Learn the Essential Principles for Landscape Gardening Success
Would you like to grow naturally beautiful landscape that keeps our Whatcom waters clean? Would you like to know how to nourish healthy soils, how to save water, and reduce your maintenance chores? WSU Whatcom County Extension’s Gardening Green courses will teach you the essential principles for successful landscape gardening that is easier on the environment – using more know-how and less fertilizer and pesticides.
Cheryl Lovato Niles
Water Resources Educator
clniles@wsu.edu
(360) 778-5812
Gardening Green Courses
Summer and Fall 2023
WSU Whatcom County Extension is offering sustainable landscaping courses three ways this spring.
We are offering:
· On-Your-Own-Schedule Online Course
· LIVE Online Course
· LIVE In-Person Course
These Gardening Green courses will teach you how to:
· Understand your site and soils so you can choose plants that will naturally thrive
· Proper planting techniques so you can get great plants off to a good start
· Watering techniques and tools
· How to make the magic of mulch work for you
· Get strategic about your maintenance chores
All course participants will get worksheets and resources that they can use to put sustainable landscaping principles into action. And all participants will complete learning assignments that will build upon each other to create the foundation of a custom landscaping plan for your site!
Three ways to learn:
On-Your-Own-Schedule Online Course
Dates: September 22 – November 3, 2023
Duration: 6 weeks
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Cost: Free
Details: This course has no scheduled meeting times. The course materials are all provided online via a platform called Moodle. A new course module will be available each week and participants will work through the materials and the learning assignments within the week according to their own schedules. Participants are expected to contribute to weekly group discussions via the online discussion boards.
A new topic will be covered each week in its own module which will contain one or more recorded presentations, a printable summary sheet, and a list of excellent additional resources on the topic of the week. Each module also includes a short quiz so that you can check your understanding of the material.
Each module also includes a learning assignment where you’ll apply what you’ve learned to your own site. You’ll share your progress on these assignments with your course mates via the online discussion board.
LIVE In-Person Course
in Birch Bay
Dates: Saturday mornings, September 16 – October 14, 2023
Duration: 5 weeks
Time commitment: 2 hours of class time; 2-4 hours of homework per week
Cost: $36 fee for soil testing
Details: This course will meet weekly on Saturday mornings from September 16 – October 07, 2023, from 10am to Noon in the BP Heron Center (7290 Birch Bay Dr, Blaine, WA 98230). A Washington State Parks Discover Pass (annual or day pass) is required for parking at the Heron Center https://www.discoverpass.wa.gov/133/Where-to-Buy. If the parking fee is a financial burden, please email clniles@wsu.edu and we can provide a pass for you. The course will wrap up on Saturday, October 14th from 10am to 12:30pm with site visits to 2-4 participant properties (TBD) where we will discuss the possibilities for applying what you’ve learned in the course.
The course includes a laboratory test of soil pH, fundamental soil nutrients, soil texture, and organic matter. Course participants will bring their soil samples to the second class session and the instructor will deliver them to the soil testing laboratory. Results should be ready before the end of the course.
Participants will receive a coupon to Kent’s Garden and Nursery!
LIVE Online Course
via Zoom
Dates: Dates TBD
Duration: 5 weeks
Time commitment: 2 hours of class time; 2-4 hours of homework per week
Cost: $36 fee for soil testing
[The following details were for the Spring 2023 course.]
Details: This course will meet weekly on Thursday evenings via Zoom. Course materials and assignments will be provided via email. The course will wrap up with site visits to 2-4 participant properties (TBD) where we will discuss the possibilities for applying what you’ve learned in the course.
The course includes a laboratory test of soil pH, fundamental soil nutrients, soil texture, and organic matter. Course participants will drop their soil samples off at the WSU Extension Whatcom County Office at 600 Dupont Street during the second week of the course and the instructor will deliver them to the soil testing laboratory. Results should be ready before the end of the course.