Horticulture and Gardening Classes
Deepen your connection to trees and nature by gaining a better understanding of plants, garden design, and best practices for the landscape garden.
See a brief overview of the course, dates, time, and cost. If you would like additional information about the class or to register, click on the course number and title or call the Registrar's Office at 630-719-2468.
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NEW!
H127 - VIBURNUMS
Sarah Perry, Horticulturist II, The Morton Arboretum
Viburnums are a great addition to a woodland restoration or a home landscape. Learn to identify native viburnums, explore their ecology and attractive spring features and learn more about their habitat and cultural requirements.
Note: This class meets both indoors and outdoors. Please dress for the weather and for walking over uneven terrain.
Certificate Information: Can be used as a Naturalist Certificate, Home Landscape Gardening or WSTP Elective (3 hours)
Saturday, May 18; 9:00 a.m.– noon, Research Center, Botany Lab.
Member $18 (Non-member $25)
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H349 - PERENNIAL MAINTENANCE WALKING TOUR
Donna Smith, Horticulturist II, The Morton Arboretum
Most perennial gardens look their best when given a bit of care throughout the growing season. Walk through the Arboretum's perennial groupings to talk about maintenance chores such as cutting back, pinching, deadheading, deadleafing, and disease and insect control on a wide variety of perennials.
Note: Held entirely outdoors.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (2 hours)
Tuesday, May 21; 6:00– 8:00 p.m., Visitor Center Entry
Member $18 (Non-member $21)
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N050 - OAKS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT
Philip Riske, The Morton Arboretum
Oaks are a majestic, prominent feature of Illinois woodlands and savannahs. Explore the natural history of Illinois oaks, learn their names, discuss their distribution, ecology, and culture in home landscapes and visit the Arboretum's outstanding oak collection.
Saturday, May 18; 1:00– 4:00 p.m., Research Center
Member $18 (Non-member $25)
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Summer Garden Discovery Programs
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NEW!
H022 EASY SUMMER PARTY ARRANGEMENTS
Emmy Lou John and Linda Valenti, Arboretum Botanical Arrangers
Rise above the rest with outstanding arrangements for your summer festivities. The Arboretum's botanical arrangers will show you how to use flowers and plants from your own backyard to make easy botanical displays with real wow factor. Leave class with a finished arrangement.
Note: Held indoors
Supplies: A supply list will be sent to students.
Sunday, June 23; 2:00 – 4:00 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $35 (nonmember $43)
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JoAnne Laudolff, Nature Artist
We will embellish a sketchbook to record your garden in all it's splendor. Learn to keep a record of what worked in the garden and what didn't. We will use your photos, nature prints and pressings to create a journal you can refer to in those winter months ahead.
Prerequisite: No art background necessary
Certificate Information: Art Certificate Elective (5 hours)
Sunday, July 21; 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $60 (nonmember $71)
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S729 Stress Management In Urban Trees
Rex Bastian, The Care of Trees
Stress is a significant factor in the health and longevity of urban trees. Whether the cause is compaction, root injury, salt, too much water, too little water or other factors, stressed trees are more vulnerable to additional stressors, including certain insects and diseases. Learn what to expect from trees and landscape plants in urban environments, how to recognize marginal sites and how to minimize the impacts of stress.
This field-based workshop is intended primarily for arborists, landscape contractors, and others who work with trees in a professional capacity. Topics will include common diseases and insect pests of trees and their management, abiotic tree stresses, issues associated with improper planting and pruning, stem decays and hazard trees, and more! In the classroom, we will cover major tree health issues affecting native and ornamental trees in urban and rural residential settings. Then we will then go outside to explore signs of stress in plants at the Arboretum.
Note: Held both indoors and outdoors. Please dress for the weather.
Supplies: Fee includes all workshop handouts, morning refreshments and a box lunch.
Intended Audience: Advanced students and professionals.
Certificate Information: Can be used as a Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (5 hours)
Thursday, July 25; 9 a.m.– 2:30 p.m.. Botany Lab, Research Center.
Member $55 (nonmember $65 )
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NEW!
