This past Saturday, I went to the Urban Gardening Festival with my friend Jordan from work. What a great event put on by the Master Gardeners of Davidson County! First of all, the event was free, so you know I was game for that. Secondly, they had a few informational tents with talks going on throughout the day. I went to a talk about gardening on the color wheel, which provided information similar to a previous post of mine.
The master gardeners tent was also available for Q&A all day long. I was able to get a few burning questions of mine answered. Number one was…I have a lot of ants in my garden. Is that a bad thing? Turns out, not so much. The woman I asked pointed out that they eat aphids, which is great because I have a giant hackberry tree in my backyard, which just so happens to attract aphids. Aphids are those great little bugs that turn everything black and sticky. This post from Fine Gardening agrees that ants aren’t bad.
My other question was about lamb’s ear. Mine is growing like gangbusters and spreading out all over the place. I asked her how to keep it in check. She said, “Hot and dry.” Also, you can cut it back to just two leaves and it will still return. BRB about to go hack back some out of control lamb’s ear. Pro tip: when someone tells you that a plant is easy to grow, do a little research first. Sometimes easy to grow can mean that it spreads very easily, which might not be what you want. I’m okay with the lamb’s ear for now because the bees like it and it makes a pretty border. Also, who doesn’t love the way it feels?
In addition to the tents from the Master Gardeners, there were tents from vendors selling plants, natural house products, food, and drinks as well as people providing information about native plants, invasive plants, compost tea, and more.
The venue for the festival was perfect because it was home to the demonstration gardens at the Ellington Agricultural Center. They showcased many varieties of gardens – vegetable, perennial, shade, xeriscape, containers, and even fairy gardens!
Probably my favorite part of the demonstration garden is that they used an old satellite dish to create a “xeriscape.” Xeriscaping uses drought tolerant/water efficient plants to reduce the need for conventional irrigation.
They showcased insect houses, bird houses, garden decorations and sculptures, and even containers made with pants! If you get the chance, check out the demonstration garden at the Ellington Agricultural Center. It can give you some ideas for your garden no matter how big or small.
