Musing: Master Gardener

When not much was going on in the garden / landscaping department here at the coast last fall, I happened upon an advertisement for the Oregon State University Master Gardener program. I had always wanted to participate in the Master Gardener program in Michigan, but could never seem to carve out the time required. I applied and was accepted into the OSU-sponsored program and attended my first all-day session last week (8:30am to 4:30pm). It has been quite some time since I was on the "receiving end" of a class -- sitting on hard plastic chairs and being assigned lots of homework! They have brought in some top-notch people to teach the course, so it is interesting and I'm sure it will be helpful in adapting what little gardening skills I already possess to the Oregon coast. Even though we have quite moderate temperatures year round, I am learning that the wind and salt air can have quite a desicating effect on plants. Several in the class lamented that they had been working on their landscaping for several years and were tired of throwing out plants ruined by the salt and wind -- it was getting too expensive for them not to take the class! So far, I've only made one wrong decision in the plant selection phase, so I'm glad to be getting good advice pretty much from the "get-go".