Events

Learn how summer pruning can be an effective way to control the size of your fruit trees.  Fruit thinning and espalier techniques will also be demonstrated.

Followed by Open Garden and tours of the gardens with Master Gardeners, from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Location: Palo Alto Demonstration Garden, 851 Center St., Palo Alto, 94301 Directions to Palo Alto Demonstration Garden

Celebrate Adult Summer Reading and Master the Art of Growing Your Own Food. The Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County will give a presentation on how to start your own fruit and vegetable garden at home. Participants will be eligible for gardening themed prizes.

Location: Berryessa Branch Library, 3355 Noble Ave., San Jose, CA 95132 Directions to Berryessa Branch Library

Are you ready to trade in your thirsty lawn for a beautiful, water-wise landscape?  Your lawn replacement garden can be as low maintenance as any lawn, or you can create a garden where you will enjoy gardening on an ongoing basis.     Topics include: Removing part or all of a lawn in the easiest and most cost-effective way; Choosing water-wise plants from among the dazzling array of possibilities; Design considerations; When and how to plant; and How to maintain your new landscape.  This is a practical, how-to class, focused on the steps you'll take to successfully remove the lawn.    The presentation includes photographs and descriptions of plant categories and specific recommended plants, and photographs of great examples of landscapes that took the place of lawns. 

Location: Directions to West Valley Library

Come learn ways to use containers to extend your garden or perhaps, to BE your garden.  You'll learn about containers, potting soil, fertilizing, irrigation and the plants themselves.

Followed by Grand Rounds in the garden - tour the garden with Master Gardeners and bring your questions!

Location: Sunnyvale Teaching and Demonstration Garden, Charles Street Community Garden; near Charles Ave. & Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, 94086 Map of Sunnyvale Teaching and Demonstration Garden

It's mid-summer -- a good time to focus on sustainable gardening practices for watering, amending, and fertilizing soil using nontoxic alternatives.  

Location: Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, 94022 Directions to Los Altos Library

Learn how easy it is to grow plants in fall and winter conditions.  Master Gardeners will discuss soil prep, which vegetables to plant and when to plant, how much to plant, succession planting and harvesting tips.

Followed by Open Garden and tours of the gardens with Master Gardener from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Location: Palo Alto Demonstration Garden, 851 Center St., Palo Alto, 94301 Directions to Palo Alto Demonstration Garden

Now's the time to start thinking about your fall and winter garden & start it from seed.  You'll leave with a six-pack seeded with winter vegetables.

Followed by Grand Rounds in the garden - tour the garden with Master Gardeners and bring your questions!  

Location: Sunnyvale Teaching and Demonstration Garden, Charles Street Community Garden; near Charles Ave. & Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, 94086 Map of Sunnyvale Teaching and Demonstration Garden

Join Sue Zaslaw, a volunteer from the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program,  for a presentation on growing cool season vegetables.  The talk will cover the types of vegetables that grow during the cool season as well as tips on growing them, including those that grow well in containers.

Location: Campbell Library, 77 Harrison Avenue, Campbell, 9500 Directions to Campbell Library

You can grow almost anything in containers - from vegetables and herbs to flowers arranged with the "thriller/filler/spiller" technique to roses and citrus and dwarf trees.    You can use containers of any size, shape and material, along with re-used or re-purposed gems you discover at yard sales, antique shops or hardware stores.  A container is anything that holds soil and provides drainage.   This is the perfect time of year to start seeds for a fall/winter vegetable garden, so we'll talk about starting seeds for later transplant into containers, as well as planting seeds directly in the containers.

Location: Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, 94022 Directions to Los Altos Library