Although many are stuck at home due to Santa Clara County’s shelter in place order, that means there’s more time to get in the garden!

Getting out into the garden is a great way to get some fresh air and maintain adequate social distancing while also doing something extremely rewarding.  Spring time is a great time for planting and many garden shops remain open during this time of uncertainty.

Here are some South Bay Green Gardens ideas to get you thinking about gardening-in-place:

- Explore online gardening videos. Now is a great time to get online and learn some extra tips and tricks to make sure your garden is the best that it can be! Explore educational video resources from the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners and from Valley Water.

- Expand your vegetable garden.  Spring is a great time to expand your current vegetable garden and adding fresh, homegrown vegetables to your meals is a fantastic way to liven up a homemade meal. Refer to the Master Gardener’s Vegetable Planting Chart to see what can be planted now in Santa Clara County!

- Plant something new.  Many garden centers remaining open for online orders and curbside pickup during the Shelter-in-Place, and with spring rains, now is a great time to add new plants to add to your garden!   Calscape.org can help you decide what CA native plants will work best for your sites!

- Add a pollinator garden.  With more time at home, now is a great time to add pollinator host plants to your garden.  Attracting pollinators will help your garden thrive and provided habitat for local insects, birds, and other critters.  Visit our Facebook post to watch Water Conservation Specialist Ashley Shannon share how she’s working on her pollinator garden here.

- Spring Cleaning.  Now is a great time to get active in the garden and do the extra work to make your garden shine through the rest of the season! Here is a great resource from the UC Master Gardeners about what you should be thinking about in your garden each month.