STEW LEONARD'S GARDEN CENTERS OFFER FREE SATURDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS

WHO:
Stew Leonard's Garden Centers are offering free Saturday morning workshops at their Danbury and Norwalk, Conn. and Yonkers, NY locations. Back by popular demand and in response to customer requests, this year's workshop series features an extended schedule with new, cutting-edge topics, including organic gardening, native plant species and special landscapes.

Stew Leonard's Garden Centers officially open for the season on April 1, offering hundreds of native flowers, vegetable bedding plants, hanging baskets, annuals, trees, and shrubs, plus all the tools you need to plant them.

The same principles people have come to rely on from Stew Leonard's -- friendly, knowledgeable customer service and fresh from the farm foods -- are applied in their Garden Centers. The passionate staff is eager to answer questions and many of the same local farms that Stew Leonard's buys their produce from are also where many of the flowers and plants sold in the garden centers are grown.

While not participating in the workshop series, the Newington store location will hold specially-scheduled seminars throughout the season.

WHAT:
Workshops begin at 9:00 A.M. and last approximately one hour. There is no need to pre-register. The scheduled topics are:

• April 12: Going green – the pros and cons of organic gardening
• April 19: Soil: the foundation of a healthy garden – techniques for proper care
• April 26: Staking your ground - a step-by-step guide to planting
• May 3: From Alyssum to Zinnia – the ABC's of annuals
• May 19: No trespassing – keep deer out with resistant plants and other helpful tips
• May 31: The rose garden - planting, pruning, pest control, sunlight and feeding
• June 7: Ticks and Lyme's disease - tips for keeping you and your pets safe
• June 14: Woodlands, wetlands and rain gardens – gardening for special landscapes
• June 21: Get a handle on pruning - proper technique for shrubs, plants and trees
• June 28: Damage control – preventing pests and disease from ruining your garden
• July 12: Perennials: part 1 – how to keep a beautiful garden all season long
• July 19: Perennials: part 2 - how to keep a beautiful garden all season long
• July 26: The how to's of hydrangeas – answers to age-old questions
• August 2: Understanding native species – how and why to use them in your garden
• August 9: Compost and mulches - what, where, when and how to use them
• August 16: Keep invasive plants in check – ideas and how to's for alternative choices
• September 27: Think Spring - planting bulbs for Spring color
• October 4: Fall cleaning – putting your garden to bed for Winter

WHEN:
Saturday's 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M.

• Workshops begin Saturday, April 12 and run through Saturday, October 4
• Note: There will be no workshops held on holiday weekends (Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day), August 23, August 30, September 23 or September 30

WHERE:
Stew Leonard's Garden Center entrance

• Norwalk store: 100 Westport Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851
  

  Customer questions call: 203.847.7213

• Danbury store: 99 Federal Road, Danbury, CT 06811
  

  Customer questions call: 203.790.8030

• Yonkers store: 1 Stew Leonard Drive, Yonkers, NY 10710
  

  Customer questions call: 914.375.4700

CONTACT:
Rachel Begun, Stew Leonard's: 203.667.0241 rbegun@stewleonards.com