Archived Articles
Vegetables
- Cut & Dried: Harvesting & Preserving Herbs
- One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four
- Determinate or Indeterminate: Choosing the Best Tomato for Your Garden
- Tips for a Successful Indoor Herb Garden
- Spring (or Cool Season) Vegetable Gardening
- Vegetables That Give Year After Year
- Second Saturdays in the Garden with Barry
- Get Ready to Grow Garlic!
- Okra
- Tips for Hand Pollinating Eggplant
- Heirlooms!
- Planning a Spring and Summer Vegetable Garden
- Five Steps to Avoid Becoming THE Problem in YOUR Vegetable Garden
- Advice for the Aspiring Vegetable Gardener
- Tomatillo: The Little “Tomato” That Could
- Growing Leaf Lettuce
- Growing the Bitter Out of Cucumbers
- From Fruit to Spice: The Lowly Pepper
- Kale and Collards
- Cool Season Veggies - Timing is Everything
- Growing the Perfect Eggplant
- Hybrid vs Heirloom
- New Meatless Mondays
- Heirlooms!
- Planning a Spring and Summer Vegetable Garden
- Oh My Gourd! The Great Pumpkin Phenomenon
Propagation
- Two (or three or four) for the Price of One (grafting)
- Start Planning Your Spring and Summer Garden Now!
- Starting Seeds Is Fun and Easy!
- Get Seedy
- Your Super Productive Secret Greenhouse
- Growing Vegetables from Seed
- Seed Starting for Spring and Summer Crops
- The Seedy Side of Gardening
- Free Seeds!
- What Are Patented Plants?
- Free Seeds!
- Saving Seeds
- New Plants From Hardwood Cuttings
- Make Your Own Plants
- Nature's Influence on Plant Reproduction
- Organizing Seeds at Home
- Tips on Choosing Seeds for a Flower
Soil & Compost
- The Dark Side of Dirt
- Turning Dirt into Soil: The Benefits of Healthy Soil
- The Benefits of Cover Crops
- Backyard Composting Basics
- The Novice Gardener’s Guide to Bagged Garden Soils and Soil Amendments
- The Dark Side of Dirt
- Worms, Nature’s Wriggling Recyclers
- Sumptuous Soils: Turning Dirt into Gold
- Using Mulch versus Compost in your Garden
- Leave Your Leaves Alone!
- Yes, Worms!
- Switch To Drip Irrigation
- Making Worms Work for You
- Using Cover Crops
- Pine Needles As Mulch
- Composting
- Protect Your Soil With Mulch
- Composting Leaves
- Recycling - With Worms!
- What’s Going on Beneath the Surface of Your Soil?
- Cover Crops
- Is That Fertilizer Really Necessary?
- Soil: It's Complex. Be Informed!
- Starting A Vermiculture Program
- Soil is Alive!
- Worms –Nature’s Tillers
- Compost Tea
- The Basics of Composting
- To Fertilize or not to Fertilize
- Bless that Hard Pan
- Container Planting Soil
- Soil as your Garden Palette
- A New Approach to Digging
Trees
- What Tree Should I Plant?
- Oak Galls in California
- Our Beloved Oaks
- Pruning
- Captivating Japanese Maples
- Pineapple?...Nope. Guava?...Nope. Amazing?...Yes!
- Growing and Preserving Citrus
- Dogwoods of the Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh and Safe for the Holidays
- Why Trees Die
- Summer Pruning of Fruit Trees
- Finding the Right Tree Specialist
- Native Oaks of El Dorado County
- Citrus
- Fall Colors
- Stone Fruit: From Garden to Table
- Trees, Wonderful Trees
- Plant A Persimmon
- Why Are My Oaks and Conifers Turning Brown?
- Let’s Plant Some Olives!
- Native Oaks of El Dorado County
- Success with Citrus
- Masting In California Native Oaks
- Citrus in the Home Garden
- Summer Tree Care
- Citrus Basics
- Identifying Conifers In Your Neighborhood
- Citrus
- Growing Olives in the Foothills
- Why Does My Fruit Tree Have No Fruit?
