Master Gardeners to display blooms of effort

By Dawn Anderson
Posted 6/21/17

By DAWN ANDERSON Listen to Master Gardener Sandra Cook of Warwick and one would think she spends her time in the kitchen when she starts talking about lasagna, squares, coffee grounds and tea leaves. But Cook won't be at her stove this weekend. Rather,

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Master Gardeners to display blooms of effort

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Listen to Master Gardener Sandra Cook of Warwick and one would think she spends her time in the kitchen when she starts talking about lasagna, squares, coffee grounds and tea leaves.

But Cook won’t be at her stove this weekend. Rather, she and 25 other Master Gardeners will be giving tours of their gardens and tips on how and what to grow during the eighth biennial Gardening with the Masters Tour put on by the University of Rhode Island Master Gardener Program (URIMGP). Twenty-six aesthetically appealing gardens from as far south as Stonington, Connecticut to as north as Cumberland will be on display capturing the unique interests and personality of each gardener. Seventeen of the gardeners are appearing for the first time on the URIMGP tour.

Cook has enjoyed gardening since childhood. 

“I just love it,” she said. “As I’m out here gardening, it’s quiet and contemplative. I can solve all my problems.” Her yard is at least two-thirds full of roses, peonies, sedums, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and much more!  

For her, maintaining an impressive garden isn’t work, it’s clearly a passion. A master gardener since 2008, her yard includes plants from the garden of her mother, who passed away in 2007, as well as her grandmother, a resident of upstate New York who died in 1976. 

This year, she also became certified in square foot gardening, although she’s been at it longer than she’s been a master gardener. Square foot gardening is the process of dividing the gardening space into small square sections, enabling a variety of plants to grow over time, with each square containing a different plant. On both days of the tour, Sandra will talk on square foot gardening at 1 p.m.

Also, she has a small area where she incorporated the use of lasagna gardening. Also known as sheet composting, it’s a method used which requires no digging or tilling and results in rich soil for the gardener. Ingredients range from wood chips, grass, straw, coffee grounds, tea leaves, seaweed, manure, and garden clippings.

Another garden offering extensive variety is located in Cranston with the serenity of Spectacle Pond in the background. Nancy Weiss-Fried didn’t know much about gardening when she bought her house years ago, but has since become a master gardener as well as earning her degree in landscape architecture. Her love for gardening is evident as you stroll through hundreds of varieties of greenery and colorful plants. 

“There isn’t a plant I don’t like,” she says. Her gardening starts in March and this year, she planted between 800-900 pots of plants with donations going to the Southside Community Land Trust and the RI Wild Plant Society. Some of her many flowers are arranged by color. One bed is orange, purple, and red, while another is yellow, blue, and white. The ever-changing assortment adds to the beauty of her display. 

“The garden’s always changing depending on what’s blooming,” she says. Her garden also features a re-circulating water feature which is set to a bathroom timer. Her extensive knowledge is not only experienced through seeing her garden and speaking with her, but also through her hand-typed document which discusses such topics as mulch, compost, garden design and principles, tools, and dividing plants.

Those taking the tour who have never gardened before could end up with a new hobby. 

“Go slow and start small, don’t overwhelm yourself,” Sandra advises new gardeners. For Nancy, it’s about jumping in with both feet and not expecting perfection. “Just do it,” she says. “It’s like cooking, there’s no one way to do anything.”

The process to become a master gardener includes a 14-week course on the fundamentals of horticulture. This is taught by URI faculty, extension educators, and leaders in the gardening industry. Topics include entomology, plant diseases, organic gardening techniques, pruning, composting, vegetable production, and more. Upon completion of the program, students are required to complete 50 hours of volunteer service to earn their certified “URI Master Gardener” title. The registration fee is $440 and the 2018 class runs January through April from 6-8:30 p.m. with specific dates being released in the fall. The application period is open until November 1 and both low-income and diversity scholarships are available. To apply, visit web.uri.edu/mastergardener/training.

Registration for garden tours closes Saturday, June 24, at 10 a.m. Area gardeners participating in the tour in addition to Cook and Weiss-Fried are Maydith Merz in Cranston, Elaine Hovey in Warwick and Bob and Diane Adams, Sandra Saunders and Erica Malinowski in East Greenwich.

If you haven’t registered yet, visit web.uri.edu/mastergardener/tour and purchase your $20 guidebook which acts as an admission ticket for both days of the tour. Guidebooks will be able to be picked up Saturday from 10-12 at one of three gardens on the tour. Their locations are Saunderstown, Barrington and North Stonington, Connecticut. As a learning experience, children under 18 may attend for free. Those with questions regarding registration can call 401-874-2900 during regular business hours or email coopext@uri.edu.

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