![Getting Started with Native Plant Propagation @ The Gardens at Lake Merritt | Oakland | California | United States](https://alamedabackyardgrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Getting-Started.png)
This talk, which will be given by Master Gardener Laura Cornett, will cover propagating with seeds as well as vegetative propagation via cuttings and division. Preparation of propagules will be covered as well as after care for seedlings. Cornett has been an Alameda County Master Gardener since 2020. She is also part-time faculty as the Curriculum Coordinator and Laboratory Technician in the Horticulture Department at Las Positas College in Livermore. She is involved in the Native Plant Resource Team which is a division of the “Bringing Back the Natives Tour.” Her yard has been on this Tour three times, including this year.
No registration is required. The Master Gardeners’ Trials Garden is located in the Gardens of Lake Merritt, at Lakeside Park, 666 Bellevue Avenue in Oakland. Enter at Gate 4 across from the Boathouse. There is a fee for parking.
![Summer Stone Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop](https://alamedabackyardgrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pruning-stone-fruit-300x224.jpg)
Here in the SF Bay Area, annual pruning of Apricot and Cherry trees is carried out in July or August rather than in the winter. This protects these varieties from a specific fungal infection that may occur if pruning cuts are made in cold, wet weather. August is also an excellent time to prune back excess, leggy growth on Plum and Pluot trees. Refresh your pruning skills or learn the fundamentals of Summer Stone Fruit Tree pruning. Marla Koss, our pruning teacher extraordinaire, will lead another great, FREE, hands-on, how-to pruning session in Alameda.
Thank you to everyone who attended!
Civilization began when humans began to save and plant seeds. Come and learn about the seeds of common food plants we eat today. We will talk about the history of seeds, explore the different sizes and shapes of seeds and how to grow plants for seed, harvest for viable seeds and collect those seeds, focusing on five seeds that are easily saved by the home gardener – Beans, Peas, Lettuce, Tomatoes and Peppers.
The talk will be followed by a hands-on exercise where participants will extract the seeds from a variety of different plant materials and package them up for both themselves and the seed library at the Alameda Free Library. SPACE IS LIMITED TO 50 PARTICIPANTS
Birgitt Evans has grown her own food on a large scale for the past 40 years and created a successful garden and nursery business. She is passionate about growing and raising food and seeks to encourage and educate others so they can also share the benefits of fresh, healthy, homegrown food. She grows vegetables in three different Alameda County gardens and starts 90% of her plants from seed. She has been an Alameda County Master Gardener since 1999 and served on the board of Alameda Backyard Growers for 10 years.
Kristen Smeal (she/her) is a Master Gardener (2018) and volunteer for the Alameda Backyard Growers. In her role as the Garden Science teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Alameda, she is passionate about teaching children how to grow food and to care for the Earth and each other.
![Propagating Native Plants @ Gate 4, Trials Garden, Gardens at Lake Merritt | Oakland | California | United States](https://alamedabackyardgrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Planting-CA-Natives-Snowberry-300x293.jpg)
FREE Talk on Propagating Native Plants
Saturday , October 26, 2024 – 11AM – 12:30PM
Presented by Alameda County Master Gardeners
Laura Cornett will give a free, hands-on workshop on Propagating Native Plants from 11-12:30 at the Gardens at Lake Merritt in Oakland. Participants will have the opportunity to process cuttings, plant seeds and plant some rhizomes. Stay tuned for more details!
Location: Gate 4, Trials Garden, Gardens at Lake Merritt
666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland CA (There is a fee for parking.)
All talks are in person and outdoors and may be canceled in rain or severe weather.