Join us at our talk to learn how passive rainwater harvesting can be integrated into your landscape design. Take advantage of the rain when it falls!
This GROWS Community Workshop will be on July 13 and the speaker is Mike Gaglio, Watershed Management Group Certified Rainwater Harvester. Learn more here: How to Make a Rainy Day Last.
Ready to Become a Texas Master Gardener Volunteer? Apply Now!
If you like to learn about plants and would enjoy sharing your knowledge with people in our community in various ways, consider becoming an El Paso County Master Gardener volunteer. In our yearly fall classes, which will begin with an orientation, you will receive intensive horticultural training. The classes include xeriscaping principles, vegetable gardening, lawn and tree care, soils, identifying garden pests, and more.
After training, you’ll apply your new knowledge by volunteering at least 62 hours within the next year at approved sites to become a certified Texas Master Gardener. Recertification yearly is encouraged through continued volunteering and by taking continuing education classes.
Master Gardeners are members of the local community who take an active interest in their lawns, trees, shrubs, flowers, and gardens. We are enthusiastic, willing to learn and help others, and can communicate with diverse groups of people.
Watch this video to see a presentation on the El Paso County Master Gardener program. It was recorded as an Ask the Expert segment on the Wyler Aerial Tramway Facebook page of Texas Parks & Wildlife.
You can learn more about the El Paso County Master Gardener program and our history by reading the About Us pages. Read the the Application letter on the Application page to learn pertinent details about the Master Gardener program.
Live educational events and online webinars are some of the ways we present learning opportunities for gardeners in our area. As the new year gets going, look for our Information Tables where you can get handouts and ask questions about landscaping or gardening. You can also find previous webinars on our YouTube channel.
Here are some upcoming event dates so you can mark your calendar. Click the event link, if shown below, for more information, or watch for our Events page to be updated.
July 13 – How to Make a Rainy Day Last: Passive Rainwater Harvesting – A GROWS Community Workshop
July 25 – Backyard Vegetable & Fruit Production Class (Click link & see page 23)
August 10 – Save Water – Use Colorful Native Plants – A GROWS Community Workshop
August 16 – Deadline for application to 2024 El Paso County Master Gardener Program (See the above flyer.)
September 14 – Water Saving Ideas for Fall Gardens – A GROWS Community Workshop
Read AgriLife TODAY for Texas Gardening News
Texas A&M AgriLife has a news blog page with several topics like Lawn & Garden, Environment, Life & Health, and Science & Tech called AgriLife TODAY. As gardeners, we’re especially interested the Lawn & Garden category and we want to share these articles with you.
Foundational Tips for No-Dig Gardening
Eight Great Plants to Bring Butterflies to Your Garden
Pansies Named Newest Texas Superstar
From Moon ‘Dust’ to Moon ‘Soil’
Why Should I Get My Soil Tested?
Ignite Landscapes with Newest Texas Superstar – the Firecracker Plant
Good to Grow Radio Shows
(Current and Archived)
What’s Growing On?
Container Gardening
Seed Planting
Toxic Plants and Your Pets
Rose Care
The Efficiency of Irrigation with Trees and Turfgrass
Maintaining Desert and Adapted Trees
Garden Design Tips
Garden Design Trends
Vegetable Container Gardening
Container Gardening, Pt. 1
Container Gardening, Pt. 2Indoor Plants and Gardening
Evergreen Gardening (caring for houseplants)
Benefits of Mulching
Composting
Native Plants
Irrigation, Part 1 of 2
Irrigation, Part 2 of 2
Watering Your Landscape
Tree Selection and Planting
Trees-What to Know Before You Buy
Tree Pruning
Proper Pruning Tips
Listen live on Saturdays at 11:15 a.m. on 88.5 FM or stream from the archives at KTEP Good to Grow.
Read more about our Good to Grow Radio Show, here.
