Frequently Asked Questions

New to our classes? Here's some information to help your experience be trouble free! Got a question that isn't listed here? Ask us at gardening@usask.ca

All of our classes are open to all adults in the general public. Regardless of how much gardening experience you have, you are welcome in all of our classes. You do not need to be a student at the U of S, nor pay student fees. All classrooms are wheelchair accessible. All instructors are LGBTQ friendly. Any adult can register in any of our classes!

At this time we only offer classes for adults aged 16+. In special circumstances, we may accept especially keen teenagers under 16 years of age into our existing classes and tours. Of course, nursing mothers are welcome to bring their young infants to class providing that other students are not excessively disturbed.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, all of our classes are online, live-stream. Once we are allowed to have in-person classes, these will be an in-person/online hybrid model where students can attend, but it's also available live-stream.

When we do host in person classes, almost every class we host is held in the Agriculture Building on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, SK. It is the large glass building found at 51 Campus Drive. Here are some images of the building as well as a detailed campus map.

We do not advertise the room numbers of our classes but the building (and possibly the room number) are always listed on your registration sheet. If you forget what room you are in, once you arrive at the Agriculture Building, inside of the main doors you will find a large atrium with an information booth. We will post the location of the class at the information booth.

If your class is not held in the Agriculture Building, we will not have the room number posted in the Agriculture Building. It is most likely still held on campus (and is probably a special event at our Greenhouse or at Patterson Gardens). In these special situations, your building and room number will be listed on your registration receipt and in the class description.

Unfortunately, our classes are currently live-stream only. Due to copyright and instructor consideration, there are no recordings available and we cannot share the instructor's slideshow.

No. All class fees are non-refundable.

Our classes are typically held evenings and weekends. There is metered parking outside of the building and pay parking below the building. During the weekends, sometimes staff lots are open to public parking as well. For the most detailed location and rates, please see the Parking information website.

We encourage everyone to register in advance to save your seat for all classes - especially free events. Classes often fill up and we can't know what room to book and how many handouts to print without knowing how many people to expect. That said, we do accept walk in registrations. If you decide to show up for a class, please go to the Agriculture Building Atrium to find out where the class is. When you arrive, you will be asked to register online or we will get you in contact with our registration personnel. Please note that we can't guarantee a spot for you if you haven't registered in advance.

Bring a pen, a learning attitude, and a water bottle if you're thirsty. You will be expected to take notes. We only provide detailed handouts for core courses but you may still want to jot down additional notes on these too. Some classes have extensive hands-on experiences, but we will usually provide everything you need for these activities. For some classes, such as the landscaping classes or pruning, you can use your own equipment, but we will provide expensive or specialty items for you to borrow and share with your classmates. If you need any materials beyond the typical pencil/pen and paper, we will say so in the class description before you register.

There are many great hotels in Saskatoon but why not stay right here on campus? The student dorms are open for inexpensive rentals throughout the summer - it's a short but lovely walk to class and the food on campus is fantastic. For more information on staying in res, check out their website for individual accommodations.

MGCC stands for Master Gardener Core Course. All courses that say MGCC count as credit towards your Master Gardener Certification. Anyone can take a MGCC, regardless on if you want to eventually certify or not. For more information on Master Gardener certification, click here.

Yes, all of our courses are open to anyone even if they are labeled MGCC (Master Gardener Core Courses). You don't need to be registered in the Master Gardener Program to take them, and you don't have to be interested in future certification. For more information on Master Gardener certification, click here.

That's great! It's no problem if you decide down the road that you've taken a few courses and now want to certify. Simply register in the certification program itself and all your previous courses will be brought over to the accreditation system so you will get credit for them. For more information on Master Gardener certification, click here.

We are very proud of the plants the U of S Fruit breeding program has released - especially the sour cherries, haskap and new apple cultivars! Any plants that have been released to the public can be purchased at your local greenhouses. Once a year, typically in very early June, we do hold a plant sale where we sell a wide variety of young plants quite inexpensively. It's a suprise from year to year what's in stock but we tend to have a fair amount of haskap, sour cherries, various apples, plums, apricots and hazelnuts. We might also have raspberries, strawberries, saskatoons, ornamentals, houseplants, succulents, or water plants too. Most plants are $5 but larger trees may be more. Cash or cheque only. Proceeds from the sale are used to hire summer students for the fruit breeding probram. Sign up for our newsletter for the heads up before our next sale!

Hort Week is a 9 day gardening conference held the first full week in May. It usually runs Saturday to the following Sunday, with classes, tours and events every morning, lunch break, afternoon, and evening. In total, we usually have somewhere around 50 activities throughout the week - some free and some reasonably priced. Hort Week 2020 and 2021 are both cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.

We have been offering gardening classes on campus since 1989 and our department's horticulture program celebrated its 100th year in 2021.