Gardening

Select topics for additional information. Selections include vegetable gardening basics, herb gardening basics, fruit tree pruning, growing transplants from seeds, seed saving, watering hydrophobic soil, avoiding and dealing with frost damage, and tool care tips.

Here's a collection of tips related to growing fruits and nuts. Produced by the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners.

The most popular variety of lemongrass grown is Cymbopogon citratus, a native of southern India and Ceylon. The fast growing plant has slender blue-green leaves that turn red in the fall. While lemongrass is widely used as a fragrance in perfumes and cosmetics, the focus here is on its culinary value. The…

It’s a common myth that we should put gravel or other coarse-textured material in the bottom of a container to improve drainage. It seems intuitive that it should work, but our intuition is wrong. Here’s why.

Our demonstration gardens showcase best practices for home gardeners and provide hands-on gardening experiences. Gardens are open to the public (days and hours vary by location). YouÆre invited to visit, ask questions, and garden with us when we’re working in the garden.

The Santa Clara Master Gardeners send a monthly email with gardening tips and a listing of upcoming events. If you’d like to receive the email, use the form on this page to sign up.

Events Calendar Succulents thrive both in containers and in the ground. For information on caring for succulents, see our succulents help page.This is a list of  succulents we are currently offering or have offered in the past. Please understand that our inventory varies. This list shows succulents…

In February 1997, a group of Master Gardener volunteers established a variety trial to evaluate 15 varieties of blueberries in a replicated trial. This was conducted at the Bay Area Research and Extension Center of the University of California located in the City of Santa Clara near Valley Fair Shopping…

Monthly Tips Monthly tips are categorized by To-Dos, What to Plant, or Pests and Diseases. Scroll through the list to see items in each category. Also, refer to our list of tips useful for any month.

Fava beans (Vicia faba), sometimes called broad beans, grow well as a cool season crop in Santa Clara County. (Most other beans require warm weather.) Favas are also often grown as a cover crop because of their ability to add nitrogen to the soil.