Master Gardener Volunteers are available to speak to your group concerning the following topics. Please contact the Lake County Extension office at 440-853-2634 if you would like to schedule a program.

Attracting Birds, Bees, and Butterflies - Creating a habitat for other creatures can add another dimension to your garden. Learn what to plant, where to plant it, and how to identify your garden guests.

Avoiding Landscape Mistakes - Have you ever noticed how some landscapes grow more beautiful with time, some die, and some become overgrown and unsightly?  Planning ahead will help you save time, energy, and money. This class will give you many conditions to consider before you dig. Analyzing your soil, location, light, and purpose before you start will help you avoid disappointment. How and where to start, garden fads, problems, water, mulching, and effects on the environment will be discussed.

Beautiful Hanging Baskets - Instruction and demonstration in creating or buying a flowering hanging basket and maintaining it throughout the summer and fall.

“Bee” Friendly with Natives - Native plants have evolved with our native bees. These plants are not only beautiful but provide multiple ecosystem services. Learn how planting with natives provides benefits to you and our bees. Go natives!

Choosing Your Christmas Tree - Spruce, pine, balsam or fir? Fresh cut or balled? How do you make sure it lasts for the entire holiday season?  Which makes the best tree for your house? This class will help you answer the questions you have been asking every December.

Common Gardening Mistakes and How to Fix Them - We will explore some easy to make, and just as easy to avoid, gardening mistakes. And if we didn’t avoid them, how to remedy the problem.

Companion Planting - Growing certain vegetables, herbs or flowers together that complement each other, has a long history.  Indigenous peoples of North America often planted what is called The Three Sister (corn, beans and squash). We will explore how, with a bit of planning, you too can increase biodiversity, help reduce the need for pesticides, save space and improve soil health.

Composting Don’t Bag It - Don’t throw away all those kitchen scraps! Turn them into gold for your garden! The basics of Backyard Composting are discussed and demonstrated in a simple way to get your started!

Container Gardening - This class will teach you how to get the most from your containers. We will discuss proper planting methods and soil mixes. Learn how to create seasonal displays and proper maintenance of your flower or vegetable container garden. 

Deer Oh Deer - A program that addresses the problem of increasing deer herds and the encroachment of development into natural areas. Learn which plants deer love to eat and which ones’ they avoid.

Demystifying Hydrangeas - Some common questions about hydrangeas include what type do I have and how do I prune them? This class will provide some answers.

Everything Asparagus - We will discuss what you need to grow asparagus. We cover planting, maintaining, harvesting and the major pest issues.

Forcing Bulbs - Enjoy fresh flowers year-round. Learn how to force bulbs and extend your garden magic. This would make a wonderful gift.

Garden Design - Before you start planting, it’s important to do your homework. We will discuss what you should do before you pick up the shovel or buy your plants and show you some of the mistakes you will want to avoid.

Gardens Under Cover – Basics of Mulching - Everything (or nearly everything) you need to know about mulching your gardens.

Gardening as We Age - Gardening gets more difficult as we age. However, by using the right tools and techniques, gardening remains in reach at any age.

Good Bug Bad Bug - Before you kill that bug learn whether it is a true garden pest or an insect that is beneficial to your yard.

Herbs 101 - Plan your first herb garden with 10 great, easy to grow herbs. The introductory class covers steps from selecting your garden site through recipes using your homegrown herbs.

Honeybees, the What, Where and How - We all know pollinators are important. How can you make a difference as gardener, as a beekeeper or as an informed participant?

Houseplants - Learn how to select, display, and care for houseplants though the seasons. This class will also cover how to transition, and care for plants you bring in from outside to winter over.

If You Give an Inch, They Will Take an Acre – Some landscape plants have escaped our yards and become problematic in our parks and other wild spaces. We will look at what makes some plants more problematic than others and why they have been labeled invasive or noxious. Then, we will look at some high-profile invasive plants in Northeast Ohio and discuss how to identify them, how to get rid of them, and offer some alternatives.

Lawn Care Calendar  - The presentation will give an overview of Turfgrass varieties commonly grown in northeast Ohio, and the conditions that promote a healthy lawn. Guidelines for proper care will be given for each month of our growing season. Common pest and disease problems will be discussed, along with some suggested pest management practices.

Maintenance of Perennials - Perennial gardens require less maintenance than lawns, but they need regular care to look their best and stay healthy. Learn about some of the tasks that will keep your perennial beds looking beautiful from year to year.

