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histstmarys

St. Mary's Arboretum hosts Pruning Lesson and Work Day at Historic St. Mary's City On Saturday, February 18 from 10 a.m. to noon, the St. Mary's Arboretum Association will host its second annual pruning workshop at Historic St. Mary's City. Participants in this free, open to the public workshop can elect to participate in a beginning pruning session (focusing either on shrubs or trees, your choice) or an advanced pruning session on trees. All work to be learned and performed will employ on the ground, safety-first techniques. Emphasis too will be placed on determining when to call in a tree professional for home landscapes, an important lesson to learn when working with large trees and pruning equipment. Justin Mattingly, a certified arborist and licensed tree professional, will conduct the advanced pruning segment. Mary Alves, landscape curator at Historic St. Mary's City, will give a brief history of this site and lead the beginners' segment of the program, along with Cheryl Krumke, a master gardener and perennial plant specialist. Mattingly and Krumke are members of the St. Mary's College grounds team; Steve Gregory from grounds will join the instruction team also. Kevin Mercer, superintendent of grounds at the college, will be on hand to answer turf questions that may come up as part of the pruning and landscape discussions. Dress for the day's weather, and bring your gloves and pruning tools! Participants will be actively involved. We will be working on such Maryland plant 'standards' as: boxwoods, lilacs, dogwoods, crape myrtles, cherries, oaks and maples. Rejuvenation pruning will be explored, along with structural pruning. Mattingly will also discuss a perennial pest plant that plagues many local trees - ivy. He'll review how to approach its removal and long-term eradication from your tree beds and foundation plantings. Meet at the State House parking lot at Historic St. Mary's City. We will be working primarily in the old Margaret Brent boxwood garden area (for locals, near where the Brome-Howard Inn used to reside!). Everyone is welcome; there is no fee for this St. Mary's Arboretum Association outreach event. See the Arboretum website for this and other details: www.smcm.edu/arboretum/index.html