Need advice on your home garden? This SLO County group has the answers
One of the services our local UC Master Gardener chapter provides is a helpline staffed by trained volunteers. Helpline volunteers answer a wide range of questions about home gardens, orchards, landscaping and wild plants.
Home gardeners are invited to call or email questions to our helpline in Templeton, San Luis Obispo or Arroyo Grande.
Photos of the problem plant or insect are particularly helpful. Bagged plant and insect samples can also be brought to the nearest help line office. For some questions, our volunteers may have an answer on the spot, while other problems may require research and close examination of samples under a microscope.
Some of the questions we receive come up frequently; others are unusual and sometimes completely new. Some problems are seasonal, while others are particularly common for certain plants.
Here are just a few examples of common questions:
“Why are the leaves on my avocado tree turning yellow and falling off?”
“How do I keep ants off my citrus trees?”
“How do I treat vegetable plants that are showing signs of wilt or powdery mildew?”
“What is this white stuff on the leaves of my grape vine?”
“How can I control gophers on my property?”
“Do I need to stake newly planted trees, and if so, for how long?”
Other common helpline topics include the care of newly planted trees and shrubs, irrigation and requests for help locating local soil testing labs, nurseries, arborists, beekeepers to remove swarms and even specialists to collect and relocate snakes.
Helpline volunteers provide science-based recommendations to these and other problems.
Volunteers will explain options for treatments, if needed, and will provide resources for additional information. Effective and environmentally responsible methods will always be recommended first.
On Saturday, July 18, helpline volunteers from the UC Master Gardener Program will present a program on Tales from the Helpline, as part of our monthly Advice to Grow By workshops. The presentation will include photos illustrating common pests and plant issues found in gardens and landscapes.
The speakers will explain how to identify common plant problems and how to keep your gardens and landscapes healthy.
The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, in the UC Cooperative Extension auditorium at 2156 Sierra Way, San Luis Obispo. The workshop is free, but registration is encouraged because seating is limited. See our website below for more information or to register. In addition to the workshop, we’ll have a plant sale featuring a variety of landscape plants propagated by our chapter volunteers.
Our helpline volunteers are available to answer gardening questions at three locations in the county:
- San Luis Obispo: 805-781-5939 (Monday and Thursday 1 to 5 p.m.)
- Arroyo Grande: 805-473-7190 (Wednesday 10 a.m. to noon)
- Templeton: 805-434-4105 (Wednesday 9 a.m. to noon)
For informative gardening videos, visit our YouTube channel at San Luis Obispo County UC Master Gardeners.
For more gardening information and to register for our monthly programs, visit our website at ucanr.edu/sites/mgslo/ or email questions to anrmgslo@ucanr.edu.