Lorraine B. Ballato
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Overview
Brookfield, Connecticut 06804Lorraine left corporate America and never looked back. Being reborn as a free lance garden writer and speaker, she uses those corporate skills to inspire civic groups, garden clubs, and other organizations on a broad array of subjects.
w: Lorraine's website about her book on self-watering
containers.
w: Lorraine's website listing upcoming public speaking dates,
recent articles, etc.
e: view email ladygardener@msn.com
Description
After leaving corporate America, Lorraine turned her passion for gardening into a second career as a free-lance garden writer and communicator. She wrote a regular gardening column for over five years for Housatonic Publications, reaching over 15,000 homes in northwest Connecticut. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including Edible Nutmeg, People, Places, and Plants magazine, Connecticut Gardener, and other gardening publications. She also writes a monthly gardening column for Fairfield County Life (Connecticut coastal area). In 2009, Lorraine published a book on how to convert your favorite container to a self waterer: Successful Self-Watering Containers which is also covered on her website: www.successfulselfwateringcontainers.com.
An Advanced Master Gardener, Lorraine teaches classes and speaks to civic groups, garden clubs, and other organizations on subjects as diverse as Foolproof Hydrangeas, Using Tropicals in Your Garden, Safe Solutions to Home Gardens and Landscapes, and Organic Lawn Care. The New York Botanical Garden and the Connecticut Flower Show are just two of the many venues that have hosted Lorraine and her programs.
Topics
FOOLPROOF HYDRANGEAS
No garden is complete without this queen of American shrubs. But will yours bloom this year? When should you prune it? Or feed it? And how much? Hear what Lorraine Ballato has to say about hydrangeas, including many recent introductions that have hit the market. Through slides and discussion, you’ll learn about proper care, the hardy cultivars that perform well despite over-enthusiastic pruning and finicky weather. You’ll leave this talk never again having to ask the question, “Why doesn’t my hydrangea bloom?”
Designing with Shrubs—The Backbone of the Garden
While introducing you to the many new shrubs on the market, Advanced Master Gardener and garden writer Lorraine Ballato will show you their fabulous foliage, discussing their low maintenance, and even deer resistance. Using some tried and true workhorses and these newer introductions, Lorraine’s slides will show you how easily you can transform your garden to a low maintenance, colorful space that will bring you pleasure for the entire growing season, without even a hint of a flower.
SAFE SOLUTIONS TO GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES
This fun and informative talk will open your eyes to the array of current products and techniques available to deal with common flower and vegetable garden issues as well as safe solutions for sick trees and shrubs. We’ll cover multiple options to keep your landscape healthy and better able to deal with pests, diseases, the stresses of drought and other seasonal challenges with little or no toxic impact on children, pets, the environment and most importantly, you, the gardener. We will NOT cover lawns.
TROPICALS IN YOUR GARDEN
Does it secretly bother you that your garden looks kind of dull in July and August compared to earlier in the season? Do you wish it looked more lively and interesting in the later season, even as your children head back to school when temperatures moderate and you're back out in it once again? Then come and hear Lorraine Ballato tell (and show) you how you can add fabulous zing with low maintenance colorful tropical plants that you might be more likely to find in Florida than New England.
NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S ROSES
Roses are such mainstays in a sunny garden. Who can resist their color, form and fragrance? If only you could keep up with the demands of trimming, spraying, and general fawning to keep them looking their best. Maybe that’s what has kept you away from them or maybe yours aren’t looking as good as they can and you don’t get the performance they’re supposed to deliver. Come to this talk and learn about the newer generation of hardy roses on the market which have been bred to deliver superb color, fragrance, and repeat blooms without all that fuss and bother.
HOME GROWN HARVESTS
Growing your own vegetables is one of the easiest things you can grow yourself, either from seed or using plants that have already been started. This talk is designed to take you through the steps you need to follow to successfully “grow your own.” From raised beds to earth beds to containers, Lorraine covers all aspects of a wide range of vegetable gardening. From preparation to harvest, you’ll leave this talk with lots of tips and information about this fun seasonal activity for the whole family.
THE INS AND OUTS OF SELF WATERING CONTAINERS
Ever wondered about these new fangled containers? Can a container actually water itself? Come and learn how a self watering container really works. This talk will take you through the design principles and horticultural requirement for growing plants in containers and specifically, those that "water themselves." You'll also get some insight into making your own self waterers using your current containers without a lot of expense.
NOTE: Lorraine also covers this subject as a workshop where attendees actually convert a self watering container during a longer session using Lorraine's book as a guide.
“DEER PROOFING” YOUR GARDEN
Bambi was a very enjoyable movie and won your heart but that was BEFORE you were a serious gardener. Now she’s not so cute anymore. Want to find out how to keep her away from your prized and lovingly tended property? There are successful ways to do it that won’t break the bank and this talk will cover those strategies. You CAN grow hosta and tulips!
LOW MAINTENANCE GARDENING
Life is too short to spend it deadheading, weeding, staking, and doing so many other things in the garden that come under the heading of “drudgery.” Until someone invents the gardening equivalent of a self cleaning oven, we need to garden smarter. This talk will give you some ideas about how to change your garden and gardening techniques so that you will have less maintenance and more time for all those other things in your life.
Locations
Brookfield, CT 06804
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