H555 FIELD TRIP: THE GARDENS AT BALL
Susan Schmitz, Trials and Education Manager, Ball Horticultural Corporation
Join us for a unique opportunity to visit The Gardens at Ball, usually reserved for the wholesale customers of the 108-year-old Ball Horticultural Company, a world leader in the breeding, production, distribution and marketing of horticultural products. An exciting new sustainable landscape has been completed along the front of the Ball property with enhancements to the perennial and Central Park gardens also planned for 2013. More than ten acres of gardens include thousands of annual, perennial and shrub varieties in the main gardens along with flowers and vegetables in the All-America Selections evaluation trials and additional native plantings in the wetlands and woodlands restoration areas.
Driving Directions: Directions will be sent to registrants.
Friday August 9, 10:00 – Noon. Offsite.
Member $22 (nonmember $30 )
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Summer Certificate Core
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H173 LANDSCAPE PLANTS: Early Summer
Marcy Stewart-Pyziak, The Gardeners' Tutor
Learn to identify the plants that will help you create a beautiful home landscape. In early summer, Weigela cultivars delight the eye with beautiful and varied foliage and bright, tubular blossoms that attract hummingbirds and the small blossoms of Littleleaf linden fill the air with a sweet nectar scent. Learn more about Weigela and lindens, along with approximately 30 trees and shrubs that are top performers in the Midwest. Explore their characteristics, growth requirements, and how they add interest and structure to your garden.
Note: Held indoors and outdoors. Please dress for the weather, including sun protection.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Requirement (9 hours)
2 Thursdays, June 6 & 13; 6:00 – 9:00 pm & Saturday, June 15; 9:00 am – Noon. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $108 (nonmember $127 )
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H174 LANDSCAPE PLANTS: Late Summer
Marcy Stewart-Pyziak, The Gardeners' Tutor
In late summer, flowering shrubs and elegant shade trees add interest and structure to the garden while providing habitat and food sources for local wildlife. Learn to identify approximately 30 selected native and exotic shrubs, which are at the peak of their beauty in July, by height, form, leaf texture, and flower. Discover how knowing a plant's requirements, habits, and care can reduce maintenance time and costs and determine how to select trees and shrubs that will work in your landscape.
Note: Held indoors and outdoors. Please dress for the weather, including sun protection.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Requirement (9 hours)
2 Thursdays, July 18 – 25; 6:00 – 9:00 pm & Saturday, July 27; 9:00am – Noon. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $108 (nonmember $127 )
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H426 DIAGNOSING PLANT DISEASES
Donna Danielson, Arboretum Instructor
Learn to use the diagnostic process to sort symptoms into categories that include fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases of woody plants and understand how to manage plantings to resist problems. Become acquainted with seasonal disease threats in the classroom and then spend a morning identifying them in the field.
Note: Please dress for the weather and for hiking off-trail on Saturday sessions.
Recommended Text: A list of recommended references will be distributed in class.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening or Naturalist Certificate elective (9 hours); may be used to fill a Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Requirement.
Tuesday, June 11 & Thursday, June 13; 6:30 - 9:30 pm, & Saturday, June 15, 9:00 am – Noon. Research Center.
Member $89 (nonmember $105 )
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Summer Certificate Electives
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NEW!
H363 EVERY DROP COUNTS: PLANTS FOR DRY CONDITIONS
Susan Schmitz, Trials and Education Manager, Ball Horticultural Corporation
Lower your maintenance and select plants that thrive in dry places! Tired of spending so much time watering? Susan will explore annuals and perennials that thrive under drier conditions, discuss garden favorites and introduce you to what is new on the market.
Note: Held indoors
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (2 hours)
Thursday, May 30, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Research Center.
Member $22 (nonmember $30)
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H200 GARDENING WITH BENEFICIAL INSECTS
Mark Omi, Oak Park Conservatory
Dave Rogers' Big Bugs Program
Ladybugs, praying mantis and other insects can often help in controlling unwanted insect pests in the home landscape. Learn to recognize these friendly helpers and how to acquire and nurture their populations for your garden. Mark has managed the beneficial insects program at Oak Park Conservatory for the past 13 years and will help you gauge their effectiveness as alternatives to traditional pesticides.
