You can learn how to “Go Native,” start a butterfly garden or “Fill Your Yard With Fruit” at one of the eight free gardening workshops now planned for Bayshore Garden Center.
Owners Jan Johnson and Joe Scott, along with their staff, are looking forward to the weekly workshops, to be held every Saturday from July 11 to Aug. 29, all from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
The popular center carries thousands of plants in hundreds of different varieties, and is known for friendly and knowledgeable service. Many locals say they pass the chain stores and some go out of their way to go there. “We even have a lot of customers from Cape Coral,” said Johnson.
She said she was inspired to do the classes after attending workshops at the local Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) North Fort Myers-based Global Farm. Her team has come up with a variety of Florida-friendly gardening topics.
Johnson gave a brief description of each class. The list includes:
n Go Native/Florida Friendly Landscape on July 11
“Our first class will be Florida Friendly Landscape — it’s less use of water and fertilizer. Florida Friendly is planting plants that will sustain themselves through our changing environments,” she said.
n Butterfly Gardens on July 18
“That’s specifically nectar food source and larval food source plants,” she said.
n Fill Your Yard With Fruit Trees on July 25
“The purpose of this is being able to walk out and pick something off your tree and eat it — year-round,” she said.
n Lower Your Electric Bill With Shade on Aug 1
“This is very timely because we’re in the heat of the summer and Mother Nature is helping you out with the rainy season, to get your trees started,” she said.
n Do It Yourself Terracing — Your Canal or Water Front Home on Aug. 8
“The main reason to terrace your waterfront home is to reduce the excessive fertilizer run-off into our canals, which leads to our river and at the end to our estuaries,” she said.
n Correct Fertilizer on Aug. 15
The new fertilizer laws made Johnson want to add this topic.
“Lee County has passed the ordinance of no fertilizer containing nitrogen or phosphorus from June 1 to Sept. 30, our natural rainy season,” she said. “This will be a class on alternatives for fertilizing your lawn and landscaping through these months. It’s very important, again the main result is saving our estuaries.”
n Birds in the Garden on Aug. 22
“Along with the snow birds coming back down, we will be getting our migrating birds like buntings, gold finches, warblers and hummingbirds,” she said. “Planting the correct plants and flowers will be topics and different types of feeders and water. They’ve got to have water.”
n Preparing your SWFL Vegetable Garden on Aug. 29
“Our gardening time here is literally October through April, so the end of August is when you want to prepare the ground, prepare your area for your vegetable garden,” she said.
If you have any questions, visit bayshoregardencenter.com or call the center.