- Plant Bare Root Fruit Trees -- A Green Thumb Project in February?
- Bareroot plants and why you should be planting them NOW
- Living Christmas Trees
- Success with Citrus
- Pruning Tips
- Citrus in the Foothills
- Fall Color
- Caring for a Living Christmas Tree
- Get Ready to Prune
- Trees Not to Plant
- The Bones of a Garden: Evergreens
Water & Irrigation
- How to Save Water in Your Garden
- Irrigation Basics for the Backyard Garden
- Precious Water, Precious Plants
- Stretching Your Water With Rain and Reuse
- Don’t Stress Over Water Stress
- Switch To Drip Irrigation
- Got Lawn?
- Advantages Of Drip Or In-Line Irrigation
- Rain: Saving For A Sunny Day
- Water-Saving Drip Irrigation
- Harness the Rain -- Use Your Gray Water
- Drought Decisions -- Setting Priorities in your Home and Landscape
- Helping Plants Through The Heat
- Water Container Gardening
- Watering in the Foothills
Miscellaneous
- Build a Rock and Succulent Garden
- Winter, a Glimpse into Paradise
- What to Do When You Can't Garden
- Oak Galls in California
- Lovely Christmas Tree Alternatives
- Let’s Talk Turkey
- Autumn Garden Care
- Help Save The Butterflies!
- How to Create a Butterfly Garden
- Fascinating Butterflies!
- Ten Best Gardening Gifts
- BRINGING NATURE HOME: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants
- Plant a Row for the Hungry–Why It Matters More Than Ever
- Tips for Keeping Mason Bees
- Making the All-Star Team
- Nesting Boxes for Bluebirds
- House Plants: What Your Grandmother Never Told You
- Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Cleaning and Caring for Your Garden Tools During Winter
- Holiday Gift Plant Care
- What's In A Name?
- Dry Your Garden Flowers
- What’s Better Than Sharing What You Love?
- Come Visit Us at the Fair
- Wheelbarrows of Fun!
- Tea in the Garden - Home Grown Flower and Herbal Teas
- How to Turn Your Kid’s Thumb Green
- Poisonous Plants in California
- Please, pamper Our Pollinators!
- Winning Ribbons at the County Fair
- Tradition!
- Enjoy the Magic of the Garden at the County Fair
- Spring Hope
- Sherwood Demonstration Garden Spring Re-Opening!
- Grow n’ Show Your Plants at the Fair
- Want Chickens?
- Internet Tools Master Gardeners Use, And You Can Too
- International Herb Association - Herb of the Year
- Why- Ask A Master Gardener?
- What is the Best Gardening Book to Have?
- Give Your Garden Tools a Little TLC
- Victory Gardens
- Heat Loving Plants
- Sherwood Demonstration Garden: Succulent Garden
- How Your Extra Garden Harvest Can Make a Difference
- Bonehead II: The Story Continues
- Native Plants, Schmative Plants - What’s All the Fuss?
- Plant a Grape Arbor and Eat/Preserve Your Bounty
- Ladybug, ladybug…
- Herbs: Beautiful and Useful Plants
- What’s In a Name?
- Spring Plant Sale at Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Got Chickens?
- Enrich Your Gardening Knowledge in 2016
- Perennial Garden - Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Olives: From Garden To Table
- What is a Master Gardener?
- The Grand Opening Is Coming!
- Cannons, Kites and Whirly Gigs: Desperate times called for desperate measures!
- Be Inspired -- Visit Botanical Gardens and Garden Events
- The NEW Master Gardener Handbook
- Go “Hog Wild” and Show What You Grow at the El Dorado County Fair
- It’s almost here - 11th Annual Master Gardener Plant Sale
- Plant Sale -- Plant Sale!
- The Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Master Gardeners Help You Grow Healthy in 2015
- Give Your Garden Tools A Little TLC
- Plant Your Soup?
