How to grow sweet potatoes locally
by Judy Wall Unlike the potato, which is grown from tubers, sweet potatoes are started from “slips.” To create slips, a sweet potato tuber is planted indoors in March. One tuber can produce several slips. To do so you will need to obtain a sweet potato which has been stored… READ MORE
Bringing your plants indoors
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners It is that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, the nights are long and cold. Many of us put our house plants outside for the summer or have purchased annuals to brighten up our containers. If you want to save… READ MORE
The Fall Flower Garden
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners All summer long, your flower garden has bloomed beautifully. As the days get shorter and cooler, many of our gardens are looking a little shaggy. What is a poor gardener to do? If you want colour in your garden in the fall, you… READ MORE
Garlic Scapes
by Gerda Franssen, Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners What are those strange curly green things growing from the top of my garlic? If you were one of the gardeners who planned ahead last October and planted a variety of hard-necked garlic, right now you might be asking yourself just… READ MORE
Clematis: To Prune or Not to Prune
By Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners Few subjects in gardening are as confusing or as frustrating as the proper pruning of Clematis. Most modern hybrid clematis have complex parentage with many combined strains that have contradictory pruning needs. As Yogi Berra once said, you can observe a lot by… READ MORE
Companion Planting and Disease Prevention
By Margaret Inwood, Lanark County Master Gardeners Companion planting is the practice of planting certain plants with others in the hope of repelling bugs. Many gardeners swear by the power of garlic, marigold, onions, chives, and nicotiana in keeping their immediate neighbours free of insect infestations. Some other suggestions to… READ MORE
Starting your seeds indoors
By Ankaret Dean, Lanark County Master Gardeners There is nothing like watching a few seeds popping up indoors when there is still snow on the ground. By starting seeds indoors they get a good head start on those planted outdoors. This means that you will be enjoying your fresh vegetables… READ MORE
Container Gardening
by Ankaret Dean, Lanark County Master Gardeners Although window boxes and hanging baskets have been in vogue for many years this year people are taking a new look at growing plants, such as vegetables in containers. With the renewed interest in growing vegetables and herbs, the garden nurseries are offering… READ MORE
Inviting spring in: a guide to starting seeds indoors
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners Growing your own vegetables is the most rewarding form of gardening—the plants are beautiful and you can eat the results. Starting your vegetable transplants from seeds kicks all of these rewards up a notch. Every time I pick up a tiny tomato seed… READ MORE
Christmas tree - real or fake?
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners It’s that time of year again—time to decide what type of tree should become the centrepiece of your Christmas decor! For the past decade, the question about the greenest Christmas tree has caused considerable debate among environmentally conscious merrymakers. Both sides have made… READ MORE
Cat-mint or is it Cat-nip?
by Ankaret Dean, Lanark County Master Gardeners Both names are correct for this plant, which cats adore, and my column is for gardeners who want to give their cats a treat. This interesting plant is a type of herb belonging to the Nepata family. It grows 50-100 cm. tall,… READ MORE
Growing and using the herb, Dill
Lanark County Master Gardeners Dill is a herb used for flavouring. It belongs to the Apiaceae family (formerly Umelliferae) as does fennel, queen ann’s lace (carrot), and parsnip. Its botanical name is Anethum gravcolens - not surprising, since the species name graveolens means a rank smell of intense and… READ MORE
Cilantro: Love it or Hate it
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners Cilantro is a wonderful herb to grow because you actually get two herbs in one. When it is young and fresh, you have delicate, lacy leaves with a pungent flavor. As it matures and goes to seed you have Coriander. Although the two herbs… READ MORE
Flowers: Pretty enough to eat!
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners We often think vegetables are for eating and flowers are for looking at. You can combine the two to add flair to your food with flowers. Make sure that your flowers are edible and that they have not been sprayed with chemicals.… READ MORE
Gardening with children
by Kathleen Lang, Lanark Master Gardeners You would be hard pressed to find a child who doesn’t like digging in the dirt, so gardening has a built-in draw as a fun activity. To get young children excited about having their own garden, start small. Don’t make the mistake of overwhelming… READ MORE
To Fertilize or not to Fertilize?
by Ankaret Dean, Lanark Master Gardeners For centuries people have used fertilizers to increase their crops and encourage plant growth. Until the 20th century these consisted of organic material and inorganic mined mineral nutrients. It was not until the industrial revolution that chemically synthetic inorganic fertilizers were discovered. It has been… READ MORE