How to prepare for gardening vegetables*

I have been assigned the task of maintaining my elderly father’s vegetable garden. Unfortunately, his health is in decline and like many of us 2nd and 3rd generation kids, I don’t know very much about the subject.The garden is about…

Winter weed control*

Hi, we moved to a new house in December. The back and front yard has nothing other than weeds and seems nothing was even planted before. Also the soil doesn’t look great. I want to remove all the weed and…

Pollinator Garden: A Toronto Master Gardeners Guide

Most of the earth’s ecosystems, including much of our food supply, are dependent on pollinators. Embedded in the ground as they are, most flowering plants need help to reproduce. Over 80 percent of flowering plants need pollinators such as birds,…

Spring Clean-up: A Toronto Master Gardener Guide

Spring clean-up is an annual event. We now know to resist the urge to clean up the garden until temperatures are consistently above 10°C or 50°F. Many butterflies, pollinators and other beneficial insects overwinter in the dead leaves and hollowed…

Perennials for Sandy Soils: A Toronto Master Gardeners Guide

Perennials are plants that renew themselves each year from their hardy roots. Some plants live for only 2-3 years while others last a long time. Although there are woody perennials, such as trees and shrubs, the plants most people refer…

Drought Tolerant Annuals: A Toronto Master Gardeners Guide

As annual plants complete their lifecycle in a single season the concept of drought tolerance is a bit moot. Unlike perennials that can become drought tolerant after they are well established, our Southern Ontario short growing season means that annuals…

Long Blooming Perennials: A Toronto Master Gardeners Guide

  Perennials are plants that renew themselves each year from their hardy roots. Although there are woody perennials, such as trees and shrubs, the plants most people refer to as perennials are herbaceous plants that die back to the ground…