Learn how to manage weeds, turn your yard into a meadow, manage soil, and create and maintain a beautiful lawn in a series of free, online workshops hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. The series is available statewide.

On July 10 at noon, join Cooperative Extension Service invasive plants instructor Gino Graziano to learn how to manage weeds with natural and synthetic herbicides. Graziano will overview how herbicides manage weeds and which is the most effective. Neither natural nor synthetic herbicides are entirely safe, so he will discuss precautions for other plants, pets, pollinators and people.  

At noon on July 17, Paul Marmora, a past president of Cook Inlet Bonsai Study Group, past co-president of the Wildflower Garden Club of Alaska and long-time master gardener, will discuss how he turned his lawn into a natural landscape. He will review his process, successes and failures, and things to remember if you are considering moving away from the lawn.

At 6 p.m. on July 24, learn about soil management and biochar with Caley Gasch, research assistant professor of soil science at the UAF Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station, and Darren McAvoy, an associate professor of extension and forestry specialist at Utah State University. They will talk about soil management and what biochar is, how to make it, and how it might affect and help soil health.

At noon July 31, Stephen Brown will answer the questions: How do you get a beautiful lawn, and how do you keep it that way? Brown is a Cooperative Extension Service agriculture, horticulture and natural resources agent.

Registration is required. Sign up for one or more workshops at https://bit.ly/CESyardwork. 

For more information, contact Molly Johansson at 907-786-6313 or mjohansson@alaska.edu.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made five business days in advance to Johansson at 907-786-6313 or mjohansson@alaska.edu. Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to individuals with limited English proficiency upon request to amnorris2@alaska.edu.