2008 Pittsburgh Garden Swap

Join us in Frick Park!

Saturday, May 31, 2008
Hours 11AM - 2PM
Frick Environmental Center
2005 Beechwood Blvd, Frick Park
Admission: $3 per adult
(Children under 12 attend for free)

Bring Your 10 Best!

The goal of the 2008 swap will be for participants to bring their 10 best plants to share. "Best" meaning well potted, clearly labeled, healthy, and desirable plants. Focusing on quality plants will improve not only the plant selection, but also the overall swap experience. The spirit of the Pittsburgh Garden Swap has always been for local gardeners to share their garden treasures with fellow plant lovers. So, when you're separating your perennials and preparing your plants for the Swap, remember to Bring Your 10 Best!

Suggested Plants

We would love to get your thoughts on what plants you're hoping to find and which plants you think that other participants will be excited to receive. Submit a comment below and help us develop a list of desirable plants!

The Swap is a great event for gardeners of all ages. We're pleased to announce that the East End Food Coop will be hosting a Children's Activity Booth! So bring the whole family to the Swap!

Read the posts below to learn more about how the Swap works, how to prepare your plants to share, which plants are the best to bring, and how to volunteer to help make this year's Swap the best ever!

If you have questions, feel free to post a comment here, email us at pghgardenswap@yahoo.com or call the Garden Swap inquiry hotline at 412-422-6538 x 5.

We hope to see you on May 31st!

The Pittsburgh Garden Swap is sponsored by the East-End Food Coop and the Frick Environmental Center. Proceeds will support Frick Environmental Center programming.

Pittsburgh Garden Stories

Tell us about your garden story!

We introduced Pittsburgh Garden Stories to the Swap last year during the 2007 Garden Swap and it was very well received. Pittsburgh Garden Stories provides local gardeners with an opportunity to show off their gardens. Participants are asked to bring a photo of their blooming garden to the event and the Garden Swap team will provide a template for writing a short narrative about their gardening experiences, challenges, and triumphs. All Pittsburgh Garden Stories will be posted for participants to read. Select stories will be published on the Pittsburgh Garden Stories website. Check out our 2007 featured stories and start digging up your garden photos for our May 31st event...see you at the Swap!

How the Swap Works

Here’s how the Pittsburgh Garden Swap works:

1. Load up your car with any transplanted plants, shrubs, trees, and any gardening tools and accessories that you would like to trade. Plants should be clearly labeled and well potted (please see suggestions below for transplanting and labeling your plants).
2. Once you arrive at the Frick Environmental Center, volunteers and wheelbarrows will be on hand to help you unload your car. Please go directly to the registration booth.
3. After you have registered, a Garden Swap volunteer will give you tickets based upon the amount of plants and garden materials that you have "traded in." Typically, you will receive:
   Each plant = 1 ticket
   Annuals (6-pack) = 1 ticket
   Each tree = 2-10 tickets, based upon its size and health
   Each shrub = 2-10 tickets, based upon its size and health
   Pot o’ bulbs = 1-5 tickets, based upon the type of bulb
   Books, magazines, tools, decorations, etc. = 1-20 tickets, negotiable
4. After trading in all your plants and garden materials, you are encouraged to check out what other gardeners have brought to trade at the Trading Area. Our volunteers have lots of gardening experience and can help answer questions about the plants being traded and/or help you pick out a plant that will grow best in your garden.
5. Pick out plants and gardening materials that you would like to "adopt" and take them to the Check-Out Tent, where you will trade in your tickets for the plants that you have chosen.

Some people stay even after their tickets are gone because there are lots of activities throughout the day, This is a great event for the young and the not-so-young. The event will be held rain or shine. Tents will be set up in case of inclement weather. Drinking water and public restrooms will be available.

What to Bring to the Pittsburgh Garden Swap

Gardeners are encouraged to swap just about anything that they grow or use in the garden. In past years, gardeners have traded perennials, annuals, vegetable plants, seeds, bulbs, trees, shrubs, fish pond accessories, garden tools, flower pots, watering cans, staking posts, garden hats and gloves, decorations and composting accessories.

Common plants, such as rudbeckia (black-eye susan), hosta (the plain, green-leaf variety), mint, lemon balm, and others tend to be valued less than plants such as iris, decorative grasses, blue-leaf hosta, etc.

Gardeners are discouraged from bringing invasive plants and bare-root plants to trade. If you do happen to bring an invasive plant to the Garden Swap, you will still receive a ticket for trading, but your invasive plant will be put aside and will not be traded. (For more information about invasive plants, please see "Invasives & Why They Shouldn’t Be Traded.") Bare-root or poorly-potted plants will not be accepted for trade.

