The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga is presenting its second Garden and Landscape Symposium: “Enhancing Life through Gardening” on Saturday, April 13. The day-long symposium, geared for both beginning and experienced gardeners, provides insights from garden experts who live and garden in upstate New York and Vermont. This springtime event takes place in the Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center and is open by pre-registration only.

The walled King’s Garden was originally designed in 1921 by leading landscape architect Marian Coffin. The formal elements – a reflecting pool, manicured lawn and hedges, and brick walls and walkways – are softened by a profusion of annuals and perennials, carefully arranged by color and form. Heirloom flowers and modern cultivars are used to recreate the historic planting scheme.

Outside of the nine-foot brick walls of the colonial revival King’s Garden, the Discovery Gardens include a children’s garden, military vegetable garden, and Three Sisters Garden. The restored Lord and Burnham greenhouse, charming gazebo, sweeping lawns and shady picnic spots invite visitors to explore the landscape at one of America’s oldest gardens dating to the French occupation of the Fort in the mid-18th century.

This one-day program focuses on practical, easy-to-implement strategies for expanding and improving your garden or landscape. The programs are offered in an informal setting that encourages interaction between speakers and attendees.

Speakers include:

· Anthony DeFranco, from DeFranco Landscaping, on “Stormwater Management and Rain Garden Design”

· Evelyn Hadden, award-winning author, on “Beautiful No-Mow Yards”

· Charlie Harrington, from Harrington’s Nursery, on “Simple and Successful Strategies for Starting Plants at Home”

· Charlie Nardozzi, author and public radio gardening expert, on “Eat Your Lawn: Growing Edibles around your Yard”

· Bridget Simpson, fitness instructor, on “Garden Power.”

Registration for the Garden and Landscape Symposium is now open. The cost for the day-long symposium, which includes a box lunch, is $75 ($65 for members of the Friends of Fort Ticonderoga). A brochure with the complete schedule and a registration form is available on Fort Ticonderoga’s website by selecting “Explore and Learn” and choosing “Life Long Learning” on the drop-down menu. A printed copy is also available upon request by contacting Rich Strum, Director of Education, at 518-585-6370.

Photo: Charlie Nardozzi, author and public radio gardening expert (provided).