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Gardeners' Corner at the

Calgary Horticultural Society
The Society Takes Programming Online
The Society is working on offering a variety of web-based programs, including our April Member Talk, the Design Your Yard Workshops and Garden Fundamentals course. See the Classes section below for which programs are or will be available for registration soon.

Once we have details for the programs being offered online, they will be added to the What's Happening calendar. If a program title in the calendar is preceded with "Continued online", the program was in progress and is now being offered online to the registered participants so they may complete it—registration is not available to new participants. Current participants are being contacted directly with details about accessing the online program.

Visit calhort.org/What's Happening regularly to learn about available programming. We expect to need to offer in-home accessed program options until June.
Zoom Meeting
One of the tools the Society is using to offer web-based programming is Zoom meeting.
When you participate in a Zoom Meeting you will be asked to download the Zoom software. On a computer it should only take a matter of seconds. Once you have downloaded the software, next time that you participate in a Zoom meeting, you will be prompted to select "Open Zoom." You may join a Zoom meeting using the invitation without signing up on the zoom.us website first, but you are welcome to create your own free account with Zoom.

If you are using an iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device, you will need to download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store first. We are using the Zoom Cloud Meetings app.
Tickets
If you purchased Garden Show tickets online, you should have received an email from Brown Paper Tickets on Friday, March 20, with instructions for requesting a refund. If you purchased Show tickets in person at the office or at the March Member Talk, please call 403.287.3469 and leave a message. Gail will contact you about arrangements for refunding the ticket purchase. We hope that you will consider making the ticket purchase a donation by not requesting a refund. The Society appreciates any contribution that you can make.
Workshops
All Garden Show workshop registrations are being refunded. Watch your credit card statement for the reimbursement. If you have questions, please call the office at 403.287.3469 and leave a message.
Membership
Just a reminder that the "Bring a Friend" benefit is goes into effect April 1, 2020. A member will be able to bring a guest to a Society event for the member price. Please note that the Society is no longer offering a family membership
Community Gardens
Compost from the City Green Bin Program
Screened category A compost (for vegetable gardens) is available to community gardens. To request compost, complete the community gardens compost request form. You may find information about the compost program on the Society's website calhort.org/Resources/Community Gardens. Please note that the community garden must be able to pick up the compost from East Calgary Waste Management Facility.
Classes
Visit the What's Happening Calendar for Program Details
To see the calendar, visit calhort.org | What's Happening.
Design Your Yard
Now is a great time to plan your yard design project! The Society is working on offering this program using Zoom meeting, an interactive online format, which will let you engage directly with your instructor. Dates and registration information will be available soon.

Not sure what to do with your new yard? Need to reimagine your mature yard? Learn how to create a well-thought-out, functional yard in this multi-day workshop.  Homeowners will work on scale layouts of their own properties and complete step-by-step tasks to create a design that meets their needs.

Two people residing at the same address may attend this workshop at no additional charge, with the requirement that they work on ONE yard plan together. Names of both participants must be provided at the time of registration.

Participants will learn how to:
  • work through the process to develop a yard design
  • apply basic design principles and techniques for creating a beautiful, environmentally responsible, functional yard
  • calculate volumes of soil and mulch and access available resources in the community (such as free compost from the City)
  • irrigate their yard
  • select plants at a garden centre to fulfill their design's requirements 
Participants will need:
  • property dimensions - Real Property Report (RPR)
  • graph paper, ruler, pencil and eraser
  • wish list requirements
  • photos from your wish list


 
This workshop is sponsored by the 
City of Calgary
Continuing Online—Grow Your Own Food
Wednesdays, April 1 and 8
6:30 to 9:00 pm
Instructor: Kath Smyth

For those who are already registered in this workshop, watch for a Zoom meeting invitation. 
Trees, Trellises and the Art of Making Beautiful Walls—Member Talk Zoom meeting
Thursday, April 9, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Talk begins at 7:00 pm
Speaker: Edzard Teubert of Fuzei + Tree
The April 3 e-news will include information on how to join this Zoom meeting.

Join Edzard Teubert and the Society on a foray into the fine art of growing and pruning trees into wall trees, also known as espalier. Learn about developing “mother branches” for food forests that inhabit arbors, fences, garden forms, gazebos or even living parasols. You can produce abundant fruit or foliage while creating green walls in beautiful patterns.    

Cultivated wall trees have been recorded in China, Egypt and Mesopotamia for 6000 years. The technique was reinvented in Europe as “espalier”; at the time, espaliered walls offered the unique advantage of trapping warmth for cold-climate food farmers. It is often used today to grow fruit in small, cold, utility garden spaces.    

