow plants and seeds you can use.

Applying Water Conservation Practices in your Garden - Monday March 17, 2008 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Presenters Suse Greenstone, Roy Thomas and Phil Peters will teach you about the truths, myths and principles of xeriscaping in your garden. They will present groups of plants that do well in our region and will tolerate our ever changing environment. Soil health, soil testing, fertilization, mulches and composting as well as home irrigation systems and rain water collection will be discussed.

Companion Planting and Culinary Container Herbs -Monday, March 24, 2008 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Master Gardener Nickie James will explain the practice of planting certain plant species, often herbs, in close association with crop plants to repel pests. Then Master Gardener Judy Bryant will address ways to grow herbs in containers. This will be especially helpful for those of you who have limited gardening space. Judy will discuss different culinary herbs suitable for containers.

Think Inside the Window Box and Gardening to Attract Butterflies -Monday, March 31, 2008 6:30 -8:30 p.m.

During this session you will learn about selection of plants and design of window boxes. Master Gardener Nancy Gmeiner will demonstrate how to plant and maintain window boxes and will discuss suitable plant combinations you can use during the different seasons of the year. Master Gardener Nickie James will follow up by teaching you how to attract butterflies to your garden by planting host plants for the larvae and nectar plants to supply the food needed to keep a continuous succession of new visitors to your garden.

Penn State in Adams County is located at 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325, phone 334-6271 or 1-888-472-0261.

As you can easily see, the Penn State Master Gardeners of Adams County are a very active group. Lots of educational opportunities for the home gardener are offered through this program. To become a Penn State Master Gardener, one must complete a thirteen week course that covers information on botany, plant propagation, insects and diseases, plant identification, diagnostics, and much more. Upon completion of this 14 week course, the Master Gardener trainee must dedicate 50 hours of volunteer time to the Master Gardener program throughout the following year. There is a small cost of $80 for the training to cover costs of the manual, handouts, and instructors.

If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener, please contact Mary Ann Ryan at 717-334-6271, ext. 319 or email at mar35@psu.edu. An application and additional information about our program in Adams County will be sent to you.

Penn State in Adams County is located at 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325, phone 334-6271 or 1-888-472-0261.