- Ode to Summer
- It's Fair Time: Hot Dogs, Herbs and Gardening How To's
- Do Snails Eat Lunch?
- Turf Battles
- County Fair: Show Off Your Garden Bounty!
- How To Start A Beehive
- El Dorado County Master Gardeners: At Your Service!
- Row Covers: Helping to grow Your own Food Year Round
- Mistletoe, Holly, and Other Holiday Traditions
- Becoming a Master Gardener
- Landscaping With Ornamental Grasses
- Demonstration garden Coming In 2013
- The Best Time of the Year!
- Storing the Harvest
- Vacations: What to know before you go!
- Peanut Butter and Jelly
- Plant a Row to Make a Difference
- Fire Wise Landscaping
- Top 20 Gardening Hints
- Where Are All The Bees?
- Those Beautiful Hummingbirds
- What’s in Store for you from the Master Gardeners in 2013?
- A New Leaf (a poem)
- Winter Garden Chores
- Fall Garden Chores
- Adding a Frog Pond to Your Landscape
- Not So Famous Herbs and Spices
- Poisonous Plants and Pets
- Summer Chores Checklist
- Master Gardeners at the 2012 El Dorado County Fair
- Create a Butterfly Haven With Native Plants
- Plant Sale Extraordinaire
- Why an Herb's Structure is Important
- Spring garden Chores Checklist
- Planning Your Herb Garden
- Gardening with Chickens
- Pant A Row For The Hungry
- Changes in the Air
- Children in the Garden
- Garden Myths and the Truth
- PUT A PIN IN IT: Coming Soon in the Shade Garden
- Habitations
- The Sherwood Demonstration Garden
- Master Gardeners to Hold Two Plant Sales in April
- Master Gardeners to Hold Final Plant Sale of the Year
- Heat Tolerant Plants
- Ornamental Grasses
- Mulching Fall Leaves for Compost
- Pine Needles as Mulch
- Fairy Gardens
Flowers & Shrubs
- California Native Plants
- Rosemary
- Daphne Odora
- Incredible Edible ... Flowers!
- An Invitation to Garden Beauty -- A Rose Pruning Primer
- Flowering Vines
- Selecting and Caring for Poinsettias
- The Ultimate Christmas Flower: Poinsettias
- Cut & Dried: Harvesting & Preserving Herbs
- Grasses in the Garden
- Pruning
- Summer When It Sizzles - Zinnias
- Hostas: Made for Shade! Growing Hostas in Pots in the Sierra Foothills
- The Enduring Appeal of Lavender
- Pineapple?...Nope. Guava?...Nope. Amazing?...Yes!
- Poppy Power!
- Blooms For Bees
- A Gift That Keeps on Giving
- Ornamental Grasses in the Landscape
- Bob and the Duchess: A Tale of Antique Rose
- Secrets of Success with Succulents
- Agapanthus: So Much to Love!
- Red and Yellow Twig Dogwood
- Quirky Exotic Air Plants- Tillandsias
- Poinsettias, Part Two: Selection and Care
- Poinsettias, Part One
- Orchids in the Home
- Say It With Flowers
- Potted Chrysanthemums
- Monarda
- Blooming Succulents?
- Hellabores
- Redbud and Ceanothus: Native Superstars!
- Seasonal Color with California Bulbs
- Roses… I am Tempted
- Ornamental Grasses
- Orchids in the Home
- So Many Hydrangeas
- Salvia
- Cultivating the Rose—Cultivating Delight
- Brrrrrr, It’s Cold Outside
- Poinsettias Year Round!
- Much Loved Flower
- Growing Great Mums
- Bringing Home Pollinators
- Edible Flowers
- But I Don’t Have a Green Thumb
- In Praise of the Perfectly Durable Rose
- Year-Round Blossoms for the Garden
- Growing California Native Wildflowers
- Drought Tolerant California Native Plants
- Rhododendrons in the Gold Country?
- Flower of Easter
- Is It Time To Cut Those Grasses Back?
