Walk your garden as often as you can – ideally, daily! – to keep an eye out for changes.
Have a question about something you see? Kathryn Homa, Program Associate and Horticulturist, and volunteer Master Gardeners are here to help. You can visit our Helpline Office at 1440 Parkside Avenue, Monday – Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Please bring a sample of each plant or insect in question. Or, you can call us at 609-989-6853 or email us at AskTheMGs@mercercounty.org
Get your soil tested. To learn more about soil testing, visit the Rutgers Soil Testing Laboratory’s website. (Photo credit: “Soil testing – 13th Nov” by Laura Whitehead is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)
Compost! Turn your food scraps (no meat or dairy) and yard clippings into compost to enrich your garden soil. See the Rutgers factsheet on home composting here.
Apply 2-3 inches of mulch to your garden beds to suppress weeds and maintain moisture. Be sure to keep the mulch away from tree, shrub, and other plant stems, creating a mulch-free “donut” around the stem.
Need reliable gardening info? Rutgers NJAES has a newly updated website with lots of information.
Research tip: When doing research online about gardening practices, we recommend using information provided by Cooperative Extension offices, academic institutions, and government sites that are backed by research. Including the word “extension” in your web search is an easy way to locate information from reliable Cooperative Extension sources.
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