Whether it’s apples, apricots, cherries, gooseberries, grapes, pears, or plums, trees can be shaped to save space, grow food, or simply to provide leafy surroundings. This presentation re-introduces the useful art of tree pruning for shaping trees into forms.
Garden Fundamentals
Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19
9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Format: Online live meeting using Zoom
Cost: $100 for members, $140 for non-members
Register Online

This two-day course will be delivered online using live meeting (Zoom) tool. It's a video format so participants can see and speak to the instructor and classmates, making it an interactive experience—almost like being in the same room!

In order to participate, registrants need a computer with speakers (or headphones) and an internet connection. A video camera is optional. Further instructions and log in information will be provided to registrants the week of the class.

This course is for novice to intermediate gardeners and will help students understand aspects of gardening in this climate. Although this class is a recommended prerequisite for the Master Gardener program, registration is open to anyone. Topics include an in-depth look at climate, soils, compost, plants and their care, and botanical names.

Instructor: Elaine Rude

Pre-registration is required for this course.
Registration will close Friday, April 10.

Questions?

We have had to postpone several of our talks, workshops and courses. The Society's charity casino scheduled for April 21 and 22 has been postponed. Norm has been calling volunteers who were scheduled to assist. If you have not heard from Norm, or have further questions, please contact him at volunteer@calhort.org.
New Volunteer Role
We are seeking volunteers who are a bit tech-savvy, comfortable using a computer, and would like to be an in-studio monitor assisting the presenter for our online programs. If this role interests you, please contact Norm at volunteer@calhort.org.
Volunteers are a valued resource of the Society. The safety and well-being or our volunteers is important to us.
Please note: We are mindful of all the Society's future events and how the changing situation may affect them. Decisions about these event plans will be made closer to these event dates.
Be an Open Gardens Host
Open Gardens will be here soon. We are still seeking hosts for July 5, July 19, August 9 and September 13. Our summer dates already have many gardeners and gardens signed up for the tour but we would welcome more especially in the northeast and northwest quadrants of the city. We are also seeking more gardens for our fall (September 13) date. Do you have a beautiful display of flowering spring bulbs and shrubs that you could share with eager gardeners? Perhaps you have a fantastic view of fall colour that you could share? Then please sign up to host an Open Garden.

Gardens on the tour need to be interesting but perfection is not required. We welcome all types of gardens: food, xeriscape, low or high maintenance, half a duplex or acreage, showcase or a work-in-progress. Your garden and story should captivate the visitor for at least a 15-minute visit. If you're interested in being a host, visit What's Happening/Open Gardens on our website for details. Fill in the Submit an Open Garden form and one of our volunteer Open Gardens coordinators will contact you. If you're unsure if your garden is ready to be a garden on the tour, then note that in the form and a team member can help you decide.

Note: We are investigating offering virtual tours as an alternative to in-person visits, in case we are unable to gather gardeners for Open Gardens.
Support the Society

Membership—a Gift that Blooms Year-round
It's a gift that gives throughout the year—free Member Talks, workshop discounts, merchant discounts including garden centres, online resources, e-news, e-magazines and Open Gardens tours. Gift memberships may be purchased online—visit Membership/Join the Society and scroll to the bottom of the page. Or come to the office (208 50 Avenue SW) when it reopens, to purchase the gift membership and you can take the membership card home.

Start a Plan with a Garden Journal

The Society's journal is a terrific tool to help keep track of your plans and activity in the garden. The pages are not dated, so you can journal at your own pace, without the stress of finishing an annual diary. It's a great gift for a gardener for any occasion. Purchase this gardening resource and support the Society. When the office re-opens, stop by to purchase your copy ($20) of The Growing Journal.

Help Us Grow!

The Calgary Horticultural Society is a registered charity dedicated to cultivating Calgary’s gardening community. Your support helps us continue our mission to enrich the lives of Calgarians by supporting gardening and the enhancement of the environment through our programs of talks, workshops and courses. Donations enable the Society to engage Calgarians in Gardening for Life—every donation is appreciated. Thank you for supporting the Calgary Horticultural Society. Donate online.

When the office re-opens, if you prefer, you are welcome to drop by the office (208 50 Avenue SW) to make a donation or call us at 403.287.3469 and we will be happy to assist you.
Spread the word! 
Invite your friends to subscribe to this e-news. Forward this email and ask your friends to subscribe by clicking this JOIN link. 
Thanks—come grow with us!
Do you have a gardening question? Did you find a great source for unique seeds you'd like to share? Log in to the Members' Forum, choose a topic and let other members know. We look forward to hearing from you!
Copyright Calgary Horticultural Society | 2020 | All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
208 50 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2S 2S1
Phone: 403.287.3469

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