Martial Cottle Park Demonstration Garden and Community Education Center

UCCE Master Gardener sign at Martial Cottle Park

Our four-acre parcel is within Santa Clara County's 287-acre Martial Cottle Park which showcases the area's farming past and celebrates the agricultural heritage of Santa Clara Valley. We showcase many aspects of gardening in this region, from native plants to vegetables to fruit trees and more.

Address: Martial Cottle Park, 5283 Snell Ave, San Jose, CA 95136

Directions: Entry to the Park is free. Parking is $6. There are walkways in the Park to our garden location.

Visiting hours: Our parcel is open to the public during our regular work hours: Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9–noon. We’re also on site at other times and during scheduled events. If the gate is open, feel free to come on in.

Please do not come to the parcel if you are not feeling well.

View signage displayed in demo gardens

Event Name

Date

Curious about Nopales? - San Jose

6/3/2023

Gardening with Aloes & Agaves - San Jose

6/17/2023

Container Gardening - San Jose

6/17/2023

The Master Gardeners Celebrate Native Plant and Pollinator Day! - San Jose

6/24/2023

Bee Gardening 101 & Making Your Own Bee House - San Jose

6/24/2023

What to see and do

The extraordinary presence of this garden within a 287-acre agricultural setting in a County and State Park provides a unique learning environment for the public. Community hands-on training to support and encourage healthy communities and ecosystems through sustainable landscape practices is the main focus. Water conservation, green waste reduction, and local sustainable gardening practices are just a few of the classes we deliver to youth and adults in a hands-on learning environment.

Mornings at Martial Cottle Park is a program offering field trips for kindergarten–4th graders to learn about gardens from UC Master Gardeners.

Demonstration garden map

We have many garden areas with different themes. See map below for details.

Important: While some of these plants may be edible, do not eat any of them from the gardens. Not all related species are edible. Please respect our gardens and do not pick any parts of the plants.

Click map to see a larger version.

Our history

In the summer of 2015, Master Gardeners began working on a four-acre parcel covered in weeds. After a year of hard work, there was a thriving Native Garden, 51 raised beds for research and ornamental plants, a Farm Stand, a Barn with rain catchment, and pathways into the parcel.

By the end of 2016, we completed construction of a 72-foot Solar Light Greenhouse. The greenhouse is used to grow most of the plants for Master Gardener projects throughout Santa Clara County. Many of the vegetables, flowers, herbs and plant seedlings grown on-site are sold at our Spring and Fall Garden Fairs. Other plants are used for research and teaching purposes.