Call 303-730-1920 or email Master Gardener volunteers with your lawn, landscape and garden questions.
Arapahoe County is welcoming 20 new Apprentice Master Gardeners in 2022. Classes for volunteers start in January. Please contact Dawn Fradkin @ 303-730-1920 if you are interested in becoming a future Master Gardener volunteer.
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Attend Classes
Jan 12 @ 12:00 PM
Seed Starting - Online class with Amy Lentz, Weld County Extension and Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension
Feb 9 @ 12:00 PM
Gardening Myths - Online class with Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension
After registering, you will receive an email with a link to join the Zoom meeting.
Mar 9 @ 12:00 PM
Planning the Cut Flower Garden - Online class with Amy Lentz, Weld County Extension
After registering, you will receive an email with a link to join the Zoom meeting.
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Registration is required.
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Welcome to the Horticulture Team!
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Dawn Fradkin, Arapahoe County Master Gardener Coordinator and
Assistant Horticulturist
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Hello Master Gardeners! I am so excited to be your new Master Gardener Coordinator and Assistant Horticulturist for the Arapahoe County CSU Extension. I started on January 3rd and have been busy learning all about this wonderful program. I am honored to be a part of this network of amazing and dedicated volunteers and staff, and I can’t wait to meet you all.
I’m a Colorado native and grew up in Colorado Springs. I attended college at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA where I received my B.S. in Environmental Horticultural Science with an emphasis in landscape design.
The highlight of my college days included building several Tournament of Roses Parade floats for my university. I benefited so much from volunteering on the float committee by learning how to weld, and install electronics, pneumatics and hydraulics adding to my traditional education on the agriculture side. I absolutely loved being so close to the beaches also, but the mountains and family eventually called me back home after 10 fun years in California. My husband and I love exploring our state and like camping, hiking and traveling (mostly to beach destinations!). My hobbies include gardening (of course!), rock-hounding and lapidary, beadwork and archaeology. I have 4 spoiled fur babies; 3 cats and 1 dog that adores his feline sisters.
I have worked in landscape management for close to 25 years, almost exclusively on the maintenance side of the industry. I worked for a landscape company in Colorado Springs in high school which led to my interest in horticulture. I also worked for a couple other landscape management companies in California as an account manager after college. Since being back in Colorado I worked for over 14 years at a large HOA in Aurora managing its grounds department.
Again, words can’t express how excited I am to be here, and I look forward to getting to know you all and learning and working together in the future! Please feel free to stop by my office anytime!
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Overhauling Your Landscape?
By Deena Lawrence, Colorado Master Gardener
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Is your landscape ready for a refresh but not sure where to start? The task may seem daunting at first, but begin by evaluating opportunities and constraints of the existing landscape. Gather ideas and images and keep them organized. As you assemble the finer details, here are a few helpful renovation tips that might otherwise be overlooked.
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Small evergreens are cute when planted, but if mature size isn't taken into consideration, they can get in the way of walkways, driveways and power lines as they grow. It is possible to plant a little 2' wide evergreen and not have a problem when it becomes 10 ' wide if you plan well. Plant it where it will fit, even when mature. No need to leave a bare area all around the little tree. Fill that area with perennials that can easily be moved as the tree grows. If the tree is in a small planting bed to start, plan to move the edging out, expand the bed, and shrink the lawn as the tree grows.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Kathleen DeVries
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Colorado Master Gardener℠ (CMG) volunteers are a dedicated group of individuals who are knowledgeable and passionate about sharing gardening, landscape and horticulture education. This month we are highlighting Kathleen DeVries.
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When did you join the Colorado Master Gardener program and why did you join?
I retired in December of 2017 and took advantage of that time frame to apply for the 2018 class of MG Apprentices. Gardening has been a lifelong love for me, starting as a young child gardening with my father in the fertile Midwest and then gardening in a wide variety of climates as our young family moved around the country. After many years, we settled in Colorado and gardening was my respite from the busy days of work and childcare. Becoming a Master Gardener, taking classes, and learning more about Colorado’s unique and challenging gardening environment was something I truly wanted to do in retirement. Not only did it allow me to continue my education, but it also allowed me to maintain the connection to my former career in education.
