Providing Expert Advice
For the Home Gardener
Notes from
my Garden
“Spring: A reminder of how beautiful change can truly be”
Welcome to spring in Ontario!
Cold, snow, rain, sun, warmth - all occurring almost simultaneously. I expect like me, you too welcome the change that spring brings, especially after the long snowy winter we have had. Grey County Master Gardeners has experienced a change too - we have a new website full of information for you about our events, booking a speaker, and lots of downloadable resources including handouts for our presentations. We'll also be introducing a new feature - a quarterly newsletter, so be sure to sign up for that!
Last month, we hosted two of our three winter seminars - one presented by Cathy Kavassalis on invasive species and the other by Lorraine Johnson on swapping your lawn for a pollinator friendly space. Both speakers were excellent, provided us with lots of food for thought and challenged us to do better. Thank you to all who attended and donated (you still can by e-transfer). We look forward to seeing you again next winter!
Last month, I talked about planning my garden and seed starting. April however, is the time to get dirty. As the snow has been melting, I've been surveying the damage. Snow weight, cold temperatures, wind, and rodents have taken a toll on my garden this year. So, my first chore will be to finish the pruning I started a few weeks ago.
Here are my jobs for April:
- In order to protect pollinators, I avoid cleaning up my garden until as late as possible – when temperatures are above 10’C.
- Moving/re-locating plants. Do this month on cloudier days when plants settle into their new locations more quickly with the spring rain and cooler temperatures.
- I’m repotting my seedlings that I sowed last month and continuing to sow seeds indoors that need a shorter start time.
- I’m also direct sowing cool season vegetables crops as spinach, kale and lettuce.
There are lots of sowing guides on the internet to help you with your planning. Just be sure to indicate where you live in your search so you get the guides for your area.
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.
