Would you like to schedule a Washington State University Extension Master Gardener to speak to your gardening club or other group? WSU Master Gardeners do presentations on a variety of gardening topics as part of their mission to empower and sustain diverse communities with relevant, unbiased, research-based horticulture and environmental stewardship education.
To request a WSU Master Gardener for your event in King County please email the following information to mgspeaker@outlook.com at least 6 weeks before your event date. Please include the following information in your email:
- Event date(s)
- The time you want the presenter to arrive (either virtual or in-person) plus the actual presentation start time
- Event contact name, telephone number and e-mail address
- Event site and street address, city and zip code if requesting an in-person speaker
- Number of anticipated guest/attendees
- The topic you would like to have presented. See options below.
We request a minimum of 10 attendees. Presentations typically range from 30 minutes to one hour. In most cases there is no charge, however donations to the Master Gardener Foundation of King County (www.mgfkc.org) are appreciated.
Once a request is received, we will do our best to provide a speaker, however, our WSU Master Gardeners are volunteers, and we cannot guarantee a Master Gardener will be available for your specific event date/time.
Updated November 2022
Containers
Creating Beautiful Containers
Learn container basics, design ideas, and planting tips to create containers that have year-round pizzazz. Recommendations are included with photos to inspire you to create your own container!
The History & Art of Bonsai
Is bonsai an art form? Can anyone do it? Are you intrigued as to why some people are excited by a tree growing in a pot? Would you like to learn a bit about container gardening at a whole different level? This talk is an introduction to this ancient and worldwide gardening art form. Specific plant ideas for both shade and sun containers as well as watering are included.
Fruits, Herbs & Vegetables
Basics of Vegetable Gardening
There are six keys in successfully growing vegetables in our area of the Pacific Northwest: preparing your planting location, timing of seed starting, key items for caring for plants and how to recognize and treat problems on plants during their path to your plate.
Growing Your Coleslaw and Related Foods
In Western Washington, some members of the Cabbage Family (aka Brassicas/Cruciferae) can be grown throughout the year and show-up on your dinner table when needed. These crops include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, arugula, mustard, rutabagas, turnips, radishes, collards, bok choi, and Brussels sprouts. These cool weather vegetables are among the first to be planted each year, as early as March for most transplants and April for direct seeding. Let’s make your vegetable beds productive year-round!
Growing Melons in the Pacific Northwest
There is nothing more flavorful than a melon picked at its peak. This lecture discusses how heat and timing can work for you to achieve the best melon harvests ever.
Growing Peas and Beans
Learn how easy it is to grow peas and beans in your home garden. This class will cover the basics of who is in the legume family, why it is a great idea to grow peas and beans (beyond just the fresh taste), as well as tips on varieties, growing and harvesting techniques and an overview of pests and diseases.
Herbs
Fresh herbs can be hard to find in stores and are often extremely expensive. Growing your own can give your cooking extra zip and depth of flavor. Learn about growing a wide variety of herbs, from arugula, basil and chives to rosemary, sage and thyme. Edible flowers such as borage, chamomile, chives, nasturtium and calendula petals also can add beauty and flavor to any salad.
Perennial Vegetables for Western Washington
Who wouldn’t like to grow vegetable crops that are planted once and can be harvested for 5, 15, even 25 years? We’ll discuss the most popular long-lived vegetables appropriate for the Pacific Northwest as well as their placement, planting and pest identification and prevention.
Roots & Shoots
Leafy greens can be crisp or tender, bitter or sweet, tangy or pungent. They can be eaten raw or cooked and are full of fiber. Many prefer the cooler weather of spring and early summer, such as lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, arugula and mesculn mixes. Many can even grow in partial shade. This presentation will focus on some of the most popular greens.
Summer & Winter Squash
Cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and melons are members of the Cucumber Family, all of which are warm season crops. Cucurbits can sprawl 3 to 5 feet in all directions. Learn how to use vertical applications to enhance productivity in small spaces. Talk topics include varieties selection, cultural requirements, container growing, fertilizer needs, major diseases and pests, and pest management techniques for each crop.
Indoor Plants
Growing Orchids
Did you get an orchid as a gift, or buy one for it’s beauty? Learn the basic practices that will keep your orchids thriving and blooming year after year.
Ornamentals
Perennials for Year-Round Color
Each month of the year is discussed in this talk and highlights a ‘tried and true,’ ‘new or unusual’ or ‘self-seeders or creepers’ perennial that provides color for the month. Other more colorful perennials are noted which bloom well in our climate in the spring and summer months.
Shrubs That Grow Well in King County Gardens
This talk discusses evergreen and deciduous shrubs that grow well in our Western Washington gardens. Highlighted will be several specific varieties that showcase the breadth of a genus. Some varieties are tried-and-true, others are more unusual.
