If the winter weather has you daydreaming of your garden, the Ladysmith Community Gardens Society hopes to help fuel those dreams by offering a limited number of tickets to its 2013 Garden Speaker Series.
The Ladysmith Community Gardens Society and Town of Ladysmith are offering four informative presentations during the Garden Speaker Series, which runs Feb. 12 to March 12.
The five-speaker package is currently on sale for $25, and there will only be individual tickets on sale after Jan. 19.
Each presentation takes place at the Frank Jameson Community Centre.
The first presentation is Orchard Mason Bees, and it takes place Tue, Feb. 12 from 7-9 p.m.
Bee breeder Rose McCulley of J&R Farm will get you started on bee breeding.
Orchard Mason Bees are early spring pollinators, and McCulley will show participants how to introduce Mason bees into their yard and how to keep them healthy and active throughout their pollinating cycle.
On Tue, Feb, 19, Dorothee Kieser will speak about Pruning Fruit Trees from 7-9 p.m.
Kieser, a local Master Gardener, will share her expertise on why, when and how to prune trees and shrubs to improve the form or shape of your fruit trees and increase yields.
The next session will take place Tue, Feb. 26 from 7-9 p.m.
Joan Gerlitzki will provide an introduction to companion gardening, and participants will learn how to use plants to repel trees, attract bees and create nutrients that maximize yields.
On Tue, March 5, Linda Gilkeson of Year Round Harvest will lead a session on how to Grow the Most Food in the Smallest Space (With the Least Work) from 7-9 p.m.
Learn how to increase your harvest of organically-grown fruit and vegetables from gardens of any size using easy, low-maintenance methods that will leave you plenty of time to smell the roses.
The final session of the series takes place Tue, March 12 from 7-9 p.m.
Dirk Becker will lead a session called Grow Food Sustainably — Change Your Life.
Becker, voted one of Nanaimo’s Top 20 Most Powerful People three years in a row, will passionately share how to grow more food using less land, space, soil and water.
For more information about the Garden Speaker Series, contact Joanne at 250-245-3640 or jobath@shaw.ca.