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PREPARING YOUR GARDEN
FOR SPRING

Spring is the time of year when the leaves start to bud, the snow melts, the sun is up longer and gardens are coming back alive again. In this class, Horticulturist T.J. Oliver will cover topics including seed starting, spring garden preparation, choosing seeds for spring harvest, seeds that need to be started early and more. This class will include a walk to the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden for hands-on demonstrations showcasing what the Garden is doing to prepare for the spring and summer seasons. You’ll receive a seed starting kit to take home.

As an added bonus, participants of this class will be invited to stay after class from 4 – 5 pm for an optional volunteer workday in the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden! This will be an opportunity to get your hands in the dirt, apply concepts from the class in real time, and have additional time with the instructor to ask questions and continue learning tricks of the trade.

Fees: Member $39, Non-Member $47

All programs are subject to change. Pre-registration through our website is required.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden strives to be a Garden for all and we are committed to offering diverse adult learning opportunities that are inclusive and accessible to all learners. If you would like to request an accommodation to support your participation in an adult learning opportunity at the Garden, please contact [email protected] or call 804-262-9887 x328 and we will make our best effort to help.

Register Member $39

Register Non-Member $47

Date:
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Time:
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Event Details

T.J. Oliver

About the instructor

T.J. Oliver is a Horticulturist in charge of the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden here at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Since 2010, he has traveled all over the United States learning and working in Agriculture and in the Apiary business, including in Hawaii, California, New York, Vermont, and now here in Virginia. T.J. utilizes a no-dig gardening method, recognizing that macro and micro biotic organisms in the soil constitute a food-web community which convert available nutrients in the soil to the mineral components plants need to thrive, simulating the natural processes which the natural world uses to maintain fertility in its soil. T.J. cares deeply about organization, cleanliness, and views gardening as a visual art form, incorporating beauty, varieties of beneficial and ornamental flowers, and native plant species into his agricultural gardens. He also prioritizes compost, soil building, and ensuring a thriving mycorrhiza symbiosis between plants and fungi within the soil. In his spare time T.J. likes to fish, hike, camp, and canoe with his wife and also creates aquariums, vivariums, and paludariums which simulate the natural biomes for the many creatures he takes care of, all while progressing his knowledge of the natural world.