Digging Deeper 2024 – Reflections on the Garden

On Saturday, September 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, veteran Clallam County Master Gardeners Tom Del Hotal, Jan Danford, Audreen Williams, and Laurel Moulton will join forces to answer your gardening questions.

The 2024 Digging Deeper Saturdays presentation:

“Reflections on the Garden – Master Gardener Panel”

will be held in person on:

Saturday September 21st from 10:30 a.m. to Noon

at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden, in Sequim.

Members of the panel will share their reflections on the 2024 gardening season. Was it a good one or a bad one? They will talk about what went well in their own gardens this year and what did not. They will also answer your questions about ornamental plants, fruit and vegetable crops, lawns, beneficial insects, and pests and diseases based on science and local gardening experience. They look forward to sharing water saving gardening tips with you as well.

Tom Del Hotal joined Clallam County Master Gardeners in 2021. He has been a horticulturist and nurseryman since 1977. He is a Certified Arborist and was a horticulture instructor at a local college in San Diego for over 20 years. Tom owned his part-time business, Fantasia Gardens, from 1983-2020. Fantasia Gardens was a fruit tree specialty nursery and fruit tree pruning and consulting business that specialized in home and small-scale commercial orchard design and fruit tree management services.  Tom plays a major part in the orchard at the Master Gardener Woodcock Demonstration Garden.

Jan Danford joined Clallam County Master Gardeners in 2014. She began mentoring the Sequim Boys and Girls Gardening Club in 2015 helping the kids learn all phases of growing a garden as well as enjoying the harvest. Jan has chaired the Woodcock Garden Operating Committee for several years. She was the 2014 Intern of the Year and the 2016 Master Gardener of the Year. Jan received the Golden Trowel Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

Audreen Williams has been a Clallam County Master Gardener since 2012. Audreen participates in a wide variety of Master Gardener efforts, but her favorite activities occur at the 5th Street Community Garden in Port Angeles where she oversees the Master Gardener vegetable plots and blueberry patch, assists the 4H Garden Club, and coordinates the Second Saturday Garden Walks. Audreen was selected as Master Gardener of the year in 2014 and again in 2019. She received the Golden Trowel Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

Laurel Moulton has been a Master Gardener since 2006 and received her master’s degree in horticulture with a minor in entomology from Oregon State University in 2011. She is the Clallam County Master Gardener Coordinator extraordinaire. She is also a member of the WSU Extension Integrated Pest Management Team and spends her time outside of Master Gardeners helping small farms in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap County identify pests and crop diseases and develop plans to manage them sustainably. Laurel received the Golden Trowel Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

This collective group of Master Gardeners is ready to share their many years of gardening experience and help troubleshoot problems that occurred in your garden this season. Please join us for an interesting and informative session.

In addition to the scheduled educational presentation, a team of Clallam County Master Gardeners will be available at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to answer your gardening questions. Digging Deeper attendees are encouraged to bring samples of garden problems or pests for diagnosis by Master Gardeners who can recommend control measures.

For more information about the “Reflections on the Garden: Q & A” session or the Digging Deeper Saturdays series call (360) 565-2678 or (360) 565-2679.

The Digging Deeper Saturday Series, sponsored by the Washington State University Clallam County Master Gardeners, is held on select Saturdays of most months. Scheduled presentations are subject to change.