The evolution of the NFMG Lecture Series through the pandemic

The title of this column really sums up the transformation of our horticultural education over the past three years. Prior to the pandemic shut down in March 2020, we presented each of our seven gardening classes in person at three different locations in North Fulton County (Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, and Roswell). We typically attracted about 300 attendees to all 21 classes.

During the spring 2020 Lecture Series, life as we knew it came to a standstill. On March 13, in response to COVID-19, we announced the cancellation of the remainder of our in-person classes.

Our team quickly pivoted and learned how to record classes using Zoom. We created a YouTube channel. We recorded one of our cancelled classes using Zoom and uploaded this first video in May 2020. This Hydrangea lecture has 1402 views to date.

In 2020, we Zoom pre-recorded and posted 13 gardening lectures to our YouTube channel. To date these classes have been viewed more than 5,600 times.

In the spring of 2021, feeling brave, we transitioned to live Zoom webinars. Our team executed an extensive marketing and social media campaign. We held 10 live webinars – streaming live to both Zoom and Facebook and afterward, we posted the recordings to those same sites. The Spring Gardening Lecture Series has had over 11,000 views, of which 2,500 were viewed live on Zoom and Facebook.

The 2021 David Gibby International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Awards recognized the North Fulton Master Gardeners for our efforts in the face of a global pandemic in successfully providing horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through virtual webinar technology. The First Place Award in the Workshops/Presentations category was made on Sept. 15, 2021, during the virtual International Master Gardener Conference. View our video at https://youtu. be/_1hSJfpsFS0.

We are pleased that more than 5,800 people have attended one or more of the 43 free NFMG Garden Lectures live-streamed on Zoom or Facebook since May 2020. An additional 25,000 people have viewed the videos on the NFMG YouTube video library at youtube.com/northfultonmastergardeners.

Our class registrants hail not only from North Fulton County but also from throughout Georgia and the United States, Canada and a smattering of other countries! Thirty to 40 percent of each class are Master Gardeners from throughout Georgia and neighboring Southeastern states.

As society opened after the early months of the pandemic, we surveyed our class attendees to determine whether they were ready to transition back to in-person gardening classes. We learned that 90 percent of the 355 people who responded to our spring 2022 survey at the end of each class prefer viewing our classes through Zoom and Facebook Live streaming, while an additional 6 percent of respondents prefer to view the classes later at their leisure through our YouTube channel. Amazingly, only 4 percent of respondents tell us that they prefer to attend in-person classes in North Fulton.

The decision is clear! Post pandemic learners prefer virtual learning. So, the North Fulton Master Gardeners in collaboration with UGA Extension in Fulton County will continue to provide horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through free virtual gardening education programming.

The Spring 2023 Gardening Lecture Series begins Sunday, March 5, and will again be available through live Zoom webinars and Facebook Live as well as viewable for later viewing several days later through our YouTube channel.

Each class emphasizes practical gardening activities at the time of year that is best suited for that activity. You may register for all five classes or just pick specific classes. Please register in advance at https://bit.ly/ Spring2023NFMG-GardeningLectureSeries to assure your place. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar. If you cannot attend the live webinar, you can register anyway so you will receive a recorded link to the class.

Don’t miss these incredible opportunities to learn more about gardening in metro Atlanta.

• Walk in the Woods with Spring Wildflowers - Observing the Beauty of Nature, Sunday, March 5, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Figs at Home: An Introduction to Growing Figs in the Southeast for the Home Gardener, Sunday, March 12, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Insect Allies: Predators and Parasitoids in the Garden, Sunday, March 19, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Ferns of the Southeast, Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Annual and Perennial Plants for Water Gardens, Sunday, April 2, 2023, at 2 p.m.

For more details, visit https:// mailchi.mp/nfmg/nfmg-februaryupdate.

Happy Gardening!

North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology in order to promote and foster community enrichment. Master Gardener Volunteers are trained and certified by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Learn more at nfmg.net.

About the Author

“Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Lee Tanenbaum, a master gardener since 2011. Lee is NFMG’s Communications co-chair for Publicity and Marketing as well as the current interim chair of the NFMG Gardening Education Team. Lee is a retired speechlanguage pathologist and public health professional, a mother of three, and a grandmother of nine. Lee loves to garden and travel, especially with her grandchildren.