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Registration is now open!
Summer Gardening Know-How Series
Four 1-1/2 hour online sessions - one week night per week for 4 sessions.
Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 PM
May 6th, 13th, 27th and June 3rd, 2026
Join us ONLINE for a Summer Gardening Series!
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Spring is upon us and it’s time to get ready for summer! Join the Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association to make this year’s garden your best yet. This four-session lecture series has everything you need. Learn about landscaping basics, good bugs and bad bugs, vegetable gardening and herb gardening.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: The Know-How Series is tailored to meet the needs of both novice and experienced gardeners, reflecting the Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association's commitment to science-based education. Our sessions are led by senior Massachusetts Master Gardeners, who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to foster a supportive learning environment. Participants will receive handouts for most sessions, enhancing their understanding of the material. Additionally, there will be ample opportunity for live Q&A, allowing for active engagement and interaction with our expert speakers.
TOPICS: At the MMGA, we love to talk about gardening and horticulture. But we also like to listen. We’ve selected four timely topics based on countless discussions with home gardeners to create our four-session Summer Gardening Know-How Series with all new topics:
Good Bugs & Bad Bugs: Not all insects are bad for the garden. In fact, we rely on many to rid us of other unwanted invaders. This presentation describes some of the common beneficial and pest insects that gardeners encounter in New England. We will take a look at their habits and their life cycles as we discuss how their presence affects the success of our garden year.
Vegetables for Everyone: Vegetable gardening is something everyone can enjoy, from the novice to the experienced gardener. It can be a way to bring fresh food to your table, a way to teach children where food comes from, or even a way to beautify your yard! We’ll look at different types of vegetable gardens and discuss layout, variety choices, and growing techniques.
Establishing a Home Herb Garden: Herb gardening has been popular for centuries but herbs were not grown solely for culinary use, as we think of them primarily today. Herb gardens took care of the family by providing herbs for medicine, herbs for dying cloth, herbs to keep the clothes and house fresh, and many other uses. We will explore the world of herbs and take a look at a modern-day herb garden.
Landscaping Basics: Learn about the basic needs of your plants and find out how you can most easily meet the needs of your botanical companions for years of happiness in the garden.
SUMMER KNOW-HOW SERIES PRESENTERS are senior Massachusetts Master Gardeners (MGs) who are passionate subject matter experts and trained speakers.
Bonnie Power has been a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2016 (now a Lifetime MG) and member of the MMGA Speakers Bureau since 2018…and a serious outdoor/indoor gardener most of her life. Curious and research-oriented by nature, she has many horticultural interests and areas of expertise. Bonnie holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Zoology, which informs her perspective on the management of garden insects. She is a member of the MGA Soil pH Testing team and also volunteer guide at Garden in the Woods, a Native Plant Trust botanical garden in Framingham. She learned to grow vegetables as a child from her father, and flowers and houseplants from her mother. Early in her marriage her father-in-law provided her first lessons in organic gardening. At home in Marlborough, Bonnie grows a variety of vegetables and ornamentals (with a bias for natives).
Gretel Anspach is a Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, and a recently-retired systems engineer for Raytheon. She won the MMGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Gretel established and maintains a 20,000 square foot food production garden that has provided fresh produce to the Marlboro and Maynard Food Pantries for the last ten years. Her primary interest and focus is always in the science behind horticulture.
Kathi Gariepy is a former special needs preschool and kindergarten teacher who has been gardening since she was a child. She is a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, volunteering more than 10,000 hours, past Vice President of the MMGA, past chair of the Master Gardener Advisory Board, past president of the Attleboro Garden Club. Kathi is a Landscape Design Consultant and on the Gardening Study Council. She has worked with the Master Gardener training program and the Caterpillar Club, in Weezie’s Garden for Children at Elm Bank, as well as being an active member of the MMGA Speakers’ Bureau. Kathi has worked as lead teacher for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, education coordinator for Mass Audubon and studied landscape design at Rhode Island School of Design. She is also the recipient of the MMGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award (the Golden Trowel) and the MHS Silver Medal and is currently the chair of the Attleboro Conservation Commission. Kathi teaches children and adults about the wonders of nature. She also owns the garden design company Pleasant Vistas. Kathi lives in an old farmhouse with perennial borders, herb gardens, a vegetable garden, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and some very old, still producing, apple trees.
COST: The cost of the four-lecture Summer Gardening Know-How Series is $75.00, payable online by credit/debit card or PayPal. Classes are not available individually. Price includes a number of handouts and live Q&A time with speakers.
Grow your gardening skills - Join MMGA’s online
Summer Gardening Know-How Series
May 6th, 13th, 27th and June 3rd, 2026
To ensure everyone has a great educational experience, space is limited. Registration closes once we are full or May 3rd, 2026. Refunds for series cancellations must be requested by May 3rd, 2026. Refunds not available for individual missed classes.
Have questions about how to register, class payment or other related topics?
Please see answers to frequently asked questions here
or
Email us at KnowHow@MassMasterGardeners.org
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