- Author: Anne E Schellman
Demonstration Gardens
We plan to create a series of gardens the community can visit for inspiration on the following topics:
- Water-wise plants
- California native plants
- Plants for pollinators (hummingbirds, bees, butterflies)
- Vegetable gardens
- Fruit tree orchard
Outdoor Classroom
Giving Tuesday
We won't be able to create this garden without your help. We hope you will consider giving to our project. Please save the date of December 1, 2020. Announcements and a video coming soon about our Learning Landscape.
Giving Tuesday - SAVE THE DATE! Dec 1, 2020
We won't be able to create this garden without your help. Please consider giving to our project. Save the date of December 1, 2020. Announcements and a video coming soon about our Learning Landscape.
Where will the landscape be located at the Ag Center? Our video will tell you all about the different aspects of the project.
Planting for Pollinators will focus on native and compatible non-native plants that thrive in our area, and which pollinators have been documented visiting these plants.
It can sometimes be hard to spot these pollinators, so our speaker will tell us what time of year to look for them, and which plants to use to attract them.
Our speaker has many years of experience planting native plants and observing the pollinators that visit. She will combine her observations with research on what insects to expect on specific plants.
Watch our YouTube Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naL3BM5aP-s&t=5s
About the speaker:
Ellen is a professional Horticulturist specializing in beautiful, heat tolerant, reduced-irrigation plantings that thrive in landscapes in the Central Valley of California. Most recently she has been exploring her passion for Pollinator Gardening and how it can contribute to biological diversity in urban and suburban California landscapes.
- Author: Heidi Aufdermaur
About 75% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators. Most pollinators (about 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as honey bees, native bees, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles. As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. So what are some ways in which gardens can be made more attractive for the pollinators of all kinds?
First, know the pollinators. Everyone knows the European honey bee, which was imported 400 years ago and brought to California around 1850. But did you know there are over 4,000 species of native bees in the United States, of which 1600 are found in California?
Approximately 70% of native bees are solitary ground nesters, while 30% are cavity nesters. As well as providing pollinator-friendly plants to your yard, help ground nesting bees make their homes in your garden, by leaving a sunny area mulch-free. For cavity nesting bees, provide artificial nest sites, which are easy to construct or purchase from commercial outlets.
Hummingbirds, with their long beaks and tongues draw nectar from tubular flowers. Pollen is carried on both the beaks and feathers. To attract these fun loving birds to your garden, be sure to include bright colored tubular flowers in your landscape.
Butterflies are eye-catching, as are the flowers that attract them. Not only are specific flowers important, but also providing open areas such as bare earth and large stones where butterflies may bask and moist soil from which they may get needed minerals. To support butterflies, a gardener may also be willing to accept slight damage to host plants that provide food for the larval stage of the butterfly.
Moths are mostly evening fliers attracted to flowers that are strongly sweet smelling, open in late afternoon or night, and are typically white or pale in color. Moths are easy to differentiate from butterflies if you look at their antennae; moths do not have a swelling at the end of their antennae whereas butterflies do.
Bats are nocturnal pollinators that play an important role in the pollination of agaves and cacti in the Southwest, however not necessarily in our specific region. Bats are usually found visiting light-colored flowers that open at night and often produce copious amounts of pollen and nectar.
Flies are not typically thought of as pollinators, however, many masquerade as bees in the garden. Syrphid flies, also called hover flies, are considered to be very important pollinators in agriculture.
Over 30,000 species of beetles are found in the United States, they may not be efficient pollinators but they do play a role as they visit flowers to sip nectar or feed on the flower parts. This activity may result in pollination. Some have a bad reputation because they damaging plants.
If you haven't seen it yet, please watch our YouTube video, Native Pollinators, to learn about different kinds of bees you may find in your garden.
National Pollinator Week is a campaign by the Pollinator Partnership.
Helpful Resources
How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden. Free ANR Publication
Build Bee Houses. Free publication from Michigan State University.
US Forest Service: Pollinators
Heidi Aufdermaur is a graduate of the 2019 Class of Master Gardeners in Stanislaus County.
- Author: Anne E Schellman
The UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden and Outdoor Classroom!
What would this look like? We envision an accessible garden everyone can visit and explore.
Garden Days
Each week, volunteers will be available for a few hours so you can stop and ask your gardening questions. Once a month, they will be around on the weekend.
Our demonstration garden will also be a place to hold fun events like tomato tastings, kids' gardening activities, health fairs, and Stanislaus County sponsored events.
Demonstration Gardens
Imagine meandering paths through colorful and inviting gardens that showcase plants and gardening methods, including a water-wise garden, California native pollinator garden, herb and vegetable garden, fruit orchard, and children's sensory garden.
Outdoor Classroom Amphitheater
Sign up for a class and sit outside and listen to a Master Gardener led class on how to install drip irrigation, prune fruit trees, or compost. Then, “get your hands dirty,” by practicing installing drip irrigation, pruning a fruit tree, or layering a compost pile.
How Can You Help?
Some generous local sponsors have offered to help with in-kind donations of irrigation materials. We need your help in raising funds to help with lawn removal, plants, path material, mulch, and other items. If you know an Eagle Scout or Girl Scout Troupe that needs a project, we are happy to speak to them about benches and gardening art as well!
Donate Now
Please make your gift for #BigDigDay, on June 5, 2020 now to help us get our garden started!
Using the drop-down menu, select “Stanislaus County.” Your donation will go directly to help us fund the garden. Stay tuned for future posts telling you when we break ground and start work!
If you know of an organization willing to donate materials, that's great too! Please contact us at ucmgstanislaus@ucanr.edu
Photos in this post to help us imagine our new garden are from our sister program, the UCCE San Joaquin Master Gardener Program, located in Stockton.
- Author: Anne E Schellman
The UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program started in late 2018, and since then we've taught in-person and now online classes on topics like water conservation, growing herbs or vegetables, pollinator gardening, composting with worms, and many others. We hope these classes inspired you to save water, use plants to attract pollinators, and grow healthy food.
As of July, our program has taught 55 people how to become volunteers! Perhaps you've met one of our Master Gardeners at a local farmers market, the Stanislaus County fair, or other outdoor event. You may have spoken to them when you called, emailed, or visited our help desk with a question. We strive to answer your gardening and pest management questions with University research-based solutions in a timely and friendly manner.
Has our program helped you solve a pest management problem, provided you with information on helpful topics through classes, or answered your gardening questions through email or a phone conversation?
If so, we hope you will consider donating on Big Dig Day on June 5, 2020. Your donation goes directly to support our local program.
To donate, visit https://ucanr.blackbaud-sites.com/MasterGardener and scroll to the bottom of the page to select the Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program. You can donate anytime. The campaign ends June 5 at midnight.
We thank you in advance for your support!