Garden Chats: Resources
Week 1: Pruning Basics
Week 2: Starting Seeds
Week 3: Garden and Soil Prep
Week 4: Garden Management
Week 5: Garden Show and Tell
Week 6: Pest Show and Tell
Week 7: Sustainable Landscaping
Week 8: Community Gardening Efforts
Week 9: Wildlife Control
Week 10: Irrigation and Composting
Week 11: Sustainable Landscaping, Pt 2
Week 1: Pruning Basics
Monday, March 30, 9am: Ornamental Shrubs with Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator, marjorie.peronto@maine.edu
Wednesday, April 1, 12pm: Small Landscape Trees with Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator, marjorie.peronto@maine.edu
Thursday, April 2, 6pm: Tree Fruits with Renae Moran, Tree Fruit Specialist, rmoran@maine.edu
- Pruning Woody Landscape Plants, Bulletin #2169
- How to Prune a Lilac Bush (video)
- How to Prune a Forsythia (video)
- How to Prune a Crabapple Tree (video)
- Pruning Ornamental Trees (video)
- Growing Fruit Trees in Maine
- Renovating Old Apple Trees, Bulletin #2409
- Apple Tree Pruning (video)
Monday, April 6, 9am: Variety Selection and How to Get Started with Pamela Hargest, Horticulture Professional, pamela.hargest@maine.edu
Wednesday, April 8, 12pm: Annual Veggies and Flowers with Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator, marjorie.peronto@maine.edu
Thursday, April 9, 6pm: Building Your Own Seed Starting Stand with Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, frank.wertheim@maine.edu
- Planting Chart for the Home Vegetable Garden
- Vegetable Varieties for Maine Gardens, Bulletin #2190
- Growing Vegetables in Container Gardens, Bulletin #2762
- Starting Seeds at Home, Bulletin #2751
- Maine Vegetable Gardening: Keep Your Garden Growing – Plant from Spring to Fall
- Life Expectancy of Vegetable Seeds, Iowa State University
- Plant Propagation in Maine, Bulletin #2410
- Plans for Building a Seed Stand (PDF)
- How to Build a Seedling Stand (video)
Week 3: Garden and Soil Prep
Monday, April 13, 9am: Selecting Your Garden Site with Caragh Fitzgerald, Associate Extension Professor, cfitzgerald@maine.edu
Wednesday, April 15, 12pm: Soil Testing with Bruce Hoskins, Assistant Scientist, hoskins@maine.edu
Thursday, April 16, 6pm: Amending Your Soil with Rebecca Long, Agriculture and Food Systems Professional, rebecca.j.long@maine.edu
- Soil Texture (video), UC Davis
- Gardening in Small Spaces, Bulletin #2761
- Testing Your Soil, Bulletin #2286
- Know Your Soil: Lead in the Soil, Bulletin #2281
- Understanding Recommendations, Maine Soil Testing Service
- Cover Crops and Green Manures
- Commercial Compost Suppliers in Maine (PDF)
- Recommended Organic & Natural Nutrient Sources for Home Gardens & Grounds (PDF)
- Calibrating Your Lawn Spreader, Virginia Cooperative Extension (PDF)
- Growing Gardens in Urban Soils, EPA (PDF)
- Know Your Soil, Applying Fertilizers on Your Home Gardens, Bulletin #2287
- Guidelines for Using Manure on Vegetable Gardens, Bulletin #2510
Week 4: Garden Management
Monday, April 20, 9am: Trouble-shooting Weeds with Donna Coffin, Extension Educator, donna.coffin@maine.edu
Wednesday, April 22, 12pm: Succession Planting with Katherine Garland, Horticulture Professional, katherine.garland@maine.edu
Thursday, April 23, 6pm: Direct Seeding with Katherine Garland, Horticulture Professional, katherine.garland@maine.edu
- Weeds in the Home Vegetable Garden, Virginia Cooperative Extension
- Weed Management in Small Fruit Crops, Virginia Cooperative Extension
- Weed Ecology and Management for Farmers and Gardeners, University of Maine
- Missouri Weed ID, University of Missouri Cooperative Extension
- Rutgers Weed Gallery, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
- Weed Herbarium, UMass Extension
- Vegetable Crops & Their Succession-Planting Intervals, Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- Extending the Gardening Season, Bulletin #2752
- Planting for Fall – How Late Can You Plant? Maine Home Garden News
- Planting Tools and Calculators, Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- Extending Vegetable Growing Season, UMaine Extension Blog
- Plant Rotation in the Garden Based on Plant Families, PennState Extension