Monarchs - Welcome to the world of the beautiful monarch butterfly! Learn about the monarch’s life cycle, host plant and amazing migration. See a butterfly and chrysalis (hopefully) up close and personal and find out what you can do to help the monarchs.

Native Plants for the Landscape - Why use native plants? Learn about the multi season interest, the wildlife they feed, their adaptability to the local weather extremes, their easy care. Can you use some in your landscape? This power point presentation could help you decide!

Nature’s Cues a.k.a. Phenology - Would you like an accurate way to predict when a particular insect is apt to invade your yard or know when your lilacs will bloom? Learn what growing degree-days (GDDs) are and while not perfect, why they are a more reliable method of predicting plant and insect development than calendar days.

Orchids as Houseplants - Most orchids, especially those that are readily available to the home grower, are quite hardy and will reward the new owner by reblooming regularly if proper water, light, temperature, humidity and fertilizer are provided.

Perennials for Continuous Bloom - With careful selection, the perennial garden can bloom from early spring until late fall. This class will show examples that can be used for our area. Some plant combinations will be shown and criteria for effective combinations will be discussed.

Plants for Winter Interest – What is winter interest and selections of plants that will add winter interest to your landscape.

Putting the Garden to Bed - Fall clean up, composting, soil testing, amending the soil, mulch for winter protection. All of these activities help your garden have a good winter nap. Pruning will also be reviewed.

Starting Seeds - Discover a way to combat the winter blahs and get a head start on spring by starting seeds indoors. This inexpensive hobby can be very rewarding while offering the gardener a larger variety of herbs, annuals, perennials and vegetables than can be found at the local garden center. A small space in the corner of the basement can produce large numbers of plants. You will learn how to get started, what materials are needed, how to select seeds and the requirements for success.

Seed Saving for the Home Gardener – In this course we'll discuss the benefits of saving seeds and how to do it. We'll look at seeds you might find in your vegetable garden and flower garden, as well as seeds of some of the most common native plants. Seed saving is not only fun, but cost-effective, it's also good for the environment. Learn how to select the best characteristics of today's harvest to pass on to tomorrow's garden!

Shade Gardening - Shade gardening is an opportunity and a challenge. This approximately one-hour presentation will cover some of the fundamentals of shade gardening such as: How to evaluate your site, What things to consider for a shade garden, How to plan for a shade garden, What to consider when selecting plants. The presentation will also review shade plants that bloom in early spring, summer or fall. Many of these are new or unusual plants. Come and learn how you can meet this challenge.

Shade Pollinator Gardens - Worried your yard has too much shade to attract our pollen-loving garden companions? Find out what kinds of plants and habitats will attract helpful pollinators and thrive in the shady parts of your garden.

Square Foot Gardening - All you need to know to decide if square foot gardening is for you. We will discuss and show the methods used in setting up the garden, creating the soil needed, sectioning off the garden and the types of plants used to make the most of the space available in your yard.

Succulents - An introduction to the care and propagation of succulents; those grown indoors as houseplants and those we grow outdoors. Learn how to successfully bring the non-winter hardy one outside in the spring and back inside for the winter.

Sustainability - What is sustainability? And how can you practice in your garden? Learn how with native plants, composting and rain barrels.

Tips on Sharing Your Bounty - To keep your perennials healthy, beautiful, and protected from disease and insects, you should divide them every 3-4 years. We will show you how to do it.

Tree and Shrubs for the Home Landscape - Overwhelmed by the many choices? Understand the factors to be considered when making selections for your yard, plus learn proper planting techniques for successful results.

Victory Gardens in 2021 - Create Victory over your fears and improve your health by starting a Victory Garden. We will define Victory Gardens, learn about their history, and explore best practices for starting a vegetable producing Victory Garden.

Wake Up Your Garden - Gardeners are always anxious get started in the spring. This class is an overview of gardening tasks to be performed. Clean-up, composting, pruning, fertilizing, soil testing, mole problems, and impatient gardeners will be discussed.

The Where, What, and When of Vegetable Gardening - Planning is key to having a productive vegetable garden. It includes choosing the right location, testing and amending the soil, selecting which vegetables to grow, and knowing when to start plants indoors from seed so you will be ready to move into the garden in the spring.

Winter Sowing - You don’t have to wait until spring to start your seeds. Learn the techniques of Winter Sowing, a method for starting your seeds in winter, then sitting back to watch them flourish as the snow falls.