Preparing your garden
Ready to start the growing season? The Dakota County Master Gardeners are offering a series of free talks on successful gardening. The first, at 7 p.m. Monday, will focus on "Tips for Preparing Your Garden," including information on soil testing, composting, planning garden spaces, planting time and soil temperatures, sun requirements, spacing, watering and weeding, plus staking and trellising. The talk will be held at the Church of St. Joseph, 13900 Biscayne Av. W., Rosemount.
Rain garden workshops
Keeping lakes and rivers clean begins in our own back yards. Metro Blooms is offering a workshop, "Rain Gardens and Beyond: Healthy Yards, Clean Water," at several locations in the coming weeks. The workshops will explore the latest in healthy yard-care practices, including proper use of fertilizers, disposal and re-use of yard waste, and managing runoff. Each workshop is designed to move participants quickly from an overview of healthy yard-care practices to a completed rain garden design for their property, with one-on-one assistance from Metro Blooms landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners.
The workshops, which cost $10 to $15, will be offered through June. The next workshop is 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Fridley Community Center, followed by a workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Longfellow Park Recreation Center, and another from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Brooklyn Center Community Center. To register for a workshop or see other workshop dates and locations, visit www.metroblooms.org or call 651-699-2426.
Kim Palmer
