Gardening Fair At Ag Center

BETHEL — UConn Master Gardeners will offer a free gardening fair on Saturday, August 13, from 1 to 5 pm, at The Fairfield County Agricultural Center in Stony Hill.

Exhibit tables will include a Master Gardener Table, with information to plant, soil and gardening questions, and help with pest identification management; a Weed or Wildflower? table, where visitors can learn to identify whether an unknown plant is a weed or wildflower; Sustainable Turf Table, with various types of turf on view, where visitors can determine how to sustain their lawn with fewer chemical applications; and an Invasive Plants Table, with non-native plants and information on controlling them.

Free hour-long lectures and nature walks will also be part of the afternoon.

The first set will begin at 1:15 and will include “Designing with Perennials,” by Steve Aiken, a master gardener and editor of Fine Gardening magazine; and “Controlling Deer and Other Varmints,” by master gardener Carol Beerbaum. The 1:15 walk will be a Wildflower Identification Walk with master gardener and wildflower expert Carol Hunt-Stowell.

The second set of programs, starting at 2:30, will be “Sustainable Turf,” by master gardener Nancy Baker; and “Vegetables: What Do You Want To Know?” by master gardener Carol Weckesser.

Meanwhile, master gardener Lorraine Ballatto will lead “A Guided Tour of Perennial Gardens.”

At 3:45, the final series of lectures and walks will include “Enhancing Your Home with Foundation Plantings” by master gardener Nancy Gould and “Identify and Control Invasive Plants” by master gardener Larry Birch.

The closing minutes of the fair will include a free raffle of perennial plants at 4:45 pm.

The Agricultural Center is  at 67 Stony Hill Road (Route 6), easily reached from Exit 8 or 9 off I-84.

There will be ample parking, and a refreshments table with free water and cookies.

For additional information contact the Fairfield County Master Garden office at 207-3262 (Monday through Thursday) or the UConn Cooperative Extension line (Friday only) at 207-8440.