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Learn how to be a 'Green Gardener' in workshop series

Roseville offers two-month course designed for home gardeners; sign up now

"Green gardens" are beautiful as well as watershed-wise. Learn the right practices in the two-month class offered by the City of Roseville.

"Green gardens" are beautiful as well as watershed-wise. Learn the right practices in the two-month class offered by the City of Roseville. Courtesy City of Roseville Green Gardener program

Give the gift of gardening know-how – or perhaps make it part of your New Year’s resolutions. Either way, this series of garden classes will go a long way toward boosting local “green” gardening – and a better planet.

Registration is now open for a series of Green Gardener classes, offered by the City of Roseville. The workshops are open to both Roseville residents and non-residents.

Starting Feb. 1, the “Green Gardener at Home” classes will be held at 6 p.m. Thursdays through March 30. The two-hour class meets weekly (except Feb. 22 and 29) at the Utility Exploration Center, 1501 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville.

“Want a stunning, water-saving garden? Interested in preparing your landscape for extreme weather and climate change? Join our Green Gardener at Home series, starting on February 1, 2024,” say the organizers. “Local experts will share eco-friendly tips for healthy plants, soil management, efficient irrigation and pest control.”

The class fee ($55 for Roseville residents, $65 for non-residents, age 18 and older) covers all seven weeks of classroom instruction plus three optional Saturday hands-on demonstration sessions, set for 10 a.m. Feb. 17, March 16 and March 30. Advance registration is required.

The series takes a “watershed-wise” approach, say the organizers. “Enjoy classes with local landscape pros and learn environmentally-friendly, easy-care practices for thriving trees and plants that support an abundance of garden life. For regionally specific garden wisdom and practices, the Green Gardener at Home class is the definitive source.”

Each session will have a specific focus, such as practical irrigation, soil health, edible landscaping, integrated pest management and pruning California native shrubs.

Classes also will cover:

• Essential practices for watershed-wise gardens.

• Growing your rainwater.

• Composting, fertilizing, and mulching for optimum garden health.

• Reducing water runoff and air pollution.

• Selecting and caring for California native plants.

• Luscious lawn substitutes.

To register or learn more about Roseville’s Green Gardener program:

https://rb.gy/nvoqma

or

https://www.roseville.ca.us/residents/utility_exploration_center and click on the photo captioned “New Year, learn new gardening techniques.”

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Garden checklist for week of July 19

Remember to water early and deeply; your garden depends on you.

* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost.

*Fertilizing flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom. Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week. Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* If your melons and squash aren’t setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves. New leaves have the best flavor.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

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Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

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Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

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Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth