(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – One of the area’s most accomplished experts on gardening and landscaping will lead a workshop at Dublin Park.

Harvey Cotten, vice president and chief horticulturist at Huntsville Botanical Garden, will present “Identifying Trees” on July 10 from 9 to 11 a.m. The Master Gardeners of North Alabama organization is sponsoring the free event.

Cotten will lecture for an hour and then lead participants on the Dublin campus to inspect the park’s trees. Door prizes will be presented.

Cotten said his session will focus on the “value and benefits of trees, tree identification, planting and pruning tips and the best trees for our area.”

Homeowners often make mistakes when planting trees on their property. The two major errors that people make when planting are “not accounting for the mature size of a tree and improper planting by placing the tree too deep,” Cotten said.

One of the major regrets for home gardeners in the last 20 years or so has been planting Bradford pear trees. These trees were popular because they grew extremely fast, offered springtime blooms and handsome autumn foliage.

However, almost every Bradford pear has split, lost limbs or been damaged in high winds or thunderstorms.

“No one tree has all the attributes of the Bradford pear,” Cotten said. “I have been recommending four different trees as potential replacements.”

Cotten suggests planting the Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.), Carolina Silverbell (Halesia sp.), Winter King Hawthorne (Craetagus ‘Winter King’) and Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus).

Participants must pre-register for the “Identifying Trees” session. Visit mginfo.org and scroll to the registration form. For more information, visit Facebook/Master Gardeners of North Alabama.