On Sept. 27, at its annual Fall Garden Workshop, Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Butler County will present “Your Garden, Your Planet,” a workshop all about gardening in harmony with nature.

The event is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Unionville Fire Hall off Route 8.

Frequently, when it rains, it pours. And the waters run everywhere.

In the first presentation of the day, “Rain Barrels, Rain Gardens and Swales,” Lisa Kunst Vavro explains how to save run-off to water your garden. She also discusses creating a rain garden or bio-swale that will use rain run-off to create an outdoor living environment that will attract and provide homes for native butterflies, birds and insects.

Lisa Kunst Vavro is The Penn State Center’s sustainable landscape coordinator. As a registered landscape architect, she works with municipalities to build capacity in developing green infrastructure. She designed the first bio-swale within the city of Pittsburgh’s right of way, and she designs stormwater mitigation projects within Allegheny County. In this session, Kunst Vavro brings her considerable experience and knowledge to the home gardening arena.

Save time and money on gasoline when you implement the ideas introduced in the second session of the day, “Lawn Alternatives and Adventures.” Annette Paluh tells us how to reduce maintenance time, the use of chemicals, fossil fuels and water in this discussion of alternatives to traditional lawns and xeriscaping. Mother Nature will appreciate your efforts and you will have more free time to spend on activities other than lawn care on your weekends. Swimming, anyone?

Paluh is a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist and an instructor for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. With a B.S. in biology from Gannon University and as a graduate of Phipps’ Horticulture and Landscape and Garden Design Certificate Programs, she has taught environmentally based garden classes since 2000. She is also an exhibited nature photographer.

Refreshed from lunch, we’ll take a trip into the world of Feng Shui for the workshop’s third session. In “Gardening with the Art of Feng Shui,” Yvonne Phillips teaches how to apply the elements of the ancient art of Feng Shui to our gardens. She helps us decide how to place and use the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water to create a welcoming, harmonious outdoor living space.

Phillips is an innovative Feng Shui color and design consultant, author, speaker and featured media guest with more than 20 years of experience as a Feng Shui adviser and educator. She is a veritable fountain of knowledge and inspiration on how to live in total harmony within one’s environment for health, wealth, wellness, creativity and happiness. Phillips has been trained as a Master Gardener with Phipps Conservatory and provides Feng Shui design instruction to gardeners.

Stop right there! Don’t take that old car seat to the landfill. Turn it into an outdoor chandelier instead. In the workshop’s fourth session “ReCycle, ReUse, ReGarden,” Jeff Double provides insight on how to think creatively when it comes to taking items once destined for the junkyard and turning them into garden art and growing accessories.

Double is a Butler entrepreneur specializing in turning reclaimed articles into creative and useful garden decoration and ornamental plant supports. He owns and operates All About Reclaimed where his mission is “to make something from nothing, reclaim a once loved or useful object for new love and use.”

There will be plants and other gardening-related items for sale during the lunch break and after the final session. The $45 registration fee — $40 if you register by Wednesday — includes breakfast and baked potato bar and salad for lunch. Parking is free and plentiful.

This workshop is a great value — you leave with new ideas, inspiration and new plants for improving your garden and working in harmony with Mother Nature. The Master Gardeners would love to see you there.

For additional information and to register for the workshop online, go to http://extension.psu.edu/gardening/events and click on Your Garden, Your Planet: Fall Garden Workshop.

If you do not have Internet access, call 724-774-3003 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday to register.

This material is submitted by Donna Zang, extension director, and the staff of the Penn State Extension office at the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center complex. Susan Struthers is a Penn State Extension Butler County Master Gardener.