By UC Master Gardeners of Butte County
A new season of Master Gardener Workshops is about to start! The series begins Monday, September 8, with an increasingly important and relevant workshop on irrigation and concludes in mid-December with our popular repeat workshop on gardening as we get older. In all, this Fall 2025 Series totals 18 workshops, including seven all-new topics. There is something here for every type of gardener and every size of home garden, whether you maintain a balcony of plants in containers or produce fruit and vegetables on a large plot for your family, friends, and neighbors. For a list of all the workshops and to register for any of the first nine workshops described below, visit our website.
In the months to come, we have workshops on landscape design (a two-parter!), raised beds, and irrigation to help you get the framework of your garden established. And there are plenty of opportunities to beef up your cultivation skills, with workshops on propagation, native plants, companion planting, roses, and creating a self-sustaining meadow garden.
We live in a fabulous part of the world for growing fruit, and this year we are offering not one but three fruit tree workshops, including a brand-new one on determining optimum times to harvest all that fruit.
It can be heartbreaking when our hard work in the garden is undone, seemingly overnight, by vertebrate pests. Learn how to combat gophers, moles, and squirrels, and how to set a gopher trap, in our workshop on that topic. And, in a new workshop, discover how owls can provide natural pest control in your yard.
Weeds present a different kind of gardening problem; we tackle this topic with a new workshop on weed identification and management.
Beekeeping is an increasingly popular pastime; once again we present a workshop on beekeeping basics, whether you want to set up your own apiary or just attract more honeybees and other pollinators to your yard.
Another repeat is our vermiculture workshop, in which you can learn all about the process of creating soil-enriching compost from worm castings.
Most of the workshops will be held in the outdoor classroom in the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden or Pat’s Barn, both located at the Patrick Ranch. Other locations include the Bradley 2 OLLI classroom at The Social residence halls in Chico; the Dorothy F. Johnson Center at Chapman Park in Chico; and the Terry Ashe Recreation Center on Skyway in Paradise.
The following list covers our Workshop offerings from September through mid-October. All workshops are free, but they do require advance registration. For full descriptions of all 18 workshops, and to register, visit our website.
SEPTEMBER
Irrigation (Monday, 9/8). Drip irrigation is arguably the most efficient method of providing water to trees, crops, gardens, and landscapes. This workshop provides an overview of different options available for drip irrigation systems and covers how to install, inspect, troubleshoot, and repair them.
Garden Raised Beds NEW (Thursday, 9/11). With raised beds, garden tasks like weeding, watering, and replanting are much easier; so is pest control. Learn about the wide variety of methods and materials for making raised beds.
Rose Care (Tuesday, 9/16). Keep your roses healthy throughout the year! From preparing the soil through planting, fertilizing, watering, pruning, and pest management, Butte Rose Society Consulting Rosarian Gwen Quail will share a wealth of guidelines, tips, and how-to’s for happy roses.
Companion Planting (Saturday, 9/20). Attract pollinators, deter pests and offer shelter and food for beneficial insects in the home vegetable garden by combining plants that give one another the nutrients, shade and/or support they need.
“Black Gold” Vermiculture (Saturday, 9/27). This workshop will teach you how to create rich, nutritious compost with help from worms. A Certified Composter will show you how to get started and how to keep the worms happy so they continue to create valuable Black Gold for your plants.
OCTOBER
Fruit Tree Care (Saturday, 10/4). Learn what to do throughout the year to keep your fruit trees healthy and ensure the most successful crops. Pruning, irrigation, fertilizers, and cultural practices will all be covered.
Honeybees (Tuesday, 10/7). If you are considering beekeeping as a hobby, or just interested in learning more about attracting honeybees and other pollinators to your garden, this workshop is for you.
Creating a Backyard Blooming Meadow and Cottage Garden Look NEW (Saturday, 10/11).
Learn how to create a carefree cottage garden or blooming meadow on your property, by letting the plants do much of the “work” through self-propagation.
Weed Identification and Management NEW (Monday, 10/13). Learn to identify the particular weeds you confront in your garden, and how best to combat them.
NOTE: A timely reminder that it is always wildfire season in California, and that there is a lot we can all do to prepare our property for the advent of fire. Zeke Lunder, Chico State Alumnus, pyrogeography and wildfire expert, and director of LOOKOUT MEDIA, including The LOOKOUT newsletter, has just launched a new video series, “Danger in Plain Sight.” While it focuses on Los Angeles, it contains information critical for all of us. Here’s the link: Danger in Plain Sight - The Lookout.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.