2021 Classes
Cascade Water Alliance offers an annual series of free gardening classes to help you have beautiful, healthy landscapes while using water efficiently.
The 2021 Cascade Gardener classes will be held through Zoom.
Sustainable Northwest Natives – Taught by Peggy Campbell
July 8, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation Description: Enjoy beauty sustainably with Northwest native plants. Naturally suited to our wet winter / dry summer climate, discover these low-maintenance, water-saving wonders. Peggy Campbell shares sun-loving and shade-preferring favorites, and how to start them off right for fuss-free gardening.
About Peggy Campbell: Believing gardening should be fun and satisfying, Peggy Campbell enjoys showing others how to take the work out of gardening. She shares tips learned from transforming her own garden from a weed-filled, time-intensive yard into an easy-care landscape with something in-bloom nearly every week of the year! An ecoPRO Certified Sustainable Landscape Professional, Peggy has a Bachelors in horticulture from Washington State University.
Rain Gardens in the Pacific Northwest – by Jessi Bloom
July 15, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation Description: How to design, build, and maintain a rain garden in the Pacific Northwest.
Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Services, based near Seattle, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations, and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals.
Don’t Squish That Bug! Organic Pest Management for the Home Gardener – by Lisa Taylor
July 22, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation Description: What are all those things crawling and flying around your garden and are they dangerous? Join garden educator Lisa Taylor, author of Your Farm in the City: An Urban-dwellers Guide to Growing Food and Raising Animals and the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide in a lively, hands-on session about insects in the garden. Almost every bug is either beneficial or feeds beneficial organisms so its important to know who is friend and who is foe. Participants will learn how to encourage beneficial creatures to live in their gardens.
Lisa Taylor is a freelance garden educator and author of the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide, 2nd ed. and Your Farm in the City: An Urban Dwellers Guide to Growing Food and Raising Animals. She is passionate about teaching people of all ages how to grow their own food. For Lisa, eating is the main reason for growing plants.
Five Steps Toward a More Drought Resilient Garden – by Christina Pfeiffer
July 29, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation Description: With warmer growing seasons becoming more the norm in the Pacific Northwest, tactics to conserve water while preserving vegetation is becoming even more essential. Moving past the basics of planting drought tolerant gardens, this talk will explain how different gardening practices can influence drought resiliency of all types of gardens. Learn how making some simple adjustments to a variety of garden tasks throughout the year can help build a more drought resilient garden.
About Christina: Christina is a horticulture consultant and educator with over 40 years experience in landscape management and garden care. She brings an emphasis on sustainable garden practices that work in sync the cycle of the seasons to her teaching and writing. She holds degrees in horticulture from Michigan State and the University of Washington and is an ISA Certified Arborist®. She is author, with Mary Robson, of Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening, Cool Springs Press 2017.
Favorite Native Plants for Northwest Landscapes by Greg Rabourn
August 5, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation Description: Learn how to give your yard that local northwest flair while helping out your local flora and fauna. Whether your landscape is well established or you have a clean slate, this seminar is packed with tips and tricks to help you use local plants successfully in your yard.
About Greg: Greg Rabourn’s passion for native plants collided with his dislike of mowing many years ago. He has been practicing and promoting native plant and low maintenance landscaping techniques ever since. Greg was co-host of King County TVs sustainable landscaping show Yard Talk. Greg was a weekly guest for the Greendays Gardening Panel, a popular call-in radio show on KUOW, 94.9 FM.
Made in the Shade by Marianne Binetti
August 12, 2021 7:00 PM
Presentation description: Beautiful plants and designs for dry shade under large trees, cool shade next to the house and how to light up dark corners in your garden with shade loving foliage plants. Includes planting in layers and under the skirts of other plants, saving water by using plants that thrive in dry shade and how to arrange plant material. Plant material list included along with inspiration from amazing low maintenance shade gardens.
MARIANNE BINETTI is a northwest horticultural expert: Marianne has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and writes a syndicated gardening column that runs in over a dozen newspapers each week including the The Tacoma News Tribune (Sundays) and The Daily Olympian (Saturdays). She has also written or co-written 10 gardening books including “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and her latest book “Edible Gardening for Washington and Oregon” She lectures and gives seminars on a variety of topics, has appeared on HGTV and hosts radio and TV programs. Marianne leads garden tours around the world with her husband Joe. She lives with her family in Enumclaw, near Seattle, Washington. Follow Marianne on Twitter and Facebook!
