The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga presents the Seventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium on Saturday, April 7, 2018 in the Mars Education Center. Geared for both beginning and experienced gardeners, this daylong symposium provides helpful insights from garden experts who live and garden in upstate New York and northern New England. This event is open by pre-registration only.
Focusing on easy-to-implement strategies for expanding and improving your garden or landscape, these programs are offered in an informal setting that encourages interaction between presenters and attendees.
This year’s featured speaker is Charlie Nardozzi, an award-winning, nationally recognized garden author, speaker, garden tour leader, and radio and TV personality based in Vermont. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun and accessible to everyone. In “Better Berries for Your Edible Landscape” Nardozzi will talk about growing berry shrubs, which has become more popular with the growing interest in edible landscaping. He will also be including a talk about new varieties of blueberries, brambles, honeyberries, currants, gooseberries, elderberries, and more that grow well in our climate.
Emily DeBolt, owner of Fiddlehead Creak Native Plant Nursery, will encourage attendees to “Go Native: An Introduction to Gardening with Native Plants.” Gardeners can learn about the benefits and beauty of gardening with native plants and learn which plants are great for monarchs and other pollinators and which plants can grow in tough sites such as clay soils or dry shade.
Ellen Ecker Ogden, author of The Complete Kitchen Garden, will discuss “The Art of Growing Food.” In this presentation, you will learn the six steps to successful kitchen garden design, based on classic techniques that anyone can follow.
Barry Genzlinger asks “What are the ten facts that everyone should know about bats and why should gardeners care?” His presentation focuses on the benefits bats provide for gardeners and the dangers bats currently face. Genzlinger is president of the Vermont Bat Center and rescues, rehabilitates, and releases hundreds of Vermont bats.
The cost, including the daylong symposium and a lunch prepared by Libby’s Bakery Café, is $85 ($75 for Members of Fort Ticonderoga). There is an Early Bird rate for registrations received by March 15, 2018: $75 ($65 for member of Fort Ticonderoga).
A brochure with the complete schedule and 
registration form is available on Fort Ticonderoga’s website at www.fortticonderoga.org by selecting “Education” and then “Workshops and Seminars” on the drop-down menu. A printed copy is also available upon request by calling 518-585-2821.
The Garden & Landscape Symposium is one of numerous opportunities for continuing education for the public at Fort Ticonderoga in 2018. You can learn more about these programs, including the annual War College of the Seven Years’ War and the Seminar on the American Revolution, by visiting the Fort Ticonderoga’s website at www.fortticonderoga.org and selecting “Education.”
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.
Photo: The Seventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium takes place on Saturday, April 7, 2018 in the Mars Education Center at Fort Ticonderoga. This event is open by pre-registration only.