Session E

Come learn about the Garden Sense program that won the top Public Service Award at the 2105 International Master Gardener Conference, and find out many acre-feet of water have been conserved since the program inception in 2013! The Garden Sense program is a joint program between the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Water Agency. Originally conceived to help homeowners in lawn-rebate programs complete their projects, Garden Sense is unique in that consultant teams make free home visits to residents who are interested in reducing their landscape water usage.

Join Lance Walheim, renowned author and garden expert and learn about the old and new citrus varieties for California.

Take a photographic tour of various gardens, large & small as well as public and private, that Ernesto has installed to minimize or mitigate water use whilst increasing diversity. He's been promoting lawn removal for years and will share what he's learned to successfully transition away from water hungry horticulture!

One of today’s gardening buzzwords is sustainable. You’d be hard put to find a more sustainable landscape style than an organically grown edible garden. Rosalind Creasy, pioneer in the field of edible landscaping, award-winning professional photographer; and author of 18 books on gardening, including Edible Landscaping; will give a mouth-watering slide presentation. Among the topics she will cover: the basic principles of designing edible landscapes, an A to Z of her recommended beautiful edible plants for California gardens, and include photos of a wide variety of residential and commercial edible landscapes using vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Simple laundry-to-landscape graywater systems no longer require permits in many jurisdictions in California. This session will provide an overview of all the basics regarding use of home graywater laundry-to-landscape systems and their installation. You'll learn what laundry products are recommended for use with these systems and cautions regarding potential environmental and human health concerns. In addition, you'll be provided with a checklist of 'best management practices' to help ensure success!

Stop and smell the roses with Master Consulting Rosarian and retired entomologist Baldo Villegas.   Through his travels, work and participation is rose shows Baldo has had the opportunity to tour extraordinary rose collections and gardens. Grand or small, organized or free to roam join Baldo as he shares his favorite rose collections and gardens with you.

Understanding and advocating the use of California natives in urban landscapes embraces a philosophy of landscaping and gardening that is more essential than ever before. Engage in this conversation with landscape architect and author, Bob Perry. Explore insights and views Bob has encountered during his 45 years of teaching, writing and professional work.

Take a deeper look at the common groups of bees native to California with UC Berkeley professor Gordon W. Frankie. Examine and learn about the very diverse group of Apidae bees. It contains a varried array of digger bees, carpenter bees, bumble and honey bees as well as many wasp-like bees.

Toni Gattone’s educational and inspiring ‘how-to’ seminar is designed for baby boomer gardeners and gardeners of any ages who find their mobility limitations keep them from fully enjoying working in their gardens. Her talk is filled with dozens of tips and techniques how to make small changes that will make a big difference in your garden. Toni shows gardeners how they can adapt their own tools at home or replace them with the latest ergonomic tools that will make gardening easier on their body. (This is a duplicate session.)