How to prune Japanese maples the right way

Learn to prune Japanese maples

Japanese maples offer such an elegant addition to any garden that you want to make sure you treat them right.

With brilliant fall color, striking leaf shape, texture and delicacy, they hit all the notes to make them an all-season tree. Learn how to prune these gems the right way during a Zoom class Wednesday put on by the UC Master Gardeners of Marin County.

The class will cover seasonal pruning, proper care, troubleshooting, winter silhouette and form enhancement as well as cultivar variations, tree selection and planting techniques.

The class will be taught by Grant Foerster, an aesthetic pruner who also has been a staff gardener at San Francisco’s Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park. He has a degree in engineering hydrology from UC Davis, has taught in the Merritt College Aesthetic Pruning series and cofounded the Aesthetic Pruners Association. Currently he leads the association’s education committee and hosts a bonsai studio.

The class will be from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Cost is $30. Registration is required. Those who complete the registration will get a Zoom link to the session and copies of handouts by email by Monday. A recording of the class will be available for a limited time to registrants who can’t attend the entire session.

To register, go to bit.ly/39psD3I. For information, email Andie Ravas at ravasjohnson@gmail.com.

Urban Garden uproots to new home

The Santa Rosa specialty boutique filled with gifts for your garden, along with a few other surprises, has a new home on Fourth Street.

Urban Garden, which was firmly planted in Montgomery Village for 16 years, has recently moved to a new, larger space in midtown Santa Rosa.

The store stocks many of the products its loyalists loved, from plants to garden decor, along with new items to fit what partners Sam Stavros and Jeff Bastoni call their “more hip, urban locale.”

They’ve added trendy Fermob outdoor furniture, Bay Area-made concrete bird baths, locally made jewelry, macrame, candles, zero-waste products and other new finds for home and garden.

They’re also featuring a constantly changing and expanding collection of houseplants and succulents sourced from higher-end wholesale nurseries.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the midtown neighborhood and have been welcomed by residents and businesses alike,” the partners said in a message to The Press Democrat. Urban Garden now can be found at 1414 Fourth St., between Foster Freeze and Dierk’s Midtown Cafe. Myurbangarden.com, 707-543-7037.

Stock up at plant sale

Stock up on native and water-wise plants at the Willowside School Nursery plant sale Saturday.

They have a huge variety of perennials, roses, salvias, abutilons, grasses, succulents and more at $5 for a 1-gallon container. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5299 Hall Road at Willowside Road, Santa Rosa. For information call 707-569-4724.

Send Home and Garden news to Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. Submit items about events at least three weeks in advance.