Our final presentation will be on May 11, and our speaker will be Jeff McManus, Director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi since 2000. His presentation is entitled “Pruning Like a Pro.” Jeff holds a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture from Auburn University and is a Certified Grounds Manager and Arborist.

During his time as Director of Landscape Services, Jeff and his team have earned numerous awards for the campus landscaping. Princeton Review, Newsweek Magazine, and USA Today have each identified the UM campus as one of the nation’s most beautiful. Jeff and his team have also been praised by the New York Times, Forbes, and The Huffington Post for the beautiful landscape of the campus. Jeff’s three books based on his work at the University, Pruning Like a Pro, Growing Weeders into Leaders and the newly released, Cultivate, Tailgate Huddles to Growing Stronger Teams, have all been popular successes. Jeff feels that pruning and nurturing is what gardening is all about. He has taught that philosophy for the past several summers in the popular “Landscape Camp” program that many local gardeners have enjoyed.