Horticulture, to UCLA Extension instructor Jill Morganelli, was “kind of a hobby that ran amok.”

“But I just wanted to learn more and more about it,” she said.

Morganelli’s original professional pursuit was running a transcription company for doctors, lawyers and other technical industries. She enjoyed tending to her personal garden, but it was not until a snowy night in Denver, when she was planning her summer garden, that she had an epiphany. Her husband was sitting across from her on the sofa and asked her what she was doing.

“I made the comment, ‘Gosh, I wish I could do this for a living,’ because I knew I was transitioning out of transcription,” Morganelli recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, why don't you?’”

Technology was catching up with her transcription business and threatening to make it obsolete, so the timing was ripe for change. She immediately started researching programs and found one at Colorado State University, where she earned a degree in horticulture with an emphasis on crop science.

“As I was reading descriptions of all the classes, it was like, this is everything I wanted to be doing” she said.

Morganelli moved back to her home city of San Diego to start at the base level of the organic industry. She worked as an inspector for one the first organic certification agencies in the United States, then switched to nursery sales and landscape horticulture. That led to building and designing a farm in Poway, where she developed a farm-to-table and horticulture therapy program for assisted living patients. After that, she spent 10 years as the horticultural supervisor at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

For someone so embedded in the outdoors and applied horticulture, it was ironic to Morganelli that she got her start at UCLA Extension online in 2020.

“I was one of the first Zoom instructors,” she joked. “I didn’t even know what Zoom was. For a farmer like me, anything technological or different like that is challenging, but I ended up really liking it.”

Morganelli currently teaches Gardening Practices and Techniques and is on the UCLA Extension Horticulture Advisory Board. She loves working with both novice gardeners and ambitious landscape architects, and everyone in between. As spring begins to bloom, she spoke with UCLA Extension Newsroom about the intersection of gardens, landscaping, and education:

What is it about gardening that you love the most?

It's the magic of it. It's living through all the seasons and seeing the changes that they all bring.

It's also about being out there at 6 in the morning. Nobody else is there, the sun's coming up over the mountains. You see things like watching a butterfly drop from its cocoon and spread its wings. I get to do this. I get to be here. I get to do this for a living.

It is physically and mentally challenging. It’s like the ocean – you can never know everything about horticulture. You can always divert and specialize. You're channeling energy, you’re the conduit.

What is your best advice for novice gardeners?

Well, I think my class is perfect for you. You will practice new techniques, and from the comments that I get back from the students, they learn a lot.

Always, always, always start with the soil. You need to learn how to build soil and get life into the soil. Once you fix the soil, plants will thrive.

Then put down a nice woody mulch to hold water in the soil. Learn how to irrigate. People over-irrigate, people under-irrigate, but once you get the balance correct, no matter where you grow, you'll know how to properly apply water.

What should someone specifically consider when starting a garden in Los Angeles?

The first thing that I would do is Google search “drought tolerant plants that are specific to the Los Angeles area.” You should also consider the area where you live. For instance, I live in Pasadena, which is going to be different than if you live right by the coast.

Then we start cataloging. In the class we start with trees, then move to woody perennials, herbaceous perennials, ground covers and ornamental grasses. Walk around your neighborhood and take pictures of all the plants you see growing that are doing well. Use an app like iNaturalist that tells you the plant name. Then start making a list of what you would like to see in your own garden.

If you could only plant one or two things at home, what would you plant?

To create a nice green backbone, Baccharis pilularis ‘Pigeon Point’ (Dwarf Coyote Bush) is a good, low growing, wide spreading shrub. It’s a workhorse in the garden and always looks green. Then, at the end of November, I would throw down some California wildflower seeds for a spring meadow. It looks very natural. But usually, you know, by mid-June, the meadow is spent and finished blooming, so just mow it down and cover it over with mulch to create a seed bank and wait for it to bloom by itself the next year.

What is good for those looking to start, say, tomorrow?

I would also add a flowering perennial, like Peritoma arborea (Bladder Pod) or some Australian plants like grevilleas, which do great in Los Angeles. Before you plant, do a soil test to make sure you don't have too much phosphorus in the soil. Australian plants are a little tricky, and you can't plant them in phosphoric soil or use fertilizer on them.

What is something that makes it challenging to be a gardener in 2026?

Water, and surviving through any kind of restrictions the city of Los Angeles may impose so that your whole garden doesn’t dry up and die. I only water my garden once a week, so I don't worry about restrictions. I know my garden's going to survive. That’s why climate-appropriate plants are important.

Second thing: climate change. Looking at December, January, February, and March – they were the four hottest months on record in the last 118 years. Native plants have a better chance of surviving dangerous temperature fluctuations.

What is the benefit of taking classes with UCLA Extension Horticulture?

You can get away from technology. You can immerse yourself in beauty. We have a very primal need as humans to connect with nature. If we didn't, we would not survive as a species. When we take care of nature, then nature takes care for us. Nature is therapy. Nature is nutrition. Nature is an aesthetic. Nature is a vibe. The further away we get from technology, the better it is for us.

I talk to so many people who are interested in gardening because they need a break from technology. They need some peace of mind but don't know where to go to get it. But guess what? You can turn off your computer, walk out the door and find it in your own backyard.