Providing Expert Advice
For the Home Gardener
“Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream. -”
Notes from my Garden - January
I totally agree with Josephine, that January is the time to start to dream about what your garden will look like this year. My inbox has already received several catalogues, along with the ones that come in the regular mail. Whenever those catalogues arrive, I find myself a bit excited about the options for the coming year. I will start planning my garden this month before I make my purchases as