Winter Pruning with Dave Cantwell

As Horticulturist Dave Cantwell demonstrates, winter is a great time to prune trees and shrubs. Follow his tips to make all the right cuts. Want to learn more? Tim Johnson, Director of Horticulture teaches “Pruning Principles” each March, before trees come out of dormancy. For more information on this and other classes, visit the Joseph Regenstein Jr. School at chicagobotanic.org/adult_education.

Make a Cement Trough Container

English trough containers are stone-like garden containers you can make at home from common materials. Here, Hannah Rohn and Heather Sherwood show us how to make a garden container from Portland cement, peat moss, perlite and water. These troughs are great for shallow-rooted hardy perennials, dwarf alpines, herbs or annuals. Examples of these versatile troughs can be seen in the English Walled Garden and Heritage Garden.

Nancy Clifton teaches trough-making and other garden workshops through the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Look for her classes online and in the catalogs. For registration information, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/school

Download detailed instructions on another technique for making English garden troughs here:
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/trough/cbg_trough.pdf.

Wonderland Express Holiday Wreaths

Many of the wreaths you see outside the Wonderland Express exhibition were designed by the Garden’s own horticulturists. We stopped by to watch them put together their wreaths for the display. See their completed wreaths as well as many wreaths designed by local florists and garden centers when the exhibition opens on November 27. To learn how to make your own, see our list of holiday decorating classes at chicagobotanic.org/school/holiday.