Free Online Gardening Talks!

Short Takes are 15-30 minute classes, focused on a single idea. No fancy PowerPoint slides; just straightforward, common-sense information that will help you increase your gardening success. Are those seeds you saved from last year, or years before that, still okay? How can you tell if they are still good? Today Master Gardener Barry Weissman will demonstrate a simple seed viability test and discuss how you can get better results from the seeds you plant yourself. Meeting time should be about 30 minutes + question time.

Get a jump on the fall planting season by learning the ins and outs of vegetable gardening in raised beds. Master Gardener Michael Ismail will teach you about designing a raised bed, which materials to use, construction tips, plant protection methods, soil building, and more. Meeting time is between 60-90 minutes.

Updated to reflect activity caused by our plentiful rains. What is a weed? Well, weeds are in the eye of the beholder unless it is an invasive plant. How to identify? In this talk we will focus on the most common weeds found in Tucson, how to identify them and how to control them organically. I’ll also provide information on some invasive species, including the newly arrived stinknet. Meeting time is between 60-90 minutes.

The importance of proper watering techniques cannot be overemphasized! It is very common to have plant problems caused by poor watering practices which include under watering, over watering, and inconsistent watering. In this class local expert & Master Gardener Michael Ismail teaches you about the best equipment and irrigation methods which you can use to help eliminate these problems.

A “too-shady” yard can be an opportunity to create a beautiful garden with plants that flourish with little light. Trees, succulents, flowers, you can have it all even under the shade of old established trees. Come and learn from Master Gardeners how to create your own Shade Garden.

What makes a tree the BEST choice for your landscape? Consider what you want in a tree. Lifespan, shade, form, evergreen, flower...all characteristics to consider when choosing that perfect desert landscape tree. Toni will tell you about many under-appreciated gems, and how to choose, plant and care for that special tree.

Short Takes are 15-30 minute classes, focused on a single idea. No fancy PowerPoint slides; just straightforward, common-sense information that will help you increase your gardening success. Keeping your tools clean not only makes less work for you, it’s essential for keeping your plants healthy. Expert Master Gardeners will demonstrate the safest and best methods for cleaning important tools. Meeting time should be about 30 minutes + question time.

Watering correctly is essential to gardening success here in our hot & arid climate. Today Master Gardener and local irrigation expert Michel Ismail is going to focus on just two essential elements of every irrigation system. We’ll define what zone scheduling is and how to set it up for your landscape. We’ll also discuss different types of controllers, how to use them, and how to determine which is the best fit for your yard.

Join us in a journey to discover the amazing power of the legume to capture Nitrogen, produce food, protect crops, enrich the soil, and so much more. You will want to devote a lot of garden space to these incredible plants. The does mention common landscape favorites but most of the focus is on edible plants. Meeting time is between 60-90 minutes

Humans have relied on honeybees for food (honey), food crops (pollination), and medicinal purposes for over nine thousand years, and have been domesticating honeybees for over four thousand years. Despite their importance, the honeybee population is at risk and has declined by a factor of two over the last seventy years. In this talk, we will learn about honeybee evolution, honeybee domestication, social organization in the hive, threats to survival, and ideas on how to welcome bees and other pollinators into your home garden. Feel free to enjoy a glass of mead as we explore the many fascinating aspects of honeybees.

Learn how to recycle your kitchen & yard waste into super-healthy organic matter for your garden. No room for a compost bin outside? We will also discuss Vermiculture: how to raise worms to do the composting for you.

Growing plants from seeds is one of the most economical ways to expand your garden. But which seeds are easiest to save, and how do you know which ones will produce the right results? This class focuses mainly on saving seeds from wildflowers, other native plants, and common vegetable garden plants.

“Palm trees” are not really trees at all, and they need special care in our desert gardens. Learn how to include these luxuriant & versatile plants in your home landscape. We’ll talk about which varieties are adapted for our climate, how to care for them, and the common problems you may see.

Short Takes are 15-30 minute classes, focused on a single idea. No fancy PowerPoint slides; just straightforward, common-sense information that will help you increase your gardening success. We’ve all heard about the importance of protecting native bees. Come learn how you can attract these wonderful pollinators to your garden by building bee houses.

Our southwestern landscape diversity attracts many pollinators, including 1300 species of native bees, 18 species of hummingbirds, and 3 species of nectar bats that migrate back south to overwinter. Learn about our favorite insect and bird friends, what plants they love and how to meet their requirements in your backyard. You won't need a bird feeder to bring the flutter, hum and buzz of wildlife when your yard is overflowing with native perennials, milkweeds, flowers, and agaves.

“Beetles live everywhere and do everything” according to entomologist Richard Jones. Across the globet here are half a million beetle species that have been identified, described, and catalogued. There is huge diversity among beetles – shape, form, life history, ecology, behavior. Unfortunately, many people only see a problem when they see a beetle. But this species can indicate freshwater quality, help identify threatened habitats or those with broad diversity and in fact their movement on the planet is helping scientists understand climate change. Join us to learn more about a few of the beetles we have in southeastern Arizona. We’ll focus on why beetles are so important to our planet and to humans and have some fun learning about unusual behaviors that may go unnoticed.