FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date 03/17/08

CONTACT:
Matt Derrick
(816) 942-8800, ext. 213
(913) 244-5775 mobile

Acclaimed Garden Writer Shares Tips for Creative Landscapes

As a leading garden journalist, Don Engebretson adopts a simple philosophy toward dealing with real-life garden problems and solutions – don't take anything for granted. As “The Renegade Gardener,” he looks suspiciously on easy promises and foolproof plants. “Design is design, gardening is gardening, dumb is dumb, and truth conquers all,” he said.

At the Greater Kansas City HOME SHOW and Flower, Lawn & Garden Show, presented by GMC, at Bartle Hall March 27-30, Engebretson will present seminars for garden enthusiasts of all skill levels. In Crafting Cool & Creative Containers, he shows how colorful annuals, perennials and small trees and shrubs are essential accessories to home landscapes. Engebretson calls containers “the throw pillows of exterior design” and will showcase five dozen different examples of creative container gardening.

During his Top 10 Gardening & Landscaping Blunders – and How to Avoid Them, Engebretson focuses on the most common mistakes gardeners make. To make his list, the mistakes must be as common as crab grass, make a major negative impact on one's landscape and – most importantly – must be a mistake Engebretson himself has made during his 22 years as a gardener.

“Don’t always believe it when you see a landscaping project described as ‘easy,’ or a plant touted as ‘foolproof’,” Engebretson said. “Fact is, gardening is a lifelong learning process that involves more than a little guesswork, serendipity, and experimentation. Down the road, every gardener is sure to discover that startling success sometimes goes hand-in-hand with staggering failure.”

Engebretson is a renowned garden journalist with appearances on HGTV’s TIPical MaryEllen and PBS’ HOMETIME. He is the author of five garden books and is a contributor to Better Homes and Gardens and Midwest Living who recently won his sixth national writing award from the Garden Writers Association of America. Engebretson preaches the joy of gardening comes from experimenting with passion coming from failure, success and learning. “Truth is, gardening isn’t always easy, but mind your back and the process is guaranteed to be a hoot.”

Engebretson will appear at the HOME SHOW and Flower, Lawn & Garden Show on the Outdoor Living Stage presented by Time Warner Cable. Seminar times are noon, 4 and 6:30 p.m. Friday; noon, 4 and 8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit the show online at www.kchba.org.

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