March 7th, 14th, and 21st
Saturdays from 10am to 12pm

The Introduction to Sustainable Gardening is a three-part workshop series designed to help you transform your backyard into a thriving, sustainable garden. Learn what plants are adapted to our coastal climate and grow without the need for toxic pesticides or large amounts of water. This course will focus on native and drought-tolerant ornamental gardens, but will cover broad topics that can also apply to vegetable gardening.

The full series is $30 but at the final workshop you will receive $30 in gift cards Urban Farmer Store or Cole Hardware. This series is sponsored by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Instructor Ellyn Shea gardener, garden coach, Certified Arborist, consultant and educator in San Francisco. She will encorporate hands on gardening into each class!

Part I: Sustainable Garden Design

This workshop will teach you how to design a beautiful, functional, and thriving home garden space. San Francisco urban gardens come with all sorts of unique challenges (fog, wind, steep hillsides) and it can be difficult to know where to start. Our expert guest instructors will take you step by step through designing your dream garden.

Part II: Water-Wise Gardening

This workshop will take a more detailed look at the many beautiful plants that grow well in San Francisco and how you can care for them without using large amounts of water. Even with San Francisco’s dry and foggy summers, there is an amazing palate of climate appropriate plants that will thrive here with little or no summer water so that you can protect our water resources and save on your water bill. This class will teach you more about installing your own drip irrigation system, and give you the opportunity for some hands on irrigation practice.

Part III: Organic Pest Control

This workshop will cover common pests, diseases, and weeds in San Francisco and how you can get rid of them without harming the ecosystem with toxic pesticides and herbicides. In this workshop, our expert instructor will teach you how your garden can promote biodiversity, attract beneficial insects, and keep pests at bay naturally. We will also cover our favorite non-toxic natural pest care remedies that you can make from things found in your kitchen cupboards.

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Full garden workshop schedule

What to bring to the workshop

Directions to the Garden

More about Ellyn and our Gardening Instructors