- Succulents
- Favorite Christmas Plants
- Ever-Blooming, Ever-Beautiful Orchids
- Plants for Privacy
- Late Summer Garden Spruce Ups
- African Violets: Easy-to-Care-for Flowering Houseplants
- Lavender Is Like A Puppy
- Caring For Clematis
- Cutting Gardens
- Geraniums and Pelargoniums
- Orchids In the Home
- Gardenias
- Succulent Basics
- Enjoy Flowers from your Garden Longer
- Lavender
- Caring for Poinsettias
- Growing Lilies
- Growing Peonies
- Try Growing a Rugosa Rose
- An Invitation to Garden Beauty - A Rose Selection and Bare Root Planting Primer
- Growing Peonies
- A Geranium for Every Garden
- Fire-Resilient Landscapes
- Container Garden for Winter Interest
- Cyclamen - A Pop of Color in Winter
- Blooming Perennials Throughout the Year
Pests & Diseases
- Don't Plant a Pest!
- Getting to Know Mistletoe
- All About Rattlesnakes -- Part 1
- All About Rattlesnakes -- Part 2
- Deterring Critters from Your Garden
- MG Confidential: Startling Revelations of Gardening Folly
- Uninvited Guest That Won’t Leave
- Invasive Plants
- Be a Plant Hero! Avoid Invasive Plant Introductions When You Landscape
- Gophers and Moles and Voles, Oh My!
- Don’t Wish Upon This Star! Controlling Yellow Starthistle
- Sneaky Weeds, Part 2
- Fear Not The Beetle
- Sneaky Weeds
- Be On The Lookout!
- The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly
- A Tale of Two Troubles: The Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing Disease
- Moist Spring Brings Summer Challenges
- They Come – Those Invasive Plants
- Yellow Star Thistle
- Yikes -- Bugs in my Squash!
- Keys to Plant Problems: Do Plants Talk?
- Poison Oak
- Is That Pesticide Really Necessary?
- Bark Beetles – The Silent Killer Among Us
- Dormant Spraying
- Weed Speak: What Our Weeds Are Telling Us
- Garden Whodunnits: Insect ID on the Web
- What's Wrong With My Plant?
- Wildlife Encounters
- Brown Recluse Spiders
- If You Plant It...They Will Come!
- Weed Wars
- Pocket Gophers: How to Control the Furry Little Root Eaters
- A Little Caution With These Plants
- Plant Fungal Diseases
- No More Leathery Tomatoes
- Pesticide Poisoning in Pets – Part 1
- Pesticide Poisoning in Pets – Part 2
- Flea and Tick Control
- Bats - Pest Management for your Garden and Orchard
- Controlling Codling Moth
- Controlling Peach Leaf Curl
- Controlling Whiteflies
- Weed Control without Poison
- What's Eating the Tomatoes
- White Pine Blister Rust
- Whiteflies
Gardening Techniques
- Houseplant Care in the Winter Months
- The Ultimate Raised Bed: Hugelkultur
- Tips for Success in Small Space Gardening
- The Art of Creating Defensible Space
- Fall, Fires, and the First 5 Feet
- Lazy But Successful Gardening
- Bringing Birds To The Garden
- A Container Planting Primer
- Easy Row Covers to Protect Your Garden Beds
- Safe and Sane Gardening Until You’re 90
- Blooms For Bees
- Growing Blueberries and Strawberries in Containers
- Gardening in Wildfire Lands
- How to Turn Your Kid’s Thumb Green
- Protect Your Plants from Frost Damage
- Coffee Mug Succulent Garden
- Mediterranean Climate Gardening?
- So You’re Going on Vacation! What’s Going to Happen to Your Plants?
- Now Is the Time to Take Action - Fire Wise landscaping
- I Love Straw Bale Gardening
- Three Simple Ways to Attract More Pollinators to Your Garden
- Gardening Techniques
- Back to Basics: Soil to Mulch
- Firewise Landscaping Still Matters
- Winter Gardening Interests
- Deer and Drought – Oh, No! (Oh yes)!