Note: Held indoors & outdoors.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (2 hours)
Wednesday, June 5; 6:30 – 9:30 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $22 (nonmember $30)
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H373 GET CONTINUOUS GARDEN COLOR
Marcy Stewart-Pyziak, The Gardeners' Tutor
Keep your garden colorful all season long! Discover how to combine brightly colored perennials and grasses to keep your garden in continuous bloom. Marcy will share garden favorites and some unusual selections for early, middle and late summer color and show you combinations that make these plants pop.
Note: Held indoors
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (3 hours)
Tuesday, June 11; 6:00 – 9:00 pm. Research Center.
Member $35 ($43 )
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NEW!
Sharon Yiesla, Plant Clinic Assistant
Want a beautiful garden that is less work and water wise? Lower your maintenance load with these take-home landscape strategies. You'll learn an array of smart gardening tips including garden bed reduction by priority, the creation of lawn "islands," increased use of native plants at your property edges, timely irrigation methods, proper plant selection and special watering devices.
Note: Held Indoors
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (2 hours)
Wednesday, June 12; 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Thornhill Education Center
Member $22 (nonmember $26)
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H152 HERB GARDENS AND BUTTERFLIES
Susan Stone, Horticulturist
Dave Rogers' Big Bugs Program
This summer, enjoy butterflies and fresh herbs! We begin our discussion with plant selections and placement and then introduce you to a broad range of tasty herbs that attract butterflies and other pollinators. Take home plant lists, recipes, and creative ideas with which to plan, tend, and enjoy your bit of herbal paradise.
Note: Held indoors
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (2 hours)
Thursday, June 20; 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $22 (nonmember $30)
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NEW!
Patrick Kelsch, Horticulturist, The Morton Arboretum
Summer gardens can be a feast for all of the senses - including scent! Tour the Arboretum's Fragrance Garden and discover shrubs, trees, and perennials that offer sweet fragrances for our region. With a mixture of old favorites and new surprises to choose from, learn from the Arboretum's successes (and failures) as you look for plants to bring more fragrance into your garden and explore how incorporating fragrance in a design can alter the way we construct and appreciate a garden.
Note: Held indoors & outdoors.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (4 hours)
Saturday, July 13; 8:30 am – 12:30 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $35 (nonmember $43)
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H357 DO-IT-YOURSELF RAIN GARDENS
Andrea Green, Landscape Designer, Gardens by Design
Want to capture rainfall or make the most of a wet area in your landscape? Learn how to design, build, and plant a rain garden for your home! Discover how to combine water-loving perennials and shrubs to create eco-gorgeous rain gardens that seamlessly blend into traditional landscapes. See examples of native plants for wet areas on the ground of the Arboretum and create a sketch for your own garden. A box lunch is included in the price of the program.
Note: Held indoors and outdoors; please dress for the weather.
Supplies: Please bring pictures of the area of your yard where you want to place your rain garden, the dimensions of the area, and pencils for writing and sketching. Optional—bring your own laptop or tablet to access plant pictures online.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (6 hours)
Saturday, July 20; 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Research Center.
Member $59 (nonmember $69)
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H633 PATIOS, PATHWAYS AND PAVERS
Alan Cartwright, Collections Supervisor and Ben Fortin, Gardener, The Morton Arboretum
Paved patios, stone steps, retaining walls and walkways transform your landscape into luxurious extensions of the home. Add a modern atmosphere to your residential landscape while creating curb appeal and value to your home by exploring how to use hardscape to complement plantings and create visual interest and liveable spaces. We'll discuss different hardscape approaches, explore different paving materials, learn construction techniques, and put theory into practice on Saturday through hands-on installation work using examples on the Arboretum grounds.
Note: Held indoors & outdoors. Please dress for the weather on Saturday.
Supplies: Please bring a beverage and a sack lunch on Saturday. Sturdy shoes with closed toes and long pants required for the Saturday session. Please bring gardening or work gloves and safety glasses if you have them; knee pads or kneeling pads may come in handy.
Certificate Information: Home Landscape Gardening Certificate Elective (6 hours)
Saturday, August 3; 9:30 am – 3:30 pm. Thornhill Education Center.
Member $59 (nonmember $69)
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