Garden Art Series popular addition to classes

By Pam Baytos

OSU Extension master gardener volunteer

CANFIELD

Gardening is more than flowers. It is enjoyment. It is creativity. It is stress relief. Even more, it is the joy and accomplishment of growing and engaging with the environment in our own backyards.

Garden art is a big part of the garden itself. It may be a small bird house, but more often it is a whimsical piece of art.

This comes in many forms. It can be a cast iron, fanciful container from the past or a real bed frame used as a real garden bed. It can be tiles made from alcohol ink to make the table more garden themed or used as garden stakes to know where the bean row is this year.

No matter your choice or style, we can help you make more garden art and give you inspiration to do even more garden art at home.

Our Garden Art Series has been a popular addition to our calendar of master gardener volunteer taught classes. Many of our classes have sold out, so by offering a waiting list we are able to reschedule additional dates to allow you to find your “inner artist” if you miss out on the first offering.

Past popular classes have been our living wreath of succulents, hypertufa containers for the kitchen window or patio table, botanical cards to share your pressed flowers, alcohol ink paintings on tiles and even holiday containers to take gardening into the holiday season.

Each of these classes ended up with multiple dates. The smaller classes allow us to engage with gardeners as they create new masterpieces of their own.

This year, we’ve come up with some new and exciting classes to enhance the garden. We’re going to make “Living Picture Frames,” which will involve creating an eye-catching focal point for your garden or patio by turning a picture frame into a living work of art with succulents. “Plant a Garden Implement” is another new class. We invite you to bring your old rusty shovel, and we’ll show you how to transform it into a one-of-a-kind planter.

For the holiday season, we are adding a new class called “Holiday Centerpieces,” where we’ll combine garden elements into something to grace your mantel or family table. By combining greenery, berries, pine cones and artistic elements your table will come to life, enhancing the festive feeling for your holiday gatherings. Once again we’ll be teaching our popular “Holiday Container” class. Bring a 12-inch container, and we’ll cover form and different styles to create stunning containers to greet your holiday visitors at the front door.