#GWA2016 in Atlanta

By Ann McCormick

I’m just back from the GWA Atlanta Conference and I’m still feeling the buzz. My days-and nights-with all my GWA buddies were filled with great information, valuable contacts, and lots of encouragement to continue getting the word out about how wonderful it is to garden. It is impossible to tell you everything I learned there. My To Do notes from the conference fill five pages. Instead I’ll just give you a taste in photos of my time in Atlanta.

Dirty Secrets: Gardeners Share Their Tips and Tricks for Hauling Plants Home

By Kathy Jentz

A reader of Washington Gardener (http://www.washingtongardener.com/) recently asked me to share ideas on hauling landscaping home, I rarely have a car-full myself these days as my garden is mature now. So I asked several fellow gardener communicators to share with me how they get their plants home with minimum damage to their vehicles and their green passengers. With GWA Atlanta on the horizon, those who live within driving distance may find these ideas helpful.

Talking Trees With Davey

By Katie Elzer-Peters

I am deeply suspicious of anyone with a bucket truck and a chainsaw. That translates into a fear of anyone getting near any of my trees. My eyes were opened and I felt a renewed sense of trust after talking with R. J. Laverne, Manager of Education and Training for Davey Tree. He is responsible for training all of the arborists that pick up a pruning device in the name of the company. His credentials are ironclad. On the academic side R. J.’s background includes degrees in Biology, Forestry, and a Master’s degree in Remote Sensing. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Urban Planning at Cleveland State University. R. J. is also a Board Certified Master Arborist (ISA), a Registered Consulting Arborist (ASCA), and a member on the Advisory Board for the School Forest Resources and Environmental Science at Michigan Technological University.

R.J. and I chatted for almost an hour about the way Davey takes care of trees and the broader ecosystem in which they grow. He began by outlining the Davey philosophy. “What we really focus on here at Davey is not only taking a scientific approach to tree care and landscape maintenance but also a broader understanding of how what we do on each individual landscape affects the overall environment of that community, region, state, or country.”