By the Season – Gardening in El Paso
July Monthly Tips
August Monthly Tips
Weeds of Texas Turf (good photos for ID of weeds)
Vegetable Planting Calendar for El Paso County
Vegetable Varieties for El Paso County
Vegetables – Easy Gardening Series (scroll down for Spanish)Pests of Foliage and Flowering Plants
Bug Book-Insect ID and Control
Easy Steps for Drip Irrigation
Ornamental Plants for Far West Texas (including trees)
El Paso Desert Blooms Water Smart Landscaping Guide
Gardening with Perennials (including dividing; sections in Spanish)
Pruning Shrubs in the Low and Mid-Elevation Deserts in Arizona
Low Desert Pruning Guide for Commonly Used Shrubs (includes Tips and Schedule)
What Tree is for Me?
Help Your Tree Survive in El Paso (PDF)
Regional Recommended Tree List (TPG List)
Trees for High Desert Communities
Fruit Trees for El Paso
Training and Pruning Newly Planted Deciduous Fruit Trees
Texas Tree Planning, Planting, Pruning, and Care Guide (text and video; Spanish version at page bottom of selected pages)
Lawn Water Management
Efficient Use of Water in the Garden and Landscape
Watering Trees and Shrubs: Simple Techniques for Efficient Landscape Watering
Watering Tips for Lawns, Vegetable Gardens and Trees – Gardening in El Paso
Videos:
Soil Testing by Skip Richter, Horticulturist—Agrilife.org
Why Test the Soil? by Ignacio Munoz, El Paso Master Gardener
Find other helpful articles at Gardening in El Paso – Articles and Gardening Topics – Links. Find more videos at Videos and More.
Newcomer’s Gardening Snapshot for El Paso County
Many new residents arrive in El Paso each year from climates and growing conditions much different than the Chihuahuan desert. This Newcomer’s Gardening Snapshot highlights some main features of El Paso’s climate and provides links to helpful, informative websites. It also provides links to local gardens exhibiting native and adapted plants for local landscapes. We hope this information assists new gardeners in getting off to a fast start in their new Texas home.
Do you have gardening or landscape questions and don’t know who to ask? The El Paso Master Gardener live online Chat Desk, part of our Help Desk is available to you. The Chat windows are opened by clicking on the blue Chat button on our web pages. When the Chat Desk Master Gardener volunteers are offline, the Chat buttons can still be used to leave questions and photographs. You’ll be asked for your email address, and we’ll reply by email as soon as possible.
Other ways to leave questions for our Help Desk volunteers are through the Ask the Help Desk contact form on our Ask Us page and through the Ask the Help Desk contact form on our Help Desk page. You will receive an answer from a Master Gardener volunteer by phone or email.
El Paso Master Gardeners provide a free service for the public by answering your gardening questions. We follow Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service guidelines and do not endorse or recommend specific products or places of business.
Improve Your Skills with Our
Informative El Paso Gardening Handbook
El Paso County Master Gardeners created a one-of-a-kind illustrated gardening handbook for our area. The El Paso Gardening Handbook addresses El Paso specific gardening concerns and best practices.
Texans Ask About Gardening–Vegetables, Herbs and More
From Asparagus to Swiss Chard plus “Non-Crop” plants and Herbs, you’ll find many of your questions answered in Everything Texans Ask About Gardening, an informative 67-page publication by Joseph Masabni and Patrick Lillard. Organized largely by vegetable name, the questions and answers cover general issues, diseases, and insects. Since this is a digital document produced by Texas A&M AgriLife, you can easily search for a topic or keyword by using the “Find” command if on a PC. Otherwise, here are some page numbers by section:
Vegetable Q&A – pages 1-54
Minor Crops – pages 54-61
Herbs – pages 61-63
Non-Crop Q&A – pages 64-67
Who We Are
The El Paso County Master Gardeners Association, as a member of the Texas Master Gardeners Association, is a non-profit educational and charitable organization supporting the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in providing quality, relevant outreach and continuing education programs and services to the people of El Paso County. Our local volunteers receive extensive training and experience in a wide range of subjects before certification as Texas Master Gardeners.
In collaboration with the County A&M AgriLife Horticultural Agent, Eduardo Rascon, we educate the community through various events, workshops, and demonstration gardens. Our Master Gardeners volunteer through our Outreach programs and community Projects to provide information and recommendations on horticultural topics to all residents of El Paso County.
About Us-El Paso Master Gardeners |
Learn |
Outreach | Ask Us |
Projects | Monthly Tips |
Events |
Webmaster: Mary Ann McCravey
Content Editor: Marlene Stalker