Flower & Garden Show: Let King County’s experts help you ‘plant right for your site’

Stop by King County's educational booth at this year's Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Feb. 20-24, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, and learn how to plant right for your site this season.

This year's booth will provide an interactive experience with county experts available to answer questions and provide information on the use of Pacific Northwest native plants and natural yard care to ensure the safety of children, pets and the environment.

This year King County is partnering with EnviroStars, an innovative regional program that certifies businesses for their efforts in preventing pollution and reducing hazardous waste. Professional landscapers from the EnviroStars program will be on hand to talk with guests about resource efficient and pollution prevention landscape maintenance practices.

Washington State University Master Gardeners will also join King County experts in the booth for the duration of the show to answer questions and provide insight on the latest techniques for creating beautiful gardens and landscapes.

The booth will also offer free sample packets of GroCo, a naturally composted mixture of three parts sawdust and one part biosolids. King County residents can register to win GroCo for their yard. Information about GroCo, contest details and entry forms will be available at the booth.

King County staff will also offer seminars on specific topics during the show, including:

• Converting Lawn to Healthy Garden Beds Seminar on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:45 p.m. in the Hood Room 2 features Greg Rabourn with the King County Native Plant Salvage program. Learn which Pacific Northwest native plants will not just survive but thrive in your garden.
• Demonstration gardens will be on display during the duration of the show, which will display how to manage and conserve stormwater with green roof and rain water gardens.
• Rabourn and Doug Rice, the stars of the popular King County TV show, Yard Talk, will answer gardening at the King County booth on Sunday, Feb. 24 from 3 to 6 p.m. Some gardening questions and answers could be used during an upcoming Yard Talk show.

King County continues to promote natural yard care as the best way to build a beautiful garden and yard without the use of harmful pesticides. Simple yard care practices can save money, time and the environment, while conserving natural resources by raising awareness about a pesticides-free approach to gardening.

More information on the 2008 Northwest Flower & Garden Show is available at http://www.gardenshow.com/seattle/index/index.asp.