Released: February 28, 2008

Tree Festival Set at K-State’s Sedgwick County Extension Education Center

WICHITA, Kan. -- The 7th Annual Tree Festival will be held at the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center at 21st and Ridge roads in Wichita March 29, from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The event will provide information on selecting, planting and maintaining trees in the city or countryside.

Admission to the festival, sponsored by Sedgwick County Extension Master Gardeners and K-State Research & Extension’s Sedgwick County office, is free. A pancake feed, which begins at 8 a.m., will be available for $4 per person.

Seminars at the festival will include appropriate topics for both the homeowner and commercial audience, said Bob Neier, Sedgwick County horticulture agent with K-State Research and Extension. Plant vendors from around the region will have unique trees and plants for sale.

A display on forcing flowering branches into bloom for use in floral arrangements will be on exhibit. Activities for children will also be available.

The festival’s program will include:

• 8:15 a.m. Tree Pioneer Dedication

• 8:30 Pruning Landscape Trees – Janet Gordon, Pleasant Settings Landscaping

• 9:30 - Tree Planting Demonstration – on the grounds

• 9:30 - Right Tree, Right Place – Tim McDonnell, community forestry coordinator – Kansas Forest Service

• 10:00 Composting Demonstration – in demonstration garden

• 10:15 – Locate Utilities Before Digging – Tom Skinner, Kansas One-Call

• 10:30 – Tree Planting – The Right Way – Jason Griffin, K-State’s John C. Pair Horticulture Center, Olathe, Kan.

• 10:30 – Tour of Riparian Woodland Nature Trail (on site)

• 11:00 – Tree Tour of Sedgwick County Extension Arboretum

• 11:30 – Large Shade Trees – Varieties for Kansas – Bob Neier, Extension agent

• 12:00 – Evergreen Options – Planting for Winter Color – Bob Neier, Extension agent

Participants can take time to walk through the Sedgwick County Extension Arboretum and learn about trees adapted to central Kansas.

The 8:15 a.m. Tree Pioneer Award dedication recognizes the contributions of an individual who helped introduce trees that will thrive in our Kansas climate, Neier said. The late Joe Brady will be recognized as the 2008 Tree Pioneer.

“Joe and Catherine Brady established Brady Nursery in 1952 and contributed greatly to the quality of life in Kansas through Joe’s introductions of new tree species and adding species diversity to our regional landscapes,” Neier said. “Joe was the first nurseryman in the Wichita area to have a degree in horticulture from Kansas State University.”

More information about the Sedgwick County Extension 2008 Tree Festival is available by calling Neier at 316-722-7721 extension 140.

-30-

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kae Bowles
kbowles@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News