Providing Expert Advice
For the Home Gardener
“What is one to say about June — the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade? - ”
Notes from my Garden - June
Finally, we have the warm weather that I've been longing for! Now the work really begins as May was so cold, snow, rain, etc that I haven't got much done in the garden this year. I love the Gertrude Jekyll's quote as it speaks of focusing on the now. For me, June is a time to relish in my garden. The spring tulips, hellebores and daffodils have faded along with the flowering trees. I now look forward to the next flush of blossoms and scents. I love all the birdsong, the sound of my small pond and the rustle of wind in the trees. Ah, lovely June!
This year, June is also a time when I have to do lots more weeding as I didn't really get to much in May. Weeding is especially important as when the warmth comes on suddenly, everything that was waiting, decides to pop up all at once. And the weeds are always the first to pop up! Already, some are quite large and require significant effort to dig out. It is a bit more challenging as we haven't had any rain for 2 weeks and the ground has become quite hard. For those perennial weeds, I try to keep them cut right back so they can't photosynthesize and hopefully will eventually die off. Though, in defence of weeding, I always find it meditative and feel a sense of accomplishment when I've finished even a small patch.
I have usually put in my vegetable garden by mid May but as this May was so cold, that didn't happen. In fact, I had a space heater running in the greenhouse at night until after Victoria Day. My greenhouse is now bursting and the seeds I started were repotted some time ago. The young plants are very thirsty and yearning to be in the ground. My marigolds and cosmos are already flowering. I am in the process of hardening the plants off so they are not shocked by the sun and wind. Hardening off involves gradually exposing them to longer and longer periods of time in the sun over 4 or 5 days. So, the next week will be a busy one!
As in other year's, Grey County Master Gardeners will be providing an Advice Clinic at Among the Peonies in Annan on Saturday June 13th . This annual event is a wonderful opportunity to wander an amazing garden full of peonies, native plants, birds and butterflies. If you have any gardening questions, please come and talk to us. We love to share our gardening knowledge!
Happy Gardening!
Susan Cox
Group Co-ordinator
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.
-
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.
