Master Gardeners’ online gardening workshop starts Oct. 18

Linda Gilkeson, Ph.D.

The Master Gardeners of San Juan County share news about their upcoming speaker series.

Join the Master Gardeners of San Juan County in welcoming the very popular Dr. Linda Gilkeson — also known as the Garden Doctor — as the keynote speaker at our annual Gardening Workshop Series this October. Dr. Gilkeson’s talk, Resilient Gardens in a Changing Climate, will discuss how greater resiliency in our gardening methods can help minimize the effects of local climate change. Pacific Northwest gardeners need to be prepared to handle cooler, wetter springs; longer, drier summers; unexpected winter cold snaps; and water shortages.

In addition to her keynote address, Dr. Gilkeson will also speak in an afternoon session, Preparing Our Gardens for Winter, which will talk about protecting soil and preserving beneficial insect habitat. It will also cover what to plant in the fall to increase next year’s food supply for pollinators.

Dr. Gilkeson earned a Ph.D. in Entomology from McGill University and worked for the Canadian government on various programs designed to reduce pesticide use. She is the author of Backyard Bounty: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest. She lives in British Columbia and writes a monthly newsletter with gardening tips on her website.

The workshops consist of two Zoom webinars at noon and 1:45 each Tuesday and Thursday from Oct. 18-27. Each session is an hour long with a question and answer period at the end.

In addition to the keynote, the series speakers and their topics are:

• Vole Management by Danielle Gunn, MS. Ms. Gunn is the Agricultural Extension Educator on the Fort Hall Reservation for the University of Idaho Extension. Her talk will cover vole biology and effective vole management methods for home gardening.
• Irrigation Design, Installation & Maintenance by Alec Kowalewski, PhD. Dr. Kowalewski is an Associate Professor at Oregon State University and teaches several undergraduate classes in horticulture and landscape management. He will teach attendees the principals of irrigation design and installation, including how to measure water flow rate at your home.
• Small Space Gardening – How to Make Your Garden Feel Larger by Tobey Nelson. Ms. Nelson has a BS in Landscape Horticulture from Michigan State University and is an official plant-a-holic. Her class is for those who feel challenged by the size of their garden. She will offer some strategies for making the most of small garden spaces.
• Pots with Pizazz, again by Tobey Nelson. She will take your container garden game to the next level with tips on selecting containers, plants and soil.
• Insect Pest Whodunit by our very own islander Kate Yturri. Ms. Yturri is a San Juan County Master Gardener who aspires to improve her skills as an amateur entomologist and help others identify the insects in their gardens. She will talk about how to collect clues when dealing with plant damage to arrive at a solution.
• Wild About Dahlias by Mary Bannister. Ms. Bannister is a retired geologist who has been growing dahlias for over 30 years. She will discuss growing and caring for dahlias with an emphasis on varieties and propagation.

Visit the Gardening Workshop Series website to register and for more information. Tickets are $35 for all eight webinars. Attendees have access to recordings of the classes for up to a month, in the event of conflicting schedules. The registration deadline is Oct. 12.

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