Horticulture in Bonneville County
Gardening and horticulture
UI Extension, Bonneville County offers a variety of resources and programs to help you make the most of your Idaho home. If you are looking for more information on home gardening or growing crops in our county, you’ve come to the right place.
Our Idaho Home Garden Tips program is a great place to start for home gardeners, but we also have our Idaho Master Gardener Program for those wanting a more rigorous gardening program.
Our weekly Pest Alert newsletter tracks pests in the area and gives you the most accurate information for managing them in southeast Idaho.
Master gardener program
Each year, hundreds of master gardeners share their gardening knowledge as they serve their communities and the environment.
What master gardeners do
- Answer horticulture questions (by telephone and in person at the UI Extension office)
- Promote environmental responsibility
- Bring the joy of gardening to all ages
- Teach classes for large groups: civic organizations, church groups, garden clubs, schools and others
Time commitment
The Idaho Master Gardener Program requires 36 hours of online classes from mid-January to mid-April. You will be given several open book quizzes and reading assignments.
In addition, 40 hours of hands-on training is required. Much of this time will be spent helping out in the master gardener room where you will answer gardeners’ questions through the summer months with the assistance of an Advanced Idaho Master Gardener.
Plant clinic
Our master gardeners and educators can help you solve gardening problems. To submit a sample to the Plant Clinic:
- Contact us at bonnemg@uidaho.edu about your gardening problems and please include photo(s) of your issue.
Pest alerts
Our weekly Pest Alerts newsletter is sent during the spring, summer and fall months to help homeowners manage garden pests seen in our area.
- Tracking the Apple Codling Moth, Western Cherry Fruit Fly and weather patterns associated with Fireblight to help homeowners have the most accurate information on pest control.
- Highlight other pest species throughout the season as they become prevalent in our area.
- Focus on integrated pest management — using the most effective management strategies while minimizing risks to ourselves and our environment.
- Highlight other useful gardening tips, such as garden planning, irrigation, frost protection and many others.
Home garden tips
Idaho Home Garden Tips is a series of online gardening classes available to those who want to learn more about home gardening.
Classes are offered on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, 7-7:30 p.m. MT, February-October, via Zoom. Classes are recorded for those who are unable to attend or want to watch portions of the class. Feel free to join in on a class or watch videos that interest you.
Plant talk
Plant Talk is a question and answer session offered every second and fourth Tuesday after the Idaho Home Garden Tips class (7:30-8 p.m. MT). Plant experts and UI Extension educators, Ron Patterson, Jared Gibbons and Reed Findlay, answer questions you may have about your yard and garden. Join us on Zoom to ask your questions. Recordings of classes will be posted to our YouTube playlist as soon as possible.
Videos
Need specific gardening information? Check out our videos.
- Fall weed control
- Season extension: tools and techniques
- Fall lawn care: get set for winter
- Houseplants: the gardener’s winter fix
- How to start seeds indoors
- How to prune raspberries
- How to prune and trellis tomatoes
- How to plant raspberries
- Fall lawn care: get set for winter
- How to control weeds: musk thistle
- How to air-layer a monocot plant
- Spring lawn care: how to save your water bill