IOWA CITY — Johnson County Master Gardeners is partnering with GreenState Foundation to offer a hybrid Continuing Education 2023 on Sunday, March 5, from 1 – 4:30 p.m., in the Johnson County Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy 218 South.
Three presenters will be featured;
• Kristine Nemec, Iowa Tallgrass Prairie Center at the University of Northern Iowa, will address Native Plants at 1 p.m. She is the statewide coordinator for county roadside programs, providing training and education for Iowa’s county roadside programs, and conducting outreach to raise awareness of the value of roadside programs.
• Aaron Steils, ISU, Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist, will speak about Community Gardening at 2:15 p.m. He has been with Iowa State University for more than 15 years. In 2021, Mr. Steils became the Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist where he works with county Extension offices across the state to answer home gardening questions for all Iowans.
• Nick McGrath, Trees Forever, will present Planting Trees for Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Mr. McGrath joined the Trees Forever staff last year. Previously, he worked as a retail nursery manager with the Iowa DNR assisting private landowners, cities and counties across east central Iowa as they recover from the derecho and look to replant for future generations.
The JCMG Continuing Education 2023 program is free and open to the public and will be presented in person. Attendance is limited to room capacity and registration is required at https://go.iastate.edu/3RY76D. Attendance provides Master Gardeners continuing education credit hours. The presentation will also be streamed live on City Channel 4. The program will be recorded for rebroadcast on the City Channel 4 YouTube channel and the JCMG website.
Note: If the weather presents hazardous travel issues, an alternate date of Sunday, March 19, has been chosen. Updates will be posted to the JCMG Facebook page.
The Johnson County Master Gardeners program was organized in 1982. The educational volunteer program, sponsored by Iowa State University Johnson County Extension and Outreach, uses research-based horticulture and gardening knowledge and practices to educate people and coordinate projects that promote healthy communities. Master Gardeners receive horticulture training and volunteer to promote a mission of education and service. The program is open to anyone 18 or older with an interest in gardening and a willingness to use their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to make a positive impact on their local community. The organization celebrated 40 years of service in 2022.