Delaware County
Master Gardener Association
Welcome!
Delaware County Master Gardeners are avid about horticulture and eager learners. This site is one way we share these passions and provide "environmentally sound, research-based gardening practices" with our communities.
Learning opportunities:
Recorded webinars on a wide range of gardening related topics...
Dig into a Book! Master Gardeners review their recent reading
Ask a Master Gardener Volunteer
Answering the public's questions about gardening using science-based information is an important objective of the Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program. Submit your landscape, yard, and garden questions here.
Therapeutic Gardening Team
October 2024
It was great seeing our friends at The Avalon of Lewis center this month. We’ve been drying flowers from their beautiful garden for weeks now. The Celosia, Ageratum, Gomphrena, Strawflower, Mist flower and Zinnias were beautiful! The residents had fun making individual vases to take back to their rooms. We made centerpieces for the dining room with Dunkin Donut containers and Alium donated by Delaware County Master Gardeners. Treats are a must, so we finished our visit with Ghost cups and nutter butter candy acorns. Looking forward to next month when we will be planting fall bulbs for spring.
Therapeutic Gardening Team
September 2024
The Delaware County Master Gardener Therapeutic Gardening Team (aka Gardening Goddesses) celebrated Assisted Living week with the residents of the Avalon of Lewis Center on September 9. Diane Harris, also a volunteer for Mops (Mothers of Preschoolers), recruited preschoolers to celebrate the theme, “Inspiring Generations.” Together the children and residents made thumbprint sunflower and fork sunflower creations. The residents played Sunflower word search and then sunflower cookies were enjoyed by all!
AMGS - OH Trees Class
September 2024
September 12 saw our last AMGS - OH Trees Class and It was a wonderful day! It started with a presentation by Laurel Anderson of Ohio Wesleyan University on climate change and its effect on trees.
One in six US tree species is threatened with extinction due to invasive insects, deadly diseases and climate change. Examples of global environmental change that directly affect trees are: rising carbon dioxide; rising temperatures (more insect pests); changing rain and snow patterns (more intense floods, droughts, and wildfires); increasing nitrogen inputs; increasing invasive species (including fungal diseases and insect pests); and increasied urbanization.
One of the many benefits of trees is that they sequester (store) carbon, and unusually store more than they release through respiration. The more carbon dioxide there is the more the temperature rises which effects how fast plants make sugar (photosynthesis) and metabolize sugar (respiration). However, when plants store too much carbon dioxide, they become "fat" and do not provide as high of a nutritional value to other organisms that feed on them.
The Amazon Is a huge carbon storage area but deforestation releases 20% of the annual global emissions. About 17% of the Amazon has been cleared as of 2021. It has released more carbon than It stored between 2010 and 2018 mostly due to forest fires caused by drought or due to clearing land for farming. The Amazon can only absorb our extra carbon during wet years but not drought; the future looks bleak due to warmer temperatures and expected drought. One thing we can do is create more tree canopy by planting more trees in urban, suburban, and rural areas.
Another positive note is that Ohio forests seem to be growing more under the current climate conditions.
Our next speakers were Karen Jensen and Karen Lewis, Franklin County Master Gardener Volunteers, who provided a brief overview of the Grange Insurance Audubon Center and about their AMGS-OH Trees project, which was titled "Good Trees for Birds." This project focused on the trees at the Audubon Center that provide food and nesting materials for birds. Signs were hung next to seven or eight trees that provide details on the trees and how they benefit birds. The class took time to walk around the Center to see the signs and the newest garden developed by Franklin County MGVs, which is a sensory garden that addresses four of the five senses (taste was not Included).
Next Gretta Kumpf and Susan DeVol, Delaware County MGVs, demonstrated how to measure the height of a tree with a triangle and a measuring tape. The class then had fun measuring trees.
Our final speaker was Elizabeth Mintun, a Columbus-based therapist who is trained in shinrin-yoku (forest bathing). Forest bathing was developed in Japan in the 1970s. Numerous benefits have been Identified through studies Including lowering cortisol and adrenaline, calming the sympathetic nervous system (for flight/flight/freeze), enhancing the parasympathetic nervous system (for rest and recovery), lowering blood pressure, and reducing anxiety, depression, anger, confusion, and fatigue after just 2 hours in the forest. Other studies found that people Improve their problem-solving and creativity abilities by 50% and ability to remember by 20%.
We then went outdoors and practiced shinrin-yoku. Many of us found it to be a very pleasant, calming, and contemplative experience (an engineer among us had to strain a bit to get into the mind-set).
As this was our last of the ten classes, we had a wonderful certification celebration. All but one of the 60 participants chose to become certified as an Ohio tree specialist and provide education on Ohio trees in their home counties. The celebration included a catered meal from Freedom ala Cart, a Columbus-based catering service that also provides life-changing employment and supportive services for survivors of human trafficking.
Each certified person was presented with a certificate of certification, a wooden book-mark with AMGS-OH Trees 2024 on it, and a ribbon imprinted with Tree Specialist that they can attach to their Master Gardener name badges. Photos of all the attendees from each county were taken.
Nancy Reynolds added to the fun by giving each person a hand-made bar of soap. The varieties included eucalyptus, cherry blossom, fir needle, cedarwood, juniper berry, and sandalwood. She also brought in a drink made of sassafras concentrate and club soda. Our donut guru, Joe Lansing of Franklin County, brought donuts for all, as he has for most of the classes (he was always joyfully welcomed!). And Jenny Hayes, also of Franklin County, brought Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies for everyone. As usual, we had others sharing items from their gardens.
The AMGS-OH Trees committee is wrapping up all the loose ends, which includes reviewing the participants' evaluations, sending each county's MGV coordinator a copy of the PDF that details all the projects as well as a copy of the county's attendees, and developing a final report for OSUE.