WESTFIELD – If you can’t wait to get your hands dirty this spring, then this event is definitely for you!
On March 28, the annual Spring Garden Workshops, presented by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, is slated to take place from 9 a.m. to noon at the Westfield Middle School, 30 West Silver St.
Featuring 10 topics to choose from, the morning will help novice and experienced gardeners hone their skills on subjects that include planning for a bountiful berry harvest, planting for climate change, managing invasive pests, propagating perennials, working with water features and even success with succulents indoors and out.
Participants will also get the chance to have their garden soil tested for a small fee, browse the gardening marketplace fair, consult with master gardeners about specific gardening questions, browse the used book table and take a chance on garden-inspired raffle prizes.
Morning coffee, tea and snacks will be available, and participants are encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle.
Pre-registration is encouraged, as workshops fill up fast. Mail-in registration through March 16 and online registration through March 26 are both $35. Registration at the door is $40. More information and registration forms are available at WMMGA.org.
Master Gardener and Lower Valley Spring Gardening Workshop Co-Coordinator Rosmarie Bonner said the annual event’s planners have tried to take cues from attendees to make sure this year’s offerings are timely and on topic.
With 180 gardening enthusiasts attending the 2025 workshops, she said there was plenty of feedback and requests.
For example, the “Berry Delicious Gardens” workshop, hosted by Laura Griffin McDermott, a berry specialist on the Eastern New York fruit and vegetable team, is a direct result of survey requests.
“People asked for strawberries and blueberries,” Bonner said, adding that the propagation workshop, “From One Come Many,” hosted by Master Gardener Tori Graham of the Wistarihurst Museum Gardens in Holyoke, was also the outgrowth of other requests.
“People were asking, ‘Do I need to buy plants every year for my gardens?’” Bonner said.
A hands-on workshop, “From One Comes Many,” has a limit of 20 participants and Bonner expects it to fill up fast.
“Using Trees and Shrubs for Year-Long Interest,’ hosted by Dan Ziomek. Manager of the Sugarloaf Gardens in Sunderland, was another workshop sparked by survey requests.
Many of last year’s attendees asked how they could better use trees and shrubs in their gardens, Bonner explained.
“People know flowers are nice, but the trees and shrubs are the background of your garden,” and many wanted more information on incorporating them, she said.
The fourth survey-requested workshop in the 2026 series is “Design Your Own Water Feature - Made Easy,” hosted by Master Gardener Ed Sourdiffe, the plant and garden expert from TV 22’s local show, “Mass Appeal.”
“People said they wanted to have some kind of water feature, but not a huge pond. They were asking. ‘Can I design it myself?’ “Can I use a container and do it on a small scale?’” Bonner said.
“Sourdiffe, he’s a hands-on, backyard kind of guy,” Bonner continued. “He calls himself the “Green Thumb” on Mass Appeal. He came from the Handcock Shaker Village – his bead is the home gardener, not the spectacular one. He walks the talk.”
Another popular workshop speaker, Chris Ferrero, is back again for the 2026 series, hosting two workshops.
“People love her,” Bonner shared. “She’s a Cornell master gardener herself, and a faculty member of the Berkshire Botanical Gardens.”
Ferrero will host “Gardening in Small Spaces” and Let’s go native: A sustainable, Attainable approach for Home Gardeners.”
“She’s not just going to talk about native plants for sunny areas but also shade and slopes,” Bonner explained. “What people like about Chris is that she’s animated, and she will give people a list of plants they can go and get, not just for her native gardens but also for smaller gardens. You can walk away with three or four plants that you can add to your garden.”
Gardening in the midst of climate change is another topic that Bonner said the master gardeners wanted to focus on this year, bringing in Cheryl Rafuse, owner of Plant Magic Gardens in Danvers, Massachusetts and co-host of the podcast, “Garden for Hot People,” as the speaker for “Climate Change: Practical Tips for Growing in a Changing Climate.”
“Cheryl Rafuse will offer practical tips,” Bonner said, adding that gardening for climate change consists of using persistent plants – those that you plant now and will be growing in 20 years, conscientious use of water and plantings that support each other.
Attendees will “walk away not just knowing more about climate change but how to deal with it,” Bonner said.
There are also workshops focusing on pest management, such as “Vegetables vs. Pests” hosted by Master Gardeners JoAnne Palmer and Margery Gerard from the Full Circle Food Pantry Gardens in South Hadley and “Invasive species 101: Identification and Management” hosted by Dr. Jennifer Forman Orth, an environmental biologist for the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.
Bonner said Orth would be speaking about pests such as the spotted lantern fly, beach leaf disease, Japanese knotweed and jumping worms. A question-and-answer section is planned for this workshop, so gardeners can also bring their own pest concerns.
“Our speaker, Dr. Jennfer Forman Orth, is very knowledgeable, she may work for the Department of Agriculture, but she can speak to the everyday gardener,” Bonner said.
The final workshop, another hands-on class, will be “Get Your Hands Dirty: Create Your Own Succulent Garden,” hosted by Kessa McEwen, horticulturist and educator at Berkshire Botanical Gardens.
Bonner said the workshop will focus on building an indoor succulent garden, but that McEwen will also talk about using succulents in outdoor settings.
“She’s vibrant, she’s hands-on, her hands are dirty every day,” Bonner said, adding that again, because this is a hands-on workshop, participation is limited to 20 attendees.
Bonner said overall, she and her workshop planning team hope attendees leave with ideas and inspiration.
“We hope to make it an environment where people say, ‘I learned something,’ “I connected with someone,” and “I’m ready for spring,” Bonner shared.