Written by Helen Halpenny (Member of Lanark County Master Gardeners)

Now is a great time to think about your property, which changes can you do this coming season, to enhance it? Just as an architect use geometric forms to build a house, such as triangles for roofs and dormers, rectangles for windows, columns for porches, etc. to make a box-like… READ MORE

Here is an activity you can try while kids are home waiting for covid19 to subside. Try growing some easy vegetables/fruits from scraps. This activity and may spark your child’s interest in gardening. Some of the easier vegetables you try from scraps are: Romaine lettuce, celery, green onions. Romaine lettuce,… READ MORE

Written by Margaret Inwood

A rose is one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden and in bouquets. It is also one of the oldest plant species with fossil remains that indicate it was around in primitive form over 32 million years. The best time to plant roses is in the spring, as… READ MORE

Written by Helen Hallpenny

My seed orders have arrived and some seeds are already growing , but as I wait impatiently for the real spring to arrive I have browsed once more through seed catalogues and realized just how much information is in them. Not only do seed companies offer dozens more varieties than… READ MORE

Late January through early March is a great time to take branches from your favorite flowering trees or shrubs to force blooms indoors, as they have by now been through the required cold dormancy of six weeks or more. This is also a good time to go out and prune… READ MORE

Written by Dale Odorizzi

June and July have been extremely hot and dry months. In almost all areas across Ontario, our gardens are crying out for water. Many of our edible crops are drying up or producing extremely small crops. Rural gardeners are afraid to water too much as their wells might run dry.… READ MORE

Written by Dale Odorizzi

As you walk around your yard and look at the beautiful buds on your apple and cherry trees, you notice what looks like a tent made from cobwebs. Guess what? You have a nest of Eastern Tent Caterpillars. And, if you have one nest, you likely have many. Eastern Tent… READ MORE

What do Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, Cinderella, Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pie have in common? Why pumpkins of course. Pumpkins  originated in Central America and have been grown there for thousands of years. In early times, they were baked or stuffed. Medicinally they were used to treat snake bite, freckles and tape worms.… READ MORE

Early spring is a great time to plant trees. With that in mind, you might consider planting a windbreak. Rows of trees and shrubs can shelter your house and garden from winter winds and summer sun. Early settlers knew the value of dense wind-busting evergreens planted north and west of… READ MORE

The orchid family of plants is the largest in the world with over 30,000 species with thousands of hybrids and varieties. Ontario has its fair share. We have, what are called terrestrial orchids. One of the best shows of these terrestrial orchids are the slipper orchids found in the Purdon… READ MORE

Written by Paul Pietsch

When is a bulb not a bulb? Quite often. The term bulb, in every day vernacular, includes corms, tubers, tuberous roots, rhizomes and stolons. I think I have them all. Except for tuberous roots which the name suggests is a root, all of them are modified stems. What makes a… READ MORE

Written by Dale Odorizzi

For some time now, you have been dreaming about vegetables grown, harvested and eaten from your own little plot of land. To make this happen, first think site selection. To be productive, most vegetables require lots of sun, a minimum of six hours per day; eight hours is better. Take… READ MORE

Written by Robert Pavlis

By Robert Pavlis, Master Gardener Grass is found in almost every garden and lawn care is part of a gardener’s job. What should you do, and not do, to your grass in spring? In this post I will look at lawn maintenance for temperate climates that grow cool growing types… READ MORE

Written by Helen Halpenny

Today I went to a nursery and saw a herbaceous peony priced at $99. Yes, it was rather a rare plant. That made me remember my visit to a lovely garden a couple of years ago, whose owner told me she had a $200 budget for the entire gardening year.… READ MORE

Written by Helen Halpenny

By Helen Halpenny, Lanark Master Gardeners Now that the early vegetables are being harvested it is time to plant again. Lettuce, radish and spinach have probably bolted in the extreme heat in recent weeks. Green onions are developing their bulbs and are no longer mild tasting. So, plant again. Call… READ MORE

Written by Helen Halpenny

By Ankaret Dean, Lanark Master Gardeners So far this year has not been an easy growing year for gardeners, especially those on a well with a limited amount of watering potential. However here are a few ideas which will be useful, perhaps a little late for this year but helpful… READ MORE