Kathleen will bring along some of her favorite tools for pruning

I worked and eventually managed a retail nursery for ten years before starting my own business almost four years ago. One of my responsibilities as manager was ordering all the plants, at first I would take the availability list and go through it looking up every plant I didn't know in the Sunset Western Garden book. It really forced me to become knowledgeable about plants I wasn't familiar with. I was also taking a plant I.D. class at the time so I would order plants we were studying that week.

My business name is "Kathleen Putnam Horticultural Service" specializing in organic edibles, although I also do ornamentals for some clients. I don't have a favorite tree, each situation is so different. There are some individual trees I love though. One of my clients has the most beautiful arbutus. I also love coming upon an old abandoned fruit orchard and seeing how well the trees are doing.