- Planting Chart for the Home Vegetable Garden
- Establishing a Wildflower Garden from Seed, Maine Home Garden News
- Square Foot Gardening, Clemson Cooperative Extension
- Seed and Seedling Biology, PennState Extension
Week 5: Garden Show and Tell
Monday, April 27, 9am: Small Fruits with David Handley, Vegetable & Small Fruit Specialist, david.handley@maine.edu
Wednesday, April 29, 12pm: Ornamentals with Katherine Garland, Horticulture Professional, katherine.garland@maine.edu
Thursday, April 30, 6pm: Vegetables with Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, frank.wertheim@maine.edu
Week 6: Pest Show and Tell
Monday, May 4, 9am: Diseases with Alicyn Smart, Plant Pathologist & Director of the Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab, alicyn.smart@maine.edu
Wednesday, May 6, 12pm: Insects with Clay Kirby, Associate Scientist & Insect Diagnostician, clay.kirby@maine.edu
Thursday, May 7, 6pm: Ticks with Griffin Dill, Integrated Pest Management Professional, griffin.dill@maine.edu
Week 7: Sustainable Landscaping
Monday, May 11, 9am: Low Input Lawns and Lawn Alternatives with Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, frank.wertheim@maine.edu
Wednesday, May 13, 12pm: Landscape Design (RESCHEDULED due to connectivity issues) with Charlene Gray, UMaine Lecturer and Academic Program Coordinator for Environmental Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture, charlene.gray@maine.edu
Thursday, May 14, 6pm: Gardening with Native Plants with Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator, marjorie.peronto@maine.edu
- Plants for the Maine Landscape
- Endophyte-Enhanced Grasses, UMass Extension
- Steps to a Low-Input Lawn, Healthy Lawn, Bulletin #2166
- Using Beneficial Nematodes for Grub Control, Maine Yardscaping
- Yardscaping
- Maintaining a Healthy Lawn, Bulletin #2243
- Plant Lists, Wild Seed Project
- Native Plant Trust
- Native Gardens of Blue Hill
- Gardening to Conserve Maine’s Native Landscape, Bulletin #2500
Week 8: Community Gardening Efforts
Monday, May 18, 9am: Community Gardens with Lynne Holland, Community Education Assistant, lynne.holland@maine.edu
Wednesday, May 20, 12pm: Maine Harvest for Hunger with Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, frank.wertheim@maine.edu
Thursday, May 21, 6pm: School Gardens with Michelle Erhard, Development Director, Maine School Garden Network, michelle@msgn.org
- Community Garden Guidelines in the Time of Social Distancing
- Community Garden Toolkit, Merrymeeting Food Council
- Maine Farm and Seafood Products Directory
- Maine Harvest for Hunger
- Steps to Organizing Your Community Garden, Bulletin #4300
- Planning and Managing a Community “Giving” Garden in Maine, Bulletin #4311
- How to Build a Portable Handwashing Station, University of Minnesota
- Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2, EPA
- Maine School Garden Network
- Back to School Garden Guide, ReTreeUS
- Sample COVID-19 Garden Policy
- COVID-19 Signs for Community Gardens, Portland Public Schools and Community Gardens
- COVID-19 Training Video for Community Gardens, Portland Public Schools and Community Gardens
Week 9: Wildlife Control
Monday, May 25, 9am: Memorial Day – No Garden Chat scheduled
Wednesday, May 27, 12pm: Wildlife Control with Adam Vachon, USDA APHIS
Week 10: Irrigation and Composting
Monday, June 1, 9am: Drip Irrigation with Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, frank.wertheim@maine.edu and Allan Amioka, Master Gardener Volunteer
Wednesday, June 3, 12pm: Composting with Mark Hutchinson, Extension Educator, mhutch@maine.edu
- Trickle Irrigation: Using and Conserving Water in the Home Garden, Bulletin #2160
- Determining How Long to Run Drip Irrigation Systems for Vegetables, PennState Extension
Week 11: Sustainable Landscaping, Pt 2
Monday, June 8, 9am: Water-wise Gardening with Mary Wicklund, Extension Home Horticulture Coordinator, mary.wicklund@maine.edu
Wednesday, June 10, 12pm: Landscape Design (rescheduled session) with Charlene Gray, UMaine Lecturer and Academic Program Coordinator for Environmental Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture, charlene.gray@maine.edu