Upcoming Events

Social media tools are an exciting way to enhance your farm business's marketing activities, allowing you, the owner, or manager, to connect directly with your audience. While a social media presence is almost expected of many businesses, many owners struggle with how to use the various tools to connect.

This hands-on program covers identification of ornamental insects and diseases, plant symptoms, chemical and non-chemical management options.

Weeds are dependable pests—you can count on them showing up and usually have to deal with them year after year. Is your weed management plan effective? This workshop will include hands-on identification of weeds in landscape and turf and in-depth classroom discussion about management options. Our tune-up session starts with a weed identification walk where you’ll learn key features to help you recognize weeds. That walk is followed by an update on management options for specific landscape situations. We’ll talk over the latest strategies for weeds in landscape beds and turf. All in time for summer and fall weed season.

Join entomologist Greg Hoover and plant pathologist Dr. Gary Moorman from Penn State University for a hands-on session. Learn practical skills to identify common insect pests and plant diseases of ornamental plants.

Join Greg Hoover, Penn State’s Ornamental Entomology Extension Specialist, and Gary Moorman, Penn State’s Plant Pathology Extension Specialist, for an informative session on woody ornamental insect and disease problems in the landscape. This is a hands-on, interactive session as we walk the grounds of Sherwood Oaks. Pesticide Credits and Continuing Education Units will be awarded.

The morning session includes an idea exchange for sustainable landscape practices. The afternoon session features scouting for woody ornamental insects and diseases with Penn State experts Gary Moorman and Greg Hoover.

The Woods in Your Backyard teaches stewardship of small parcels of land. By enhancing or creating natural areas and woodland on your lot, you can enjoy recreation, aesthetics, wildlife, and water quality. If your lot connects to other lots, there’s ample opportunity to make an even bigger impact by getting neighbors involved! Owners of even just a few acres can make a positive difference in the environment through planning and implementing simple stewardship practices.

At this workshop, you will learn more about planning and strategies to help mitigate EAB-related risks.

This meeting will focus on insect pest control and plant diseases in the interiorscape environment. Participants will learn to identify common insect pests and diseases of interior plantscape plants and learn management strategies.

At this workshop, you will learn more about planning and strategies to help mitigate EAB-related risks.

This interactive session involves walking the grounds of Wilkes University and exploring their plant collection while scouting for insects and diseases.

Equipment demonstrations and educational sessions for sports field managers, including natural and artificial turf.

Your customers love the color perennial flowering plants add to their landscapes. Learning about herbaceous perennials will help you choose the right plants to thrive in the site, group them attractively, and provide four seasons of interest in your jobs. In this full-day class, Penn State horticulture professor Dr. David Sanford will cover popular perennials for landscape jobs. He will concentrate on rugged plants that are reliable performers, have few pest problems and are available in the trade. We will meet in the auditorium for the morning session to see pictures of the plants and discuss their habits and culture. Plan to spend approximately half of the class time outdoors looking at perennials in the demonstration beds surrounding the Berks County Agricultural Center. Come prepared for the weather. Add some new perennials to the palate that you offer your customers.

This full-day program features inside and outside instruction covering a variety of turf and ornamental topics such as pesticide safety, pest diagnosis, chemical and non-chemical management.

Wholesale nursery growers and garden center employees, spend a morning at Root’s Nurseries learning how to identify ornamental plant pests and problems, along with various management strategies.

This is a hands-on, interactive session using live plant samples. Participants will be asked to go through the samples on their own, naming the plant and what is wrong with it. Then, we will go over the samples together, emphasizing integrated pest management strategies for control. Pesticide Credits and Continuing Education Units will be awarded.

Success in the landscape begins with a comprehensive knowledge of plant material available in the trade and matching site conditions with appropriate woody plants. Green industry professionals cannot give accurate estimates if they are unable to identify the plants in a landscape because they will not be aware of the maintenance requirements. In this six-week, hands-on class, Sandy Feather and Nancy Knauss, Penn State Extension Horticulture Educators, will teach participants to identify shade and flowering trees by their unique characteristics, while gaining an understanding of their growing requirements, as well as their common insect and disease problems. Continuing Education Units and Recertification Credits will be awarded. Dates - July 25, August 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2013.

The shift to Philadelphia gives the show something it’s never had before: opportunities for socializing in a richly diverse cultural and historic urban hub.

Bring the kids, and your gardening questions, and join the Penn State Master Gardeners of Allegheny County on Saturday, August 17th from 9am to 1pm for our annual field day of fun and educational activities.

Pest identification and management for turf and landscape professionals.

Join us for this end-of-season landscape update. Review the past season’s pest problems and pick up a few timely core and category pesticide credits.

This hands-on program covers identification of ornamental insects and diseases, plant symptoms, chemical and non- chemical management options.

This meeting focuses on weed management in industrial and right-of-way settings. Industry and university specialists present the latest weed management information.

Join us for this end-of-season landscape update. Review the past season’s pest problems and pick up a few timely core and category pesticide credits.

Join us for this end-of-season landscape update. Review the past season’s pest problems and pick up a few timely core and category pesticide credits.

Join us for this end-of-season landscape update. Review the past season’s pest problems and pick up a few timely core and category pesticide credits.

A four-day program designed to assist landscape professionals, turf managers, garden center and nursery employees who plan on testing for a pesticide applicators license in Categories 06, 07, 23.

Join us for this end-of-season landscape update. Review the past season’s pest problems and pick up a few timely core and category pesticide credits.

Going green saves green. Designing and maintaining a corporate or industrial site can be an expensive undertaking. This workshop will showcase sustainable landscape practices that can reduce costs, support a healthier, more productive workforce, and protect water quality.