Monroe County Master Gardener Association

Gail sends us some photos and notes from our last meeting:
Our speaker at the last Monroe County Master Gardener & horticulture club mtg. was Gail Morrell-. The title of the program was Learning from the Past-28years. She spoke of monitoring and identifying problems we found with our plants. To assist us with this, each person was given a samples of boxwood to examine-when you found a deformity on the underside, we were to pick it open, which exposed a very lively worm, aka the boxwood leafminer. The next topic was the viburnum leaf beatle. Look for the scales on the wood and cut it off and destroy. Attached to her hand outs was a list of pesticides that are in routine use by today’s gardeners.

The members listened intently as she discussed the pros and cons of tree staking. Her handouts gave a list of popular pesticides used today. Did you know that it is not conducive to apply Preen every year?. It is becoming apparent that many pesticides being used build up over time and become clogged in the soil. This can cause damage to the plants and roots of any plant life that surrounds the
area treated. In more general terms she talked on birds and their need for bugs to eat-raising the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly & the plants from the perennial of the year list from the perennial plant assoc..
She invited anyone with further questions to email her:
thegardener@comcast.net