Introduction to Pruning
This session will allow you to be more comfortable with shaping your trees and shrubs. Prune first for the health of the tree or shrub, then, to shape it for form and aesthetics. Learn the general pruning precepts you can apply to many plants in your yard, whether you are doing the work or evaluating a contractor’s work.
Great Understory Trees for the Pacific Northwest
The speaker will present ten great understory trees for the Pacific Northwest, particularly those on the Great Plant Picks list. Attendees will receive an informative list of great trees to consider.
Vines
Clematis – The Queen of Climbers
Discover how to bring the beauty and variety of clematis to your garden—with ease. Using great photos, the presenter will provide details about their care and recommendations for easy clematis to try. Attendees will receive an informative handout.
Grow the Heck Up! Embellish your Garden with Vines
Learn how to embellish your garden with the beauty of vines that do well in our area. Using great photos and an engaging presentation, the speaker will provide details about the care and pruning of various vines. Attendees will receive a detailed handout to take home.
Summer Sizzlers: The Clematis of July, August, and Beyond
Learn about the beauty and variety of summer clematis! Laura will discuss Profuse Clematis (aka viticellas), Trumpets and Urns (aka texensis/viorna/crispa), the Late Large-Flowered Clematis, and Non-Climbing Clematis. Attendees will receive an informative and detailed handout.
Soil
All About Soils & Fertilizers
Not counting the landscaper, how did you get the soil that lives in your yard? This class will discuss soil formation, how to determine texture and its importance and the best testing methods to use when determining soil properties and for soil testing. From there, soil improvement is easier to control. Nutrient advice, fertilizer tips and calculations and manure(s) will all be evaluated in this 90-minute program.
The Basics of Successful Composting
What is compost? What materials can you use (or should avoid) in your home piles? What are the impacts it has on soil and the organisms living in it? What methods and equipment are needed to make ‘black gold?’ We’ll look at examples of fast, slow-low-energy methods (used in my yard) and kitchen scraps use and harvesting.
Water
Introduction to Rain Gardens
Rain gardens may be for homeowners who want to create a unique focal point in the yard, reduce garden maintenance and property flooding while providing space and food sources for birds and pollinators. Rain gardens also help reduce water pollution in area waterways and Puget Sound. Let’s discuss how to develop these fluctuating water-flow spaces in your yard.
Plants for Your Rain Garden
The plant selections for your rain garden will be determined by their zonal placement within the planting areas as well as your decision to use only native plants and/or their cousins and what look and feel you want for this renovated part of your yard.
Water Saving Irrigation
Watering may seem like the simplest thing we do as gardeners. In reality, proper watering of our gardens may be the most complicated, time consuming and expensive part of our garden work. Learn how to think and see differently about watering. Discover how to save time and money.
Other Topics
Basic Landscape Design
This landscape presentation will help to design your garden and landscape before choosing your trees, shrubs and other plants. Creating a plan helps to identify use areas, hide undesirable views or frame those views. Once this task has been accomplished, the plants can be identified based on conditions such as soil, light and other desired preferences, such as maintenance requirements.
Cleaning & Sharpening Garden Tools
Is your shovel still caked with last year’s garden soil? Do you wish for an easier way to keep your garden tools sharp? What will you do with that expensive pair of clippers you just rediscovered after two years outside in your flower bed? Find answers to these questions and more in this interesting and practical presentation.
Opportunistic Propagation Tips
Propagation from cuttings is a fun and money-saving way to create more plants for your garden. Let’s look at the why, the when, the medium and the timing of your next gardening science project. There are new ways to expand what you have in the yard, or, perhaps, want to share with your neighbor. Let’s experiment!
The Zen of Japanese Gardens
We will explore three types of Japanese gardens – the dry landscape garden, the courtyard garden, and the strolling garden – and the history and stories behind each of these unique styles. Beautiful photos taken in Japan of each type of garden will inspire you to re-create elements of these gardens here in the Pacific Northwest.
Weeds
When does a plant become a weed? A whimsical look at how to identify, prevent, and control weeds.
Who Lives in Your Yard?
Here is your introduction to our region’s birds and how to happily live with them in our shared urban/suburban neighborhoods and, especially, our gardens. Let’s look at how all of us can live together safely. Learn what garden enhancements will encourage birds to make our yards part of their worlds and what you can do to lessen harm to our shared environment.
Our PNW Gardens and Climate Change
We will try and demystify the complex topic of climate change and how it is affecting our PNW gardens. We’ll discuss the causes of climate change and how we can make our gardening more climate-friendly by reducing our gardening greenhouse gas emissions and by storing atmospheric CO2 in plants and soil via photosynthesis. Finally, we’ll encourage gardeners to educate and inspire others to take climate action.
Feature image by Ella Olsson. Container plants image by Shirley Hirst; tomato image by Axel Mellin; orchid detail by Anna CA Pictures, summer squash image by Sh2587; and soil image by Lisa Fotios.