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Growing for Good
By Kristen Nelson, Colorado Master Gardener
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Colorado Master Gardener volunteers in action.
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Colorado Master Gardeners are known for their gardening and horticultural expertise. But did you know they are community champions? Their volunteer service inspires comradery, shared knowledge, and community good.
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Garden Resolutions
By Lucinda Greene, Colorado Master Gardener
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Thinking about becoming a better gardener in 2022? Adopt one or more of these New Year’s gardening resolutions. Your plants and the environment will be happier for these efforts.
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Order seed from free catalogs. Here are four of our favorite seed purveyors: Baker Creek, Gurney’s, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and Burpee. Or better yet, save the paper and order online.
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Commit to winter watering. Reserve and schedule one day a month on your calendar for this important task. Click on the link to this fact sheet to learn how to keep your trees and shrubs hydrated all year long.
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A Winter To-Do List to Enjoy the Outdoors
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Happy New Year! For me, one of the best parts about Colorado is that you can be outside all year around. Winter is a lovely season to enjoy the scenery. Spending time outdoors is always beneficial for our mental and physical health. While you are out enjoying the fresh air, here are some things to do and observe:
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Look for tiny critters. Most insects and arthropods overwinter in a diapause state (dormancy), but you may see some activity on warm days. While winter watering my landscape, I came across the larvae of a brown lacewing (Family: Hemerobiidae). Lacewings are excellent beneficial insects in our gardens because they feed on pests, especially aphids. Recently, I also came across a Say’s stink bug, (Chlorochroa sayi). Stink bugs overwinter as adults, usually finding a safe, warm place under leaf piles and other debris. The Say’s stink bug will slowly turn from green to brown as fall and winter approach. For more information on how insects survive the winter, check out the following blog post: How Insects Survive Winter
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Lisa Mason
CSU Extension Horticulture Agent
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What's in Your (Indoor) Garden?
By Kathi Thistlethwaite, Colorado Master Gardener
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This six-part series will feature topics of interest found in the garden - indoors and out.
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Why Repot Houseplants?
A healthy houseplant grows above the soil as foliage and below the soil as roots. Staying in the same container too long can cause the plant to become root bound, a condition in which the roots grow out the bottom of the container or circle inside the container.
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Fruit Trees for the Home Garden
By Debbie Moody, Colorado Master Gardener
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Adding fruit trees to your landscape does take some planning: good site selection, picking a disease resistant variety, proper planting techniques, good watering practices, training, pruning, thinning and pest management. There are two types of fruit trees: Pome fruits (apples, pears and quince) and Drupe or stone fruits (apricots, sour and sweet cherries, peaches and plums). Most fruit trees are self-pollinating. You will get more fruit production if you have more than one apple tree.
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I Didn't Know That!
By Judy Kunz, Colorado Master Gardener
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SOS! Support Our Solitary Pollinators
Before reaching for that roll of woven petroleum product, commonly known as landscape fabric or weed barrier, think of our ground-dwelling pollinator friends. The ubiquitous use of this material in recent years is making it increasingly difficult for some of our essential insects to find suitable nesting areas because they are unable to penetrate the barrier.
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Doug Harmon
October 5, 1949 - November 27, 2021
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It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to fellow CMG, Doug Harmon. Doug started the CMG program in 2011 and volunteered at Hudson Gardens, the Colorado Garden and Home Show, Speaker’s Bureau, and Silo Park. He loved getting his hands in the dirt. CMGs who knew him found him to be knowledgeable, easy to work with, patient and kind. He will be missed. May he rest in peace. https://www.beatreecremation.com/obituaries/2021-11-27-doug-harmon
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PHONE
(303) 730-1920
EMAIL
mastergardener@arapahoegov.com
LOCATION
6934 S. Lima St., Suite B
Centennial, CO 80112
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CSU Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.
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