Summer!

Free Gardening classes

First lecture of free Learning in the Garden series begins in Stone Ridge

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Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardener Program announces its annual Learning in the Garden series. These free gardening lectures are open to the public and held June through October at the award-winning Xeriscape Garden at SUNY Ulster, 491 Cottekill Road, Stone Ridge. 

Classes take place at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month, rain or shine, lasting about a half-hour, except for the Plant Sale, which runs from 10 a.m.-noon. 

The first lecture is “Gardening in a Changing Climate” on June 16, taught by master gardener Sarah Holsted. As a result of climate change, area residents are encountering invasive plants and pests, and extreme weather events. These disrupt local ecosystems, including gardens. This talk will teach gardeners how to identify common invasive species, plan for weather extremes, and protect pollinators in the garden.

The Learning in the Garden series continues on July 21 with “Using Annuals in the Perennial Garden”; on Aug. 18, “How to Take Garden Photos Like a Pro”; on Sept. 15, the annual Master Gardener Plant Sale, with proceeds benefitting the Master Gardener Program; and on Oct. 20, “Natives, and Other Plants for Late Season Color.”

Walk-ins are welcome, or participants may register ahead. For more information or to RSVP for any of these classes, contact Master Gardener coordinator Dona Crawford at 845-340-3990, ext. 335, or email dm282@cornell.edu.

Free guided tours of the Xeriscape Garden are also available by request for a group or organization. Call the Master Gardener Hotline at 845-340-3478.