Autauga County Master Gardeners host lunch-and-learn on spring gardening tips

Autauga County gardeners got a midday reminder that spring planting is as much about timing as it is about seeds. The county’s Master Gardeners Association held a Lunch & Learn on Wednesday, April 15, from noon to 1 p.m., offering residents a short-format chance to trade questions, compare notes and get practical advice for yards and vegetable beds heading into a season that can swing quickly from warm to stormy.

The April 15 session followed another lunch-and-learn on March 18, a “Seedy Exchange ~ Bring your Seeds” program at Trinity Prattville Church in Prattville. That event featured a horticulturist and manager of the urban farm for Eat South in Montgomery, along with a seed swap, showing that the county’s spring gardening calendar is not just a one-off class but part of a continuing extension education series built around hands-on use, not theory.

That matters in a county where many residents own their homes and manage their own landscapes. Autauga County’s owner-occupied housing rate was 77.1% in the 2020-2024 period, and the county’s estimated population reached 61,920 on July 1, 2025. Prattville, the county’s largest city, was estimated at 40,139 on July 1, 2024, after growing 6.4% from the 2020 census base. In fast-growing communities, curb appeal, yard upkeep and productive garden space are part of daily life.

The public-service backbone behind those lessons is the Autauga County Extension Office, 2226 AL-14 W, Suite E, in Autaugaville, with a main phone number of (334) 361-7273. Mallory Kelley serves as the Home Horticulture agent for Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes and Montgomery counties, giving local residents a direct line to extension advice on plant care, pests, soil preparation and seasonal timing.

Alabama Extension says every county in the state has an Extension office, and its Master Gardener program has been operating in Alabama since 1981. Volunteers complete 50 hours of horticulture instruction and 50 hours of approved service, a structure designed to push reliable information into local communities. Alabama Extension says its home horticulture work serves all 5 million Alabamians and supports community well-being, food security, property values and development.

In Autauga County, the result is a simple but useful public resource: a noon-hour class that can help residents spend less on failed plantings, waste less water and get more out of their spring gardens.