11/23/2009

OSU Extension Nursery Short Course and CENTS Just Around the Corner

Writer:

Denise Johnson
johnson.2924@osu.edu
(614) 247-4353

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State University Extension educators and horticulture industry organizers are gearing up for the 2010 OSU Nursery Short Course and the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association Central Environmental Nursery Trade Show (CENTS).

The event will be held January 25-27 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Trade show hours run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Jan. 25-26 and from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Jan. 27. OSU Nursery Short Course hours are from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. all three days. There will also be pre-show events and activities on Jan. 24.

Visitors can expect some new updates to this year’s show, such as opportunities to acquire more CEU credits. Other changes include an extended lunch hour to spend more time visiting the CENTS show and a new one-day flex pre-registration that allows visitors to select the day they would like to attend.

CENTS is one of the nation's most comprehensive green industry trade shows. The Ohio State Nursery Short Course enhances CENTS with workshops, educational sessions, and presentations on green industry topics including plant facts, retail, landscape contracting, turf, greenhouse, rain gardens, pest management, nursery, urban forestry, landscape design, grower, diagnostics and landscape architecture. The events are sponsored by Ohio State University's Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, and Ohio State University Extension's Nursery, Landscape and Turf Team.

The Nursery Short Course program kicks off on Jan. 24 with pre-show sessions and presentations, including workshops on greenhouse management, techniques to optimize pesticide application rates, landscape lighting, digital photography and water management.

The session format for the OSU Nursery Short Course is organized into tracks that contain 60-minute presentations, focusing on and developing subjects from introductory level to more-in depth presentations. A full schedule can be found at http://www.onla.org/cents/shortcourse.asp or http://basicgreen.osu.edu.

Other events taking place during CENTS include: the ONLA annual business meeting/luncheon; the CENTS industry networking reception; the ONLA annual Job Fair; Ohio Certified Nursery Technician testing; Certified Landscape Technician testing; the American Nursery and Landscape Association’s Ohio Chapter meeting and reception; the ANLA Plant Professionals meeting; the Ohio FFA Landscape Career Development Event; the PLANET Town Hall meeting; and Better Than a Box Lunch networking luncheon.

For more information, log on to http://onla.org.