The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching & Display Garden holds a host of great gardening tips.  Plan a visit now to gather these tips and see the garden at its peak.  What's going on with this netting?  Answer: Physical pest prevention as an alternative to using chemicals.  

Physical Pest Prevention:  ​Some insect pests can be controlled by putting up physical barriers that prevents the adults from reaching the plants to lay their eggs.  This floating row cover protects these cabbages from imported cabbage worms and cabbage loopers, two highlight destructive caterpillars.  Another example of this is burying squash and pumpkin vines to prevent Squash Vine Borer. 
 
The Teaching & Display Garden is open to the public for self-guided tours during day light hours seven days a week mid-May through mid-September.   

The Station’s Teaching and Display Garden is located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner. Due to construction on Highway 70,  Orchard Lane and Hwy 70 is closed at the Yellow River bridge so the only access to the Garden is via Orchard Lane to the north from Ramsdell or Ojibwa Rd.

The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Spooner Agricultural Research Station, UW-Madison Extension and Master Gardener Volunteers will be holding their Annual Twilight Garden Tour on Thursday, August 24 from 4-7 p.m.
 
To be held at the Station’s Teaching and Display Garden, located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner, this is one of the region’s premier summer gardening events and it includes displays, speakers, demonstrations, and guided tours of the garden plots.  Vegetable and home-made wine tastings will be available.
 
The staff from UW-Madison Spooner Ag Research Station, Extension Educators, Master Gardener Volunteers, as well as the event’s speakers will be available to answer gardening questions and identify plant, insect and disease samples. Attendees are welcome to explore the Teaching and Display Garden as well as bring samples of diseased plants or representative photos for identification and advice. Displays will feature The American Hazelnut Company, Spooner Farmers Market, Foodwise, Wellbeing with Danette, as well as others.
 
The expert panel of speakers will kick-off at 4:45 p.m. and then provide walking tours in which they will answer questions. Speakers and topics covered this year are:

• Danette Hopke, UW-Madison Extension Behavioral Health Program Manager will present “The Connection Between Nature and Well-Being.” 
• UW-Madison Extension Emerging Crops Outreach Specialists - Jason Fischbach and Steffen Mirsky will present on hazelnuts & emerging crops for northwest Wisconsin.

 
The Teaching & Display Garden is an official All-America Selections (AAS) display garden featuring both flowers and vegetables and has been awarded multiple awards in the National Landscape Design contest sponsored by AAS. The garden also includes organic vegetable gardening, a children’s garden, container gardening, displays of table and wine grapes and the Monarch and Pollinator Sanctuary perennial garden featuring native plants.
 
As in the past there is no charge for this educational event. In the case of severe inclement weather, the event will be cancelled and not rescheduled. Please visit www.facebook.com/spoonerag to learn more about event status in case of weather. For more information, please contact Kevin Schoessow at 715-635-3506 or 1-800-528-1914, or learn more at https://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/ or https://www.northcountrymgv.org/twilight-garden-tour.html.
 
UW-Madison Extension provides equal opportunity in employment and programming including Title IX and ADA requirements. Please call our toll-free number 800-528-1914 if you have any special needs or require special accommodation.