Garden Calendar: Holiday lights and garden-priming workshops

If you have a plant-related class, garden tour or other event you’d like us to mention, email [email protected] — at least three weeks in advance — and we may include it. Send a high-resolution horizontal photo, if possible, and tell us what we’re seeing and whom to credit.

Through Jan. 5

L.A. Zoo Lights includes animal-themed light displays, 3-D projections, disco-ball forest, “Twinkle Tunnel” and — new this year — the “World’s Largest Illuminated Pop-Up Storybook,” from 6 to 10 p.m., closed Dec. 24-25, at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens at 5333 Zoo Drive in Griffith Park. Tickets $11 for members; nonmembers pay $15-$22 for adults 13 and older, $12-17 for children 2-12. lazoolights.org

Descanso Gardens’ Enchanted Forest of Light is a gentle one-mile walk through the gardens highlighting some of the most popular locations with large-scale light displays. New this year is a “magical ‘stained-glass’” creation at Mulberry Pond by contemporary sculptor Tom Fruin. This year’s exhibit also features updated versions of the popular “Celestial Shadows” display of spinning polyhedrons, the “Lightwave Lake” light show and Jen Lewin’s interactive landscape of meandering pathways called “Aqueous.” Member-only nights Dec. 26-28. General admission tickets start at $30; members pay $5 less. Children 2 and younger, free. Tickets must be purchased in advance. descansogardens.org

Jungle Bells at the San Diego Zoo transforms the zoo with music, lights, animal-shaped light sculptures, special animal experiences and holiday-themed entertainment, including acrobats and Dr. Zoolittle, the zoo’s costumed characters and Santa Claus (through Dec. 25). 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. except Dec. 24, when the zoo closes at 5 p.m., at 2920 Zoo Drive in San Diego. Free with admission to the zoo, $46 ages 3 to 11, $56 12 and older. sandiegozoo.com

Dec. 28

A free home composting and urban gardening workshop by horticulturist Steve List is being hosted by the city of Los Angeles and L.A. Sanitation, at the Lopez Canyon Environmental Education Center, 11950 Lopez Canyon Road, in the Lake View Terrace area of San Fernando Valley, 9 to 11 a.m. City of Los Angeles residents can get free mulch (bring your own shovel and container) and are eligible to purchase composting bins for $20 (checks only). Representatives from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power will provide conservation tips and rebate information. lacitysan.org

Dec. 28-30

San Diego Botanic Garden’s Holiday Nights in the Garden promises a family-friendly range of activities such as a play area with real snow, visits with Santa (through Dec. 23), holiday crafts, a 10-foot-tall poinsettia tower and a “romantic mistletoe hideaway” (something to keep the parents busy perhaps, while the kids are tossing snowballs?). Admission prices range from $25 for nonmembers on weekends to $17 for children 3-17; prices slightly lower on weeknights. 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas. SDBGarden.org

Jan. 8
The Claremont Garden Club offers Greywater 101, a talk by Greywater Action instructor Ty Teissere who will explain common and popular systems that use water from sinks, showers and washing machines for outdoor watering. Refreshments at 6:30 p.m., talk begins at 7 p.m. at the Napier Building, 660 Avery Road in the Pilgrim Place area of Claremont. claremontgardenclub.org

Jan. 11-12
Cool Camellia Celebration at Descanso Gardens involves walks, crafts, demonstrations and the annual show of the Pacific Camellia Society, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The Southern California Camellia Society offers tours of the gardens’ famous camellias at 2 p.m. each day at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. Admission is $9, $6 seniors/students with ID and $4 children 4-12. descansogardens.org

Jan. 11, 25 & Feb. 8, 22

The L.A. Arboretum sponsors a landscape design course for people who want to use regenerative practices to redo their yards, every other Saturday starting Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the arboretum. The courses, taught by landscape architect and certified arborist Shawn Maestretti, will cover a range of topics including the basics of design and how to capture rainwater, nurture living soil, use native or climate-appropriate plants and implement permaculture techniques to reduce green waste. Preregistration is required; call (626) 821-4623. The cost is $250 for arboretum members or $300 for nonmembers. Couples pay $310 for arboretum members, $360 for nonmembers. arboretum.org

Jan. 14
“Fire-Safe Native Landscaping,” a talk by Cassy Aoyagi, landscape designer and board member of the L.A. chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, is the topic of the January meeting of the California Native Plant Society, Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains. Aoyagi will discuss 10 ways that native-plant landscaping can protect property from wildfires, flooding and mudslides. 7:30 p.m. at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino. lacnps.org

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