Gardening in the South

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Featuring Leanne Kenealy Atkins and Brian Jackson, Ph.D., Horticulturist and Professor and Director of Horticultural Substrates Laboratory, NC State University

Sponsored by Leaf & Limb

• Saturday, February 5, 2022 – 9:00 am–12:00 pm

Registration is now closed. Please join the waitlist to express your interest in joining us on Saturday morning. If the webinar doesn't exceed capacity, we'll send the link to join us online to those in the waitlist.

All registered participants have been sent the link to join the program online. The link to join the program will be sent to everyone again on Saturday morning.

Container gardening fits nicely into the active lifestyles of many gardeners who feel the pressures of limited time and space. Regardless of your limitations, growing in containers is freeing and provides ample opportunities to expand the plant palette! Brian will discuss potting media options for successful container gardens and Leanne shares many lessons she's learned from growing in containers to make you a more successful gardener.

Schedule

Saturday, August 28

9:00 am

Welcome with Arlene Calhoun, Assistant Director

9:10 am

"Proper Selection and Use of Soilless Growing Media for Containers in the Home Garden"
Brian Jackson, Ph.D., Professor & Director, Horticultural Substrates Laboratory, NC State University

10:10 am

Basil Camu
Chief Vision Officer, Leaf & Limb

10:20 am

Break

10:30 am

"We Can Contain the Plants, But Not Our Excitement"
Leanne Kenealy Atkins, Horticulturist

11:30 am

Q&A with the speakers

12:00 pm

Conclusion

Presentations

"We Can Contain the Plants, But Not Our Excitement"
Leanne Kenealy Atkins

Join us in learning some new ideas and fun plant combinations for your container garden! Leanne will discuss all of the tricks she has learned the past few years as a professional container gardener in downtown Durham. Let's talk about light, plant choice, and change out strategies that will keep your planters stunning and low maintenance at the same time.

"Proper Selection and Use of Soilless Growing Media for Containers in the Home Garden"
Brian Jackson, Ph.D.

The presentation will provide "all the dirt" on one of the most important components in any home landscape or plant production system … growing media! Guidance will be provided on how to properly select the right growing media for different uses as well as how to properly use it when you get it home. Proper handling, storage, pot filling, watering, and reuse or disposal are all important steps in assuring maximized use of the soilless media products you purchase. We will also highlight some other interesting and important topics including sustainability of potting soils, different components and ingredients, fungus and algae growth, as well as many others.

Speakers

Leanne Kenealy Atkins
Horticulturist

Leanne Kenealy Atkins received her master’s degree in horticulture at Clemson University. Her next stop was Moore Farms Botanical Garden where she worked as the production manager. She then worked at the JC Raulston Arboretum as a propagator for the garden but also as a research technician to Denny Werner, Ph.D. For the last three years, she has owned a container design business in the Raleigh/Durham area and is moving to Abingdon, Virginia, this winter to start building her own nursery.

Brian Jackson, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Horticultural Substrates Laboratory, NC State University

Brian Jackson is a professor and director of the Horticultural Substrates Laboratory at NC State University. He currently holds an 85% teaching and 15% research appointment. Brian teaches four to five courses per year and has taught over 2,600 undergraduate students since beginning his career at NC State. His research program focuses on the development, characterization, and utilization of soilless growing media in horticultural crop production systems which has given him the opportunity to mentor 14 graduate students over the past decade. Brian works closely with the growing media industry in North America and around the globe to develop new soil products for professional growers as well as retail hobby market consumers.

Cost

Free.

Registration

Advance registration is required. Please register online using our registration e-store. Registration is limited.

Location

JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC 27606 and online.

Directions

Need directions? Click here.

Parking

Free parking is available at the JC Raulston Arboretum and along Beryl Road.

Questions

Please write jcraprograms@ncsu.edu for more information about this program.