2013 Summer Garden Experience

Saturday, July 27, 2013 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

What is the Summer Garden Experience?

The summer Garden Experience is the one day every year that Landisville throws open its doors to the general public. While we always have a featured speaker and many concurrent educational sessions, the farm with its numerous research trials and the Penn State Flower Trials are the real stars of this event. Come for a fun day full of information you can use in your own garden!

What is the Penn State Southeast Ag Research and Extension Center?

The Landisville Farm, or SEAREC, part of Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is located in the heart of Lancaster County. Penn State researchers, Extension educators, and the USDA conduct cultivar testing of grain crops, forages, annual and perennial flowers, flowering crabapples, strawberries, tomatoes, pumpkins, and other horticultural crops. They also study disease, insect, and weed pest control, cover crops, inoculants, fertility, and other crop issues.

Schedule of Events

Featured Speaker Jack Hubley 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

A lifelong resident of Lancaster County and a multimedia advocate for the natural world, Jack Hubley will inform and delight audiences with his presentations on the wildlife in your backyard, featuring live creatures up close and personal.

Farm Wagon Tours 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 1:00 p.m.
Take a tractor-pulled wagon tour of the research farm and demonstration plots with Center Director Alyssa Collins or Extension Educator Tim Elkner.

Variety Trials Tours 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 12:00 p.m.

Join the Trial Director on a walking tour of the colorful display of 1300 of the newest varieties of annual flowers for bedding and containers.

See how alternatives to standard impatiens perform.

Pollinator Trials—9:00 a.m. Which plants are best for attracting and sustaining pollinators in your garden?

Extension Educator Connie Schmotzer shares information on the ongoing Pollinator Monitoring Program.

Pruning Trees—11:00 a.m.

Is your pruning know-how a bit shaky? Extension Urban Forester Julianne Scheiffer covers basic pruning and best management practices for healthy trees in the landscape.

 

Garden Photography

—1:00 p.m.

Master Gardener Laurie Collins shares tips and techniques for getting the best photos from your camera and your garden.

Build Your Own Bluebird Box—1:00 p.m. Make and take a bluebird box. Materials fee charged; register and pay at Info Booth. Class size is limited.

Throughout the Day…

Short Seminars

Check the information booth for times and locations.

• Gardening for Wildlife
• Winemaking
• Understanding Heirlooms
• Season Extenders
• Idea Garden
• Veggies
• Herbs
• Invasive Plant Control
• Turf Topics
• Container Vegetables
• Beekeeping Basics
• Garlic, Shallots and Leeks
• Pollinator Trials

Native Plants for Sale

Purchase great native plants direct from local growers. Also available, some of the outstanding pollinator plants from Penn State Pollinator Trials.

Master Gardener “Ask the Expert” Bring your garden questions and samples for diagnosis, identification, and recommendations.

Master Gardener Idea Gardens

Lancaster County Master Gardeners will be on hand to show you their native plant, rain, and pollinator gardens, decorative vegetable and herb garden, and raised beds filled with vegetables, perennials, and annuals.

Information Booth

Get a map, schedule, times and locations for all activities How to get there….

Directions

Southeast Ag Research and Extension Center 1446 Auction Road Manheim, PA 17545-9140 717-653-4728

FROM HARRISBURG: Take PA 283 east toward Lancaster. Exit at Esbenshade Road (just past Mt. Joy exit). Turn left at top of exit ramp. Immediately after crossing over 283, turn right on Auction Road. Follow Auction Road to “T” at Erisman Road. Turn right and follow Erisman Road around the curve. Then turn left, back onto Auction Road (just before the covered bridge). The PSU driveway is on the left as you go around the curve.

FROM LANCASTER: Take PA 283 west toward Harrisburg. Exit at Salunga exit (after the Landisville exit). Turn right at top of ramp, onto Spooky Nook Road. Turn left on Shenck Road (at the old Armstrong warehouse). Turn left across the covered bridge, then turn right on Auction Road. The PSU driveway is on the left as you go around the curve.

FROM YORK: Take US 30 east toward Lancaster. After crossing the Susquehanna River, take second exit (Prospect Road). Turn left on Prospect Road and follow for several miles. About ½ mile after crossing over PA 283 (4-lane highway), turn left on Shenck Road (at old Armstrong warehouse). Turn left across the covered bridge, then turn right on Auction Road. The PSU driveway is on the left as you go around the curve.