Providing Expert Advice
For the Home Gardener
Notes from my Garden:
September’s change and new beginnings
“When you are reluctant to change, think of the beauty of autumn”
Change is difficult and I always find September as the month where I have to think about change. However, the beauty of autumn does help! As part of the change process, I like to review my gardens and determine what I want to do different next year, what needs culling or moving and what has done well. Journalling this information is helpful in January when I want to start my plans. Pictures helps as well, though I'm not very good at remembering to take them. September is also a time to continue to weed and try to get things sorted before the weather gets too cool.
I'm still busy harvesting my garden. The tomatoes and peppers have been prolific this year. As well as the zucchini! I always forget how much time it takes to process everything and sometimes resent the time spent in the kitchen instead of the garden! I'm harvesting my herbs as well, drying some and freezing others. During the winter, I will be pleased with having bags of frozen tomatoes, herbs, etc to use.
As I've been getting ready for our plant sale on September 13th, in the process of digging up plants, I saw a nasty invasive had moved into my garden - Japanese Knotweed. I'm well acquainted with lots of aggressive weeds (think thistles, etc) but this one is in another category entirely. It had just started to flower and it's always easier to identify plants when they are flowering! This particular plant is illegal to grow in Ontario and can impact your house foundation. It has a bamboo like stem, heart shaped leaves, is currently in flower, and will quickly take over. The Ontario Invasive Plant Council has useful information on dealing with this nasty plant. If you have this plant in your garden, please read about the protocol for dealing with it and DO NOT put it into the compost, your own or the community's.
Grey County Master Gardeners are looking forward to seeing you at the plant sale. Lots of native plants will be available as well as other pollinator plants. We open up at 9am on Saturday September 13th. Plan to come early (doors open at 9 sharp) as some plants are in limited supply. There will also be members available to answer your gardening questions and help you select plants that will work well in your garden.
Happy Gardening!
Susan Cox, Group Coordinator
Grey County Master Gardeners
Part of an international non-profit community service network, Grey County Master Gardeners is a group of approximately 20 trained horticulturists who volunteer their time to provide advice to home gardeners in the Grey and Bruce area. This is accomplished by providing info to the public in various forms, including in person or virtual, through presentations, clinics and workshops, or through written work such as articles, posts, blogs or social media.
All Master Gardeners have successfully completed university horticultural studies and must meet ongoing continuing education requirements to make sure that our advice to gardeners is based on current horticultural knowledge.
There are over 25 local Master Gardener groups in Ontario, focusing on sustainable gardening information for the public. There are also Master Gardener groups in many provinces, most states and in some international locations. More information about the Provincial organization can be found at (MGOI – Motivating and Inspiring Gardeners in Ontario).
Not in Grey County? Don’t despair. You can find your local MG groups, including Toronto, Guelph, Collingwood and others, at www.mgoi.ca.
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Established in 1996, Grey County Master Gardeners are part of the province-wide Master Gardeners of Ontario (MGOI). Grey County Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who offer non-biased, science-based horticultural information and advice to home gardeners and community groups in both Grey and Bruce Counties.
Our Vision
An Eco-Responsible focus in the garden
Our Values
We believe in the importance of having an eco-responsible focus when gardening. This means we encourage gardening practices that enhance biodiversity, mitigate against climate change, are healthy for the environment and support human health. As a group, we prefer consensus whenever possible, however there are times when a majority rules. We value inclusiveness, collaboration, engagement of community and cooperation.
