The Garden Hotline

For over 25 years, Garden Hotline educators have been providing information and guidance at no cost to home gardeners and landscape professionals. Our goal is to educate the public on ways to reduce waste, conserve water and other natural resources, and minimize the use of chemicals in your garden, landscape and yard, while creating a healthier environment and community.

Ask Us Your Questions

We are available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at (206) 633-0224. Contact us online to ask questions and send photos, or visit our site to find brochures, seasonal tips, gardening articles, videos and more. Follow us on social media and find educational events to attend, great gardening ideas and be part of our online community.

Our Expertise

Our staff is a team of professional horticulturalists and educators with experience and expertise in:

• Safe, effective pest and weed management
• Natural lawn care practices
• Sustainable plant care and disease solutions
• Plant selection including drought tolerant and native plants
• Composting and soil building techniques
• Safe and healthy edible gardening
• Pollinator, wildlife and beneficial insect gardening
• And much, much more!

Presentations, Workshops, Articles and Research

The Garden Hotline also presents workshops and seminars on natural yard care and integrated pest management (IPM) practices. We work with local community partners to offer free workshops in support of refugee, immigrant, low income, people with disabilities and elder communities in King County. We offer hands-on workshops in the garden, in-classroom container gardening, mushroom growing and micro-green classes, and online virtual classes and presentations for our partner communities.

We offer workshops to senior centers and community council groups made available to their members. Many of our workshops and presentations are open to the public in King County, sponsored by groups like Master Gardeners in King County and cities in the area. Check the calendar for upcoming classes.

We often share articles with local and regional newsletters and home-owner associations featuring topics of relevance to their communities. Articles are also shared on the Garden Hotline website, featuring a seasonal tip four times a year to help you focus on what to do now in the garden.

Can’t find the answer to something and don’t have time to track it down? Let us do the research for you. We can share resources on good plant choices, safe and healthy gardening research and advice, and the local businesses that support natural gardening products nearest to you.

Community Events & Fairs

We share natural yard care information at community events like health fairs, environmental celebrations, neighborhood festivals, and farmers markets. You can find us with a table full of free natural gardening information, free seeds for your garden, and an in person educator available to answer your questions about your yard. Check the calendar listing for local events where you can find us.

In-Language Services

We provide interpretation services to customers who call us and employ interpreters and partner with groups who can provide interpretation when needed in our workshops. Articles have been translated and shared through ethnic media sources as well.

Brochures

Looking for printed gardening information? We can send you the following brochures:

• Choosing the Right Plants for a Beautiful, Trouble-Free Garden
• Natural Pest, Weed & Disease Control
• Composting Yard and Food Waste at Home
• Growing Healthy Soil
• Smart Watering
• Growing Food in the City (also in multiple languages)
• Natural Lawn Care
• Natural Yard Care (also in multiple languages)

Garden Demonstration Projects

The Garden Hotline staff have developed and currently maintain educational garden features at both the Good Shepherd Center and Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands.

Projects at Good Shepherd Center

At the Good Shepherd Center, we highlight small space urban garden features in the Children’s Learning Garden including dwarf fruiting trees, fruiting shrubs, a natural lawn, a perennial edible bed, an “Explorer’s Trail” and native plantings to support wildlife. Through funding from a Tableau Community Grant, we have been able to supplement plantings and wildlife features to enhance our project at the Good Shepherd Center. You can join us to learn about small space urban garden care and volunteer in the garden on Wednesdays and Saturdays – we can customize your schedule. Join our Bumble Bee Watch citizen science project to track the bees we see in the summer.

Projects at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands

At Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, we have been in the process of creating a pollinator-friendly hillside garden in front of the office on site. The garden features many native pollinator, beneficial insect and bird friendly plantings alongside tried and true herbs and perennials. It also showcases some of our local weeds to demonstrate how to build a plant community that can thrive and support wildlife. Through the generosity of the Endangered Species Coalition, we have planted hundreds of shrubs, perennials, and ground-covers across the hillside featuring over 50 species of plants. You can join us to learn about pollinator gardening and volunteer on the hillside on Fridays; 10 a.m.-noon. Visit the volunteer page for more information.

Our Sponsors

The Garden Hotline is managed by Tilth Alliance and sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities, the Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County, RainWise, and the Cascade Water Alliance.