Invasives & Why They Shouldn't be Traded

"Invasive plants" can be used to describe any plant, vine, shrub, tree or grass which grows and spreads aggressively, displacing other plants. Invasives are very difficult to control and can quickly "invade" entire areas and even eco-systems.

A few examples of invasive plants include: Garlic Mustard, Purple Loosestrife, Japanese knotweed, Norway Maple, Tree-of-heaven, Kudzu, Porcelain-berry and Japanese/European Barberry.

Because invasives can displace native plants and degrade habitats for native insects, birds and animals, it is very important that we, as gardeners, do our part to stop the spread of invasives.
For this reason, we do not trade invasives at the Pittsburgh Garden Swap. If you do happen to bring an invasive plant to the Garden Swap, you will still receive a ticket for trading, but your invasive plant will be put aside and will not be traded.

This information was taken from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources website http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/invasive.aspx). For more information, including a complete list of invasives, please contact the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources or the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (www.wpaconserve.org).

Tips for Transplanting Plants

It is important to take care in transplanting the plants that you bring to the Garden Swap. With a little extra care, you’ll help to ensure that the transplanted plant thrives in its new home. Here are a few tips:

1. Pick an appropriately sized container. It’s important to give your plant, shrub or tree plenty of room. For plants that you’re taking to the Garden Swap, pick a container that is slightly larger than the roots or root ball. Some of the swapped plants may not be planted right away, and they’ll need adequate room to retain moisture.
2. Please do not bring bare-root plants. Bare-root plants will not be accepted for trade.
   Keep it moist! Water the plant, shrub or tree a day before digging it up and then water again once the plant, shrub or tree has been planted into a pot. Avoid "drowning" your plant—it only needs to be moist. This will help mitigate transplant shock.
3. When digging up the plant, shrub or tree, make sure to dig up enough soil with the roots. When digging up plants, make sure to dig up a perimeter of soil that is about equal or a little larger than width of the plant. A good rule of thumb for trees is to dig up a diameter of soil equal to the branch spread. Most shrubs require a root ball diameter of about two-thirds of the branch spread.
4. Once you have dug up your plant, place it carefully in the pot, making sure to retain as much of the original soil as possible. Add soil as necessary, just as you would do for a houseplant and then water the plant.
5. Label your plant (See "Labeling Your Plant") and set your plant somewhere in your yard where it will receive light sun. If you’re transplanting a week ahead of the Garden Swap, you should make sure your plant is not over-exposed to sunlight, as this can "burn up" your plant.

Labeling Your Plants

It is important that you label all your plants, shrubs, trees, etc. so that someone who is interested in "adopting" your plant will know what it is and where it grows best.

A label should include the plant’s name or nickname (Example: Bergamot/Bee Balm), preferred growing conditions (Example: Prefers sunny location, tolerates partial shade), and notes about the plant (Example: grows 2-3 ft tall, produces pink-purple-red blossoms, pungent scent).

You can label your plant with a mailing label, a piece of masking tape, a popsicle stick, or any other item that will adhere or stick to your plant or its pot.

What & Where is the Frick Environmental Center?

The Frick Environmental Center is a city of Pittsburgh park facility, which provides information and activities concerning the habitat, history and ecology of the Frick Woods Nature Reserve.

The 151-acre Frick Woods Nature Reserve offers a variety of habitats filled with Pennsylvania’s native plants in its meadows and woodlands. The center serves as the starting point of an extensive trail system – including a handicap-accessible trail through the woods – used for educational programs and nature walks. Nature programs – including day camps, butterfly walks, nature hikes and Maple Days – continue year-round on the grounds of the Frick Woods Nature Reserve.

The Frick Environmental Center is located at:
2005 Beechwood Boulevard
In the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA 15219

For more information on how to get to the center, please call (412) 422-6538 or conduct an online direction search.

Volunteering for the Event

Volunteering for the Pittsburgh Garden Swap is lots of fun—especially if you enjoy spending time outdoors with interesting, nice people. Volunteers should have an interest in gardening, although you don’t have to be a Master Gardener!

Volunteer duties are very simple. On the day of event, volunteers help to greet and direct the public and identify plants and materials that participants bring to the Garden Swap.

We have two shifts, one running from 9:00am-1:00pm and another running from 12:00pm-3:30pm. Many of our "early shift" volunteers trade plants after their shift, and many of our "late shift" volunteers arrive early to trade their plants.

As a thank you for participating, volunteers attend the event for free. In addition, we will have a special volunteer refreshment area where volunteers can rest and get something to eat or drink.
All volunteer positions are located outdoors and the event will be held rain or shine (Note: we will employ several large tents in case of inclement weather, and the volunteer refreshment/rest area will be located indoors). Free parking is available.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us at pghgardenswap@yahoo.com, indicating your shift preference and your level of mobility.

Thank you for your interest!