08/26/2007

Expert advice is 'Perennial'

Hagerty Center hosts designer DiSabato-Aust

By Stephanie Beach

sbeach@record-eagle.com

Special to the Record-Eagle
Award-winning designer and horticultural author Tracy DiSabato-Aust will bring her expertise to two events at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City next month.

TRAVERSE CITY — A Tri-Refresher Symposium and the fourth course of the Landscape Design School will be offered concurrently in September. A presentation by award-winning designer and nationally recognized horticultural author Tracy DiSabato-Aust will highlight both events.

DiSabato-Aust has more than 30 years in the gardening industry, including time at Longwood Gardens in the United States, the Montreal Botanical Garden in Canada, the Kalmthout Arboretum in Belgium and Knightshayes Court in England. A frequent guest on national garden television and radio shows, she was the 2004 recipient of the Garden Media Award from the Perennial Plant Association.

DiSabato-Aust's first book, "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden,” has been referred to by many as "the bible for perennial maintenance.” Her second book, "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden,” focuses on garden design. It will be the topic of her presentation, which is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 26.

Admission to her lecture is included in registration fees for both the symposium and Landscape Design School. The lecture also is open to anyone interested in gardening.

DiSabato-Aust's appearance is sponsored by Michigan Garden Clubs Inc. and the Michigan Consultants Council and is hosted by The Friendly Garden Club of Traverse City. Tickets are $15. For tickets to the lecture only, contact Terry Harding, 947-0568, wsharding@chartermi.net.

The symposium will focus on "Nurturing the Earth” and will include the Sept. 26 lecture. Another feature of the event will be a garden walk.

The symposium will meet at the Hagerty Center on Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus. Registration will be from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Sept. 26 and the event closes after lunch Sept. 27 with a meeting of the newly formed Michigan Consultant's Council. The cost is $40 for each day, which includes continental breakfast and lunch.

Landscape design consultants, gardening study consultants and environmental consultants may update their credentials at the symposium for a $5 fee. For questions, e-mail Jolaine Snyder, auntjos@sisna.com.

The Landscape Design School course four, which is separate from the symposium, will meet Sept. 26 through 28, also at the Hagerty Center. It will be led by veteran lecturer Tim Banfield. Participants will learn to evaluate landscapes by attending a garden walk that includes two residential landscapes and a commercial landscape.

Attendance at DiSabato-Aust's lecture is required for course participants and is included in the registration fee. Registration will be from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Sept. 26; classes will meet Sept. 27 and the test will be administered Sept. 28. Cost is $40 per day Sept 26 and 27. The exam fee is $5.

The deadline for symposium or design school registration is Sept. 10. Checks payable to NGCM Landscape Design School or NGCM Tri-refresher Symposium should be sent to Pat Jean, 19239 Ridge View Lane, Lake Ann, MI 49650-9406.

For details, call 947-0568.