President Nancy Madeoy welcomed LACG members to the March meeting with the question of what’s blooming in our gardens. Members answered with spring flowers of daffodils, hellebores, hyacinths and forsythia.
Nancy reminded members that LAGC will need all new officers for next year. Please consider becoming the president, vice-president, treasurer or recording secretary. We thank Dianne Machesney for agreeing to fill the position of Publicity Chair which Claudia is vacating.
We continue to have issues with the projector that Northmont provides for our programs. A suggestion was made that LAGC should purchase our own projector. Dianne researched some options for us to purchase within the $300 to 600 price range. After a discussion of the issues and options, the club took a vote and agreed that a new projector should be purchased. Evan will order a new projector within the researched amount. All agreed that the projector should be brought to each meeting and taken home after the meeting. It will not be stored at the church.
The Penn State 30th Annual Garden and Landscape Symposium and Garden Marketplace will be held on Saturday, April 25th at the Hampton Community Center. LAGC member and PSMG Bill Goff will be the 1st speaker at the event. This year it’s free to attend the speaker presentations. As usual there will be plenty of vendors selling a variety of plants and gardening supplies. Please see your e-mail from Claudia for the flyer with all the details.
Mary Anne Kurtz talked about the upcoming tour of Waste Management and lunch at Carmody’s Grille. She is collecting RSVP’s. Let her know if you want to attend the tour. She will send an e-mail with all the details once the date and time have been confirmed.
The 2026 LAGC Perennial Plant Sale is scheduled for May 16th. Our Plant Sale Coordinator, Mary Anne Kurtz talked about the plant sale.
- Plant sale tags were available for members to take. Please be sure to mark the top of the tag with the symbol of the light requirements for your plants and follow the handout which was compiled by Mary Anne and Andrea. We identified a few changes to the handout. Mary Anne will e-mail a revised copy with those changes.
- Asian Jumping Worms are still a concern, so it’s suggested that plants be potted in potting soil instead of garden soil.
- Publicity is important for a successful sale. Paper reminders were distributed to all members to hand to family and friends. When you see the post on Facebook, please share it with your friends.
- The signup sheet was circulated for members to volunteer for specific jobs at the plant sale. Please sign up at the April meeting if you didn’t already get the chance.
- Please bring as many plants as you can. The more plants we have then the more we have available to sell.
- Wear your blue T-shirt.
- Bring your gently used plant and garden items for the FREE table.
- You may bring your plants to Northmont on Friday night before the sale at 7:30pm.
- We will have specialty bearded irises available for sale. Larry Grundler offered them to LAGC at $1.00 per rhizome. Denny and Linda purchased about 100 plants and potted them up with the help of Claudia. We’re going to place these specialty irises in a special section with a sign to identify them as being unique.
- New for 2026 is that at 11:30am we’re going to have a Buy One, Get One free sale instead of everything is half off.
- Members discussed giving customers an annual plant (red, white or blue) in celebration of McCandless Township’s 175th anniversary. Diana Berendowski is going to reach out to a couple of garden centers to find out what flowers would potentially be available on the day of the plant sale and if we can get a discount on the plants. Members will decide next month if we want to give out the annuals.
- We’ve identified a few organizations that are willing to take any plants that don’t sell: Northmont Church, Bradford Woods Conservancy and Memorial Park Church
Diana Berendowski invited members to attend the Bradford Woods Conservancy Earth Day event on Saturday, April 25th. There will be many activities, speakers and free lunch.
Hostesses
We enjoyed eating delicious Lemon Crinkle Cookies and Banana Cake with Malted Chocolate Icing from Karen Barczak. Rose Mary Highman reminded us that Spring has arrived with her arrangement of purple hyacinths, daffodils and hellebores. Thank you!
Program - Gardening Thyme: Avoid Aches and Pains While Gardening presented by Taylor Docherty, UPMC Rehab Institute Physical Therapist
This month’s program couldn’t have come at a better time as we are all eagerly waiting to get back outside to begin another gardening season after we were snuggled inside for a long, cold winter. Our speaker, Taylor Docherty talked about the correct techniques and the best tools to use for garden and outdoor chores. She demonstrated ways to lessen the stress and pain on our joints and muscles so that we can enjoy gardening for a lifetime.
Our speaker said that “prehab is better than rehab”. Which means that it’s better to be proactive and prepare the body for activity and strengthen the areas that are prone to injury rather than doing rehab after the damage is done. She suggests keeping fit during the winter by walking, doing cardio, and balance and core strengthening exercises.
Before you start your garden or outdoor chores remember to warm up the muscles and joints by doing arm circles, wrist stretches, squats for the hip flexors and back stretches.
It’s important to keep the body in a comfortable state rather than stresses so remember to dress for the weather, wear a visor, apply sunscreen and stay hydrated.
Here are a few reminders while you are in the middle of garden work:
- Set goals – break up the project into smaller jobs
- Work for short periods of time and take breaks
- Make sure to change body positions frequently
- Garden in the morning when it’s cooler
- Use good body mechanics - remember to carry the weight of heavy items close to your body and avoid twisting your spine or knees when lifting
- Use slower gentle movements rather than quick movements
- Listen to your body – If you have an ache then, take a break
Use the right tool for the job. Long handles make jobs easier so you don’t have to bend in awkward positions or reach up high over your head. Look for ergonomic tools which are specifically engineered to make tasks easier. Consider ratchet pruners for arthritic hands. Use a garden or wheelbarrow to avoid carrying heavy pots or bags of soil. Use knee pads. Plant in elevated containers
