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
Offered Spring 2023
WSU Whatcom County Extension is offering sustainable landscaping courses three ways this spring.
We are offering:
· One LIVE Online Course in March
· One LIVE In-Person Course in April
· Two On-Your-Own-Schedule Online Courses – one beginning in March and one beginning in April
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:
LIVE Online Course
via Zoom
Dates: 2023 LIVE Online Course is filled. Click the “Notify me” button to be notified of future offerings.
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 from March 2 to March 23, 2023 from 5:30 to 7:30pm online via Zoom. Course materials and assignments will be provided via email. The course will wrap up on Saturday, April 1 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 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.
Participants will receive a discount at the Garden Spot Nursery!
LIVE In-Person Course
in Sudden Valley
Dates: Saturday mornings, April 8 – May 6, 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 April 8 to April 29, 2023, from 10am to Noon in the Sudden Valley Community Center (8 Barn View Drive) in multi-purpose room A. The course will wrap up on Saturday, May 6 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 discount at the Garden Spot Nursery!
On-Your-Own-Schedule Online Course
(2 course offerings available Spring 2023)
Dates: April 14 – May 26, 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.