Friday March 14th--10 AM to 9 PM
Saturday March 15th--10 AM to 8 PM
Sunday March 16th--10 AM to 4 PM

Featured Speakers:
• Liz Hunt, from Ball Horticultural Company, will be speaking on "Simply Beautiful Container Gardening," Saturday at 10:30 AM and again at 1:30 PM.
• Dr. Anne Marie VanDerZanden, from Iowa State University, will be speaking about landscape design on Friday, March 14 at 5:30 PM. Click here for more information on Dr. VanDerZanden.
• Sandy Danckwart, from Bonide, will be talking about environmentally friendly and organic products to use in the garden from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM on Saturday, March 15.
• Bill Calkins, from Ball Horticultural Co., will speak on "Gardening Trends for 2008" from 4 to 5 PM Saturday, March 15. Click here for more information on Bill Calkins.

Wallace's Garden Center is a major sponsor of this show. Tickets are available at Wallace's: Advance sale prices: $5 for adults, $1 for ages 6-16, Free for ages 5 and under.
For more information, please visit the QCCA Flower and Garden Show website.

Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6, 2008
Wallace's Spring Open House
Free refreshments, great deals, spring sneak previews, informative and fun seminars, and much more!

Winter/Spring 2008 Lecture Series

Bettendorf Location Only

March 15, 2008 (Paid Admission to the Show Required)
QCCA Flower and Garden Show

March 22, 2008 (No Registration Required)
10:30 AM Critter Control: Rabbits and Moles

March 29, 2008 (No Registration Required)
10:30 AM Herbs and Veggies 101

March 29, 2008 (No Registration Required)
1:30 PM Home Décor: Inside and Out

April 5 and 6, 2008
Wallace's Spring Open House (No Registration Required)

April 5, 2008
10:30 AM Container Gardening
1:30 PM Advanced Container Gardening

April 6, 2008
1:30 PM This Just In

April 12, 2008
10:30 AM Turf Talk

April 19, 2008 (Registration Required, $10)
10:30 AM and 1:30 PM Spring Container Workshop

For event details, go to our website or call 563-332-4711.
 All events will be held in the Ginkgo Room of Wallace's Bettendorf Location.

Follow Label Instructions
Spring is the time to put down your first application of lawn fertilizer. Excess fertilizer runs off into sewers and contaminates ground water. Make sure to buy the right amount for your lawn and apply at the prescribed rate--anything extra is wasteful. Follow instructions for a lush green lawn and a green planet.

Why You Should Prune:

• Pruning dead, injured and diseased limbs from your plants helps keep them strong and healthy. Dead limbs can break in storms and damage other parts of the plant (or your house, if we are talking about trees).
• Pruning helps in producing larger, healthier flowers and fruit. Keeping a plant from overproducing also helps keep the plant healthy; overproduction can weaken plants.
• Pruning to shape trees and bushes makes for a nicer looking garden.
• Pruning for space keeps your plants from running wild and taking over the lawn or garden.
• Pruning can help restore vigor to older trees and shrubs, as well as improving appearance.

When You Should Prune:

• The best time to prune is during the plant's dormant season, generally in the winter.
• The exceptions are ornamental trees and shrubs grown especially for their spring flowers. Most of these should be pruned just after they bloom in the spring so the flowering buds are not removed.
• Evergreen plants can be pruned any time of year, but the best time is late winter or late summer, just before seasonal new growth begins.
• Evergreen plants susceptible to frost damage should be pruned after there is any danger of frost.
• Dead, injured, or diseased limbs should be pruned immediately.
  
  Tip: when you purchase a plant, ask us the best time to prune it.

Tools:

• Use hand shears for branches ¼ inch in diameter and smaller.
• Loppers are for larger jobs. The longer handles give you longer reach and better leverage. You can use these for branches up to about 2" on softwoods, less on hard woods (depending on the size and strength of the loppers--and you).
• Use pruning saws for larger branches.
• You might need a chain saw--or a professional tree cutter--for very large branches.

Technique:

Pruning techniques vary, depending on what you are pruning and why you are pruning. Here are some universals:

• The sharper the tool, the better. Using dull or rusty tools can harm the plant rather than help it.
• When pruning dormant plants, dormant spraying should be done immediately after pruning. If you feel lazy and decide to wait for a few days, you may find that new growth has begun to emerge. Your dormant spray will damage that tender new growth, setting your plant back and possibly resulting in deformed growth.
• When removing diseased limbs, get them away from the plant immediately and do not use the leaves for mulch, as that could spread the disease.

Warning: Regarding frost damaged plants: don't prune back the frost-damaged foilage until spring.