- The Art of Bonsai
- Shade Gardening in a Mediterranean Climate
- Water-wise Tips for an Unthirsty Landscape
- Going Native!
- Invite Your Friends to the Party
- New Garden, Old Garden
- Creating a Habitat Garden to Sustain Future Generations
- The Sensory Garden
- The Bones Of A Garden - Deciduous Trees and Shrubs
- Straw Bale Gardens
- Landscaping Without Lawns
- Using Cover Crops
- Establishing Native Plants
- Putting Your Garden To Bed
- So, You’ve Got a Shady Garden Area?
- No Bare Soil: The Cottage Garden
- Grow Bags: An Alternative Way to Grow Vegetables in Small Spaces
- Sustainable Gardening
- Rain Gardens – A New Approach
- Mediterranean Gardens
- Garden Wetlands
- Rock Gardening in El Dorado County
- Sustainable Gardening
- Arboretum All-Stars
- Gardening With California Native Plants
- Great Garden Tool:Floating Row Cover
- Shade gardening - Some Challenges
- Creative and Sustainable Ways to Help Your Landscape Be Firewise
- Painful Gardening Mistakes: Master Gardeners Tell All
- Your Garden - A Valuable Wildlife Corridor
- Grow Up!
- Sheet Mulching 101
- Put Your Garden To Bed
- Hope for Rain, Plan for Drought
- Plant an Herb or Veggie Garden
- Welcome the Beneficials
- Lawn Gone
- A New Look at Water in Your Landscape and Garden
- Choosing the Right Plant
- Straw Bale Gardening
- Missing March Miracle Means More Mulch!
- Rewards of Shade Gardening
- Square Foot Gardening
- Living with Fire and A Drought
- “Frozen” -- Not for Your Tender Plants
- Advice on How to Start A Vegetable Garden,from an Over-Ambitious Gardener
- Winter Dormancy: Gardening For the Fourth Season
- Creating A Remembrance Garden
- How To Be A Lazy Gardener
- What Are You Going To Do With A Brown Lawn?
- Check the Roots First
- Why A Garden Retreat?
- Electric Safety in Your Yard: Look Up, Look Out and Live!
- Gardening with a Mediterranean Thumb
- The Resilient Garden - Being Prepared for What Mother Nature Brings
- Five Reasons To Try A Straw Bale garden This Year
- Plant A Small Foothills backyard Vineyard
- Gardening Resolutions
- Using Cover Crops
- Put Your Garden to Bed
- Saving and Storage of Plant Seeds
- Plants for Privacy
- High Praise for the Raised Garden Bed
- Putting the Right Plant in the Right Place
- The Perils of Over-Fertilizing Plants and Trees
- Gardening for Wildlife Habitat
- How Past Weather Affects Today’s Garden
- Vacation: What to Know Before You Go!
- Planting In Containers
- Give Your Garden a “Tune-up” for Spring Planting
- Gardening In A Greenhouse
- Fire Wise Landscaping
- Citrus in the Foothills
- Starting A Backyard Orchard
- Lawn Alternatives
- Fall Color
- Contemplating a Backyard Orchard? Better to think ahead!
- Color and Shade - A Gardeners Challenge
- Master Gardener Demonstration Garden: Watch Us Grow!
- Waterwise Gardening
- Why Don't You Grow UP???
- Garden Safety
- Unusual Gardening Spaces
- Pond Plants
- Bringing Pollinators Home
- Lawn Alternatives
Garden Planning
- Planning this Year’s Veggie Garden
- Made In the Shade, Planning Your Shady Garden
- Landscape Design Principles
- Selecting a Garden Style
- Designing a Garden with Strong Plant Shapes
- Native by Design - Landscaping with Native Plant Species
- Re-think Your Gardening Space
- Wintertime: Musing Ahead For Your Gardening Year
- Steps to Good Landscape design
- Designing Gardens for Small Spaces
- Garden Planning