KAN staff report

The weather outside Jan. 2-3 may be frightful, but the learning going on indoors at the Kentucky Landscape Industries’ Winter Conference Educational Program will make spring more delightful.

Nursery and greenhouse growers, garden center operators, arborists, landscape and irrigation professionals and lawn, tree, grounds and gardening professionals are invited to learn to maximize their earning during the confer- ence, held in the South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

C. Coleston Burrell, a garden designer, photographer, naturalist and award-winning author from Charlottesville, Va., will deliver two lectures on garden design. Burrell lectures inter- nationally on design, plants and ecology; is the principal owner of Native Landscape Design and Restoration, which specializes in blending nature and culture through artistic design; and is a former curator at the U.S. National Arboretum. His appearance is sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

Speakers will lead sessions on pesticide management, best management practices, human resource management, landscape/nursery maintenance, plants/design and nursery field production.

Two certification exams will be offered:

· The Initial Pesticide Certification Exam is 4:30-6:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 2, for five different categories: turf and ornamental, right-of-way, demonstration and research, pesticide sales agent and pest control consultant.

· The Kentucky Certified Nurseryman Exam is 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3.
Pre-registration fee for the conference is $60 for KNLA members and $75 for non-members, and $70 and $85, respectively, at the door. Pre-registration deadline is Dec. 29.

The conference is sponsored by the Kentucky Nursery & Landscape Association, Kentucky Arborists’ Association, Kentuckiana Greenhouse Association and University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.