Registration now open.

Winter Gardening Know-How Series

Four 1-1/2 hour online sessions - one week night per week for 4 weeks.

Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 PM 

November 4th, 11th, 18th and December 2nd, 2026

The garden is all wrapped up for the season (we've left the leaves and stems, of course!).  Let this winter be your time for dreaming of spring possibilities.  Gift yourself or a loved one an early holiday present with the 2026 Winter Gardening Know-How series.

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-week Winter Gardening Know-How Series with all new topics: 

• Invasives in Massachusetts:
  One of the best ways to deal with climate change and improve our environment is by removing invasive plants from our gardens in Massachusetts. This program reviews what invasives are, how to deal with them, and the effects of them on our environment. We have other choices. Let's consider the alternatives.Learn the basics of pruning deciduous shrubs, with an emphasis on structural pruning that can be done during winter, even for spring-flowering shrubs. You’ll come away with new insights and skills, including “how to” info on proper methods and tools.

• Creating Pollinator Habitat Anywhere:
  The first part of this presentation reviews some pollinator basics: what exactly are pollinators, why are they so important, and why do we hear so much about them?  We then explore what pollinators need and are looking for when choosing where to rest, eat, or lay their eggs— in other words “Habitat”!  We talk about the importance of habitat, what it is, and how to create and maintain some inviting habitat for pollinators just about anywhere at all!  Specifically, the presentation illustrates successful pollinator habitats created in places as different as suburban gardens to apartment decks, and small urban yards and patios to parking lot “hell strips.”

• Where Our Vegetables Come From:
  What do you know about the vegetables you eat?  What is an heirloom tomato? Does it look like the original wild tomato? What group of people were responsible for breeding 4 major food crops? What popular vegetables were bred from kale? Where did sweet onions originate? Eggplant? Peas and beans? Watermelon? Bonnie will talk about the fascinating origins of the vegetables we eat each day: where they originated and what they looked like when they grew in the wild before people started breeding them for better yields and flavors.

• A Holistic Approach to Gardening:
  Gardening is a series of systems and processes. They are all linked and dependent on each other, so that when you affect one process, you affect them all. This presentation will help you develop an understanding of how these systems and relationships work, so that we can support and enable them. The focus will be on the soil because it’s the engine that powers the garden, impacting every part of the plant. Our goal is to increase and maintain the capacity of the soil to function as a healthy ecosystem. By understanding the Soil Food Web, we will have the tools to do so.

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. 

WINTER KNOW-HOW SERIES PRESENTERS are senior Massachusetts Master Gardeners (MGs) who are passionate subject matter experts and trained speakers.

Barbara McIntosh is a Lifetime Master Gardener and has been a Master Gardener since 2016. She has been the coordinator of the prison programs, having created partnerships with MCI Framingham, MCI Concord, Pondville, and NECC. She has also organized volunteers for MCI Shirley and Gardener. Barb has mentored numerous master gardeners, and has contributed to sourcing the How-to and Project Garden articles for The Dirt. Barb currently is coordinating the renovation of the Bedford VA serenity, memorial, and healing gardens in partnership with the Wellesley Boy Scouts and the Bedford garden club. Barb is also on the Speakers Bureau and the education committee.

Denise Guérin is a Certified Massachusetts Master Gardener, graduating in the class of 2022.  She fell in love with gardens (and their contents) at a young age while “helping” her father and grandmother in their large family gardens.  She volunteers regularly at the Wakefield Arboretum, the Medford Food Pantry Garden, and the MMGA’s new Ohrenberger School Pollinator Garden.  Her primary focus is on growing native plants and creating habitat for native bees, birds and insect pollinators.  She is a graduate of the MMGA Speakers Bureau Training Program.

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).

Tony Bonnano has been a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2007. He designed, built, and oversees the Victory Gardens at the Veterans Community Health Care Center in Lowell and is the horticulture leader for the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord’s Outreach Organization, teaching and running a volunteer program at the facility’s farm.  Tony also chairs the Topsfield Fair Home Garden committee and is a Certified Massachusetts State Fair Judge. An accomplished vegetable grower, he was named a Top Vegetable Exhibitor at the 2017 and 2019 Topsfield Fairs.

COST: The cost of the four-lecture Winter 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

Winter Gardening Know-How Series 

November 4th, 11th, 18th and December 2nd, 2026 

To ensure everyone has a great educational experience, space is limited. Registration closes once we are full or November 2nd, 2026. Refunds for series cancellations must be requested by November 2nd, 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