Good bugs, bad bugs
by Judy Wall, Lanark County master gardeners As we head into the upcoming gardening season, this is a good time to review many of the bugs in our gardens. So many of them are actually very beneficial in that they can actually help you eliminate or control the bad bugs.… READ MORE
Controlling earwigs without chemicals
by Margaret Inwood, Lanark County master gardeners Earwigs live for only one year and may die during the winter months. In early spring, any surviving females lay their eggs in tiny nests in the top 5 cm of the soil. It is a good time to dig around all… READ MORE
Ginkgo biloba - the tree that fed the dinosaurs
by Judy Wall, Lanark county Master Gardeners Millions of years ago, dinosaurs as big as houses ate their way through ginkgo groves in North America, munching on the trees’ leathery fan-shaped leaves as they went. Today, we only know about dinosaurs because of their fossils, but the ginkgo tree… READ MORE
Grow your own salad greens this spring
by Margaret Inwood, Lanark County master gardeners It is very easy and convenient to grow several salad greens on a small amount of garden space. You can pick them fresh and enjoy their colourful, delicate flavours such as peppery, tangy, or a taste of mustard or anise. Several lettuces can… READ MORE
Tomatoes for every size and season
by Paul Pospisil, Master Gardener Emeritus Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum, also, Lycopersicon lycopersicum) are gardeners' number one favourite vegetable to grow. And no wonder, with the juicy, bursting flavour of home-grown tomatoes fresh off the vine! I grow 20 or more varieties, trying some new types each year, just for the… READ MORE
Pruning
by Margaret Inwood, Lanark County Master Gardeners Pruning should be done when plants are in full leaf to prevent excessive sap loss. Pruning is done to keep trees, shrubs and plants a good height and width, to remove dead and diseased branches and to encourage flowering and fruit development. Sometimes… READ MORE
Penny-Pinching gardens
by Helen Halpenny, Lanark County Master Gardeners 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… READ MORE
Removing air pollutants with houseplants
By Margaret Inwood, Lanark County Master Gardeners We are inside the house a lot in the winter months and the indoor air is often full of pollutants such as formaldehyde from paints and adhesives, chemicals from personal care products and from building materials. Our bodies are constantly exposed to these… READ MORE
Growing peppers from seed
by Georgina Bailey-Wicher, Lanark County Master Gardeners Capsicum annuum, a member of the Solanaceae family, originated in Central and South America and was brought back to Europe by Columbus; the Spanish and Portuguese introduced peppers to other parts of the world. They have become a very popular part of our… READ MORE
New Year’s resolutions for gardeners
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners As the old year ends and the new year begins, many of us make resolutions as to how we can improve our lives and our health. This is also a good time to make resolutions about how we can improve our gardens.… READ MORE
A gardener’s second best friend
by Dale Odorizzi, Lanark County Master Gardeners A Rain Barrel is a gardener’s second best friend. It is an extremely easy, low tech, low cost way to collect water that is so vital to your plants. If you live on a town water supply, you have to pay for every… READ MORE
Storing winter squash
by Paul Pospisil, Lanark County Master Gardeners The centuries’ old practice of putting food by for winter has disappeared from many households for a number of reasons: with an abundance of supermarket food, fewer people are growing their own; the time pressure of having both mom and dad working out… READ MORE
Fall is the time to think of Spring Bulbs
by Ankaret Dean, Lanark County Master Gardeners One of the miracles of gardening is found in spring bulbs. We buy them in the fall, plant them before freeze up and then, in the spring, there are our beautiful colourful flowers. No weeding, no watering, no fertilizing. Up they come ready… READ MORE
Lily leaf beetle
By Lanark County Master Gardeners Lily leaf beetles make noise by rubbing two body parts together when they are threatened. Just as their name suggests, their foods are lilies and fritillarias. Even their scientific name, “Lilioceris lilii” tells us the plants they feed on. They do not feed on daylilies… READ MORE
Controlling earwigs without chemicals
by Margaret Inwood, County Master Gardener Earwigs live for only one year and may die during the winter months. In early spring, any surviving females lay their eggs in tiny nests in the top 5cm of the soil. It is a good time to dig around all plants to disrupt the… READ MORE
Grow Your Own Salad Greens This Spring
by Margaret Inwood, County Master Gardener It is very easy and convenient to grow several salad greens in a small amount of garden space. You can pick them fresh and enjoy their colourful, delicate flavours such as peppery, tangy, or a taste of mustard or anise. Several lettuces can be cut… READ MORE