|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Whether you’re looking for tips on how to maintain your winter landscape, want to head outdoors on a guided hike to explore local preserves or learn some new home improvement skills, you’ll find plenty of opportunities in our January home & garden events calendar.
Edible gardening series at Gamble Garden
10-11:30 a.m., Saturdays, Jan. 18, April 5, July 19, Oct. 18 | Gamble Garden, 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto | Tickets and information
Join Gamble Garden’s horticultural staff and learn everything you need to know about how to create an aesthetically pleasing and productive edible garden during this four-part series that kicks off on Jan. 18 with a class focused on edible plants for winter.
During the series, participants will explore a wide variety of common – and not so common – edible plants that are well-suited to the Bay Area climate during each season and learn how to apply traditional design principles to their vegetable garden, as well as how to intermingle edible plants into an existing landscape.
Staff will discuss techniques used at Gamble Garden to maintain plant and soil health year-round, including plant protection, pest management, irrigation and general maintenance.
Classes are held each season and focus on winter, spring, summer and fall gardening techniques.
Participants can sign up for the entire series or for each class separately. Single class price tickets are $32 (members), $40 (nonmembers). Series prices are $105 (members), $130 (nonmembers).
Winter rambling at Rancho
9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Monday, Jan. 6 | Rancho San Antonio Preserve, Cupertino| Free | More information
Explore winter foliage and nature during this outing at Rancho San Antonio Park. What’s in bloom? Will the creek have water? How far across the bay can you see from various views?
Enjoy the trails on this “Lucky Seven” hike with docent naturalists Nancy Weintraub, Marie Faust Evitt and Nick Yatsko. This moderately paced, exercise-focused hike will traverse a creek, oak woodlands and chaparral habitats on seven trails in just under 7 miles. You’ll start on the Hill Trail to the Coyote and Stephen E. Abbors trails, then continue to the Wildcat Loop Trail and return via the Rogue Valley Trail. Bring a snack. This hike is for individuals comfortable climbing 1,000 feet at 2.5 miles per hour.
Meet near the restroom at the bottom of the hill in the Rancho San Antonio preserve parking lot farthest to the right. From I-280, take Foothill Boulevard south and turn right almost immediately onto Cristo Rey Drive. Continue about 1 mile, veer right around the traffic circle, and turn left into the park. After entering the preserve, turn right and drive approximately 0.3 miles to Lot 6.
A walk in the Garden
10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 8 | Windy Hill Preserve, Portola Valley | Free | More information
Explore nature’s garden of native plants, ferns and fungi that start growing in response to winter rain while hiking Windy Hill Preserve’s Lost Trail from one end to the other.
Docent naturalists Susan Bernhard, Ann Reisenauer, Noa Doitel and Maureen Draper will lead this 2.5-mile leisurely paced jaunt: The trail is wide, well graded, relatively flat, and wends through Douglas fir forest habitat where you’ll listen for birds and other forest dwellers. Bring a snack for a break. (Note: This hike involves a short car shuttle that will be organized from the parking area.)
Meet at the Anniversary Trail picnic tables roadside parking (Highway 35), just south of Anniversary trailhead at Windy Hill Preserve.
Online ‘Winter Fruit Tree Pruning’ workshop
11 a.m.-noon., Saturday, Jan. 11 | online | free | Registration required
Winter is the best time to prune fruit trees because they’re dormant, and you can see the tree structure. Learn proper pruning timing and technique that will allow your trees to produce the best fruit during this online workshop hosted by the Mountain View Public Library.
UC Master Gardener Allen Buchinski will teach the why, how and when of pruning for best structure and fruit production. Allen has worked at the Emma Prusch Park Farm High-Density Fruit Orchard, where the trees are kept small and at a reduced height to make harvesting ladder-free.
Winter rose care
7-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan.15 | Orchard Room, Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos | Free | More information
Learn about how winter care and pruning can make a big difference to healthy summer blooms. UC Master Gardener Martha Carpenter will share tips on what to do right now to have healthy, vibrant flowers next summer and will do a pruning demonstration.
Learn about new laws to protect pollinators
Noon, Thursday, Jan. 16 | online | University of California’s Integrated Pest Management | Free | Registration required
New laws in California have recently been passed to address negative pesticide effects on pollinators and wildlife. Come learn about these new laws and what it means for several common home and garden pests, including insects and rodents, during this webinar hosted by the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management.
The program is part of the group’s monthly webinars about pest identification, prevention and management around the home, garden and landscape.
College Terrace self-guided walking tour
From Victorians, early Craftsman and English cottages to Spanish Colonial Revival bungalows, a log cabin and ornate Queen Annes, Palo Alto’s College Terrace neighborhood boasts an eclectic mix of architectural styles spanning the past 100 years. There’s a historic home on nearly every block of this 12-block neighborhood located between El Camino Real, Amherst Street and Stanford and California avenues.
The nonprofit preservation group Palo Alto Stanford Heritage (PAST) created a self-guided walking tour for those interested in exploring this neighborhood. The online guide includes the origins of College Terrace as well as the history of homes and architectural styles in the neighborhood.
Introduction to interior design program
Palo Alto Adult School, online | $129 enrollment fee. Registration and more information.
It’s not too late to enroll in this interior design program. Palo Alto Adult School is offering the 12-course program online for those who want to learn interior design at their own pace or may have missed the December enrollment period for the instructor-led program.
Learn how to transform plain living spaces into beautiful and functional rooms during this program that guides participants through the interior design process from start to finish. Participants will learn how to design every aspect of a room while taking into account color theory, industry trends, special arrangements, floor plans, design ideas and interior design basics. The class also covers sustainable designs and how to modify designs for people with special needs.
Interior designer Sara Smallwood, whose work includes everything from designing for residential homes to large international hospitality chains (such as Marriott International), will share her pro-tips in this recorded course series.
