Speakers

Topic to be announced soon

May  16, 2023:  Pam Erickson 

Details to be posted soon.

All You Need to Know to Design, Build and Maintain Water Features in Your Garden 

January 17, 2023: Chris Schmidt

Whether your goal is to attract more pollinators, create a visually appealing focal point, a relaxing ambiance or even simply to block out noise, a water feature can offer both obvious and unexpected garden delights. In this presentation Chris discusses fountains, waterfalls, bubblers, ponds and streams and takes us on a journey from concept to completion and maintenance – the A to Zed of water features. 

I started in the water feature industry 18 years ago in Edmonton. I learned the trade with a company called Water Works Ponds and worked with them for two full seasons. By the end of my time there I had progressed to Site Foreman, seeing jobs through to completion. I loved trying to recreate nature and I really enjoyed seeing projects take shape and making my clients happy. Others recognized my knack for building waterfalls and creating natural landscapes and I also had fun doing it. Along with a passion for the work came expertise and the confidence to launch a business of my own.

The next year I started Pristine Ponds and Water Features Ltd. and ran this company successfully for 11 years. In 2018 I sold it to a larger landscaping firm trading it for more security and less stress. This also allowed me to move into a more managerial and teaching role, a position for which I was now ready.

Low Maintenance Garden Techniques 

March 21, 2023:  Marilyn Holt 

Soils sustain life. Most life on earth depends on soil as the primary source for production of food, feed, fuel, forage, fibre and pharmaceuticals.  The combined acreage that home gardeners manage is equal to or exceeds acreage that commercial farmers manage. Therefore, healthy soil in the home garden is extremely important. In this presentation you will learn about types of soil gardeners encounter, characteristics of healthy garden soil, steps to improve your soil, organic matter to add and when to add it, soil superfoods, trace minerals, what not to do that disrupts ecosystems in your garden, winter crop covers and the best ways to make new garden beds. 

Marilyn Holt is a gardening enthusiast, international speaker and past owner and operator of a Pelargonium nursery, exporting plants internationally.  Her interest is strongly oriented to organic gardening without the use of pesticides.

For seven years Marilyn held the responsibility as Editor of ‘The Bulletin’, the B.C. Council of Garden Clubs newsletter. She also held the position of Garden Centre Manager for the Abbotsford Buckerfields store for 12 years. 

Today, she shares her knowledge by putting on workshops and seminars for Buckerfields throughout the year while also speaking to numerous garden clubs and groups on a variety of gardening-related subjects.

“My interest in gardening started when I was in the 7th grade.  My family had just moved to a house on a small acreage and it was winter so the flower beds were bare. In spring, as little bits of green started poking up here and there in different shapes and shades, my curiosity was engaged as I wondered what would become of these green tufts.”

“In those early days, books were the only source of research so I joined the library where I got to study all kinds of gardening books to identify and learn about what was planted in our garden. My parents had no interest in the flower gardens so I was the one that took care of it, with my limited experience.” 

“Those experiences were what started me on my horticultural journey, and to say I was captivated would be an understatement as I can remember my father saying that if I got any more plants, he would need a machete to get through the door of my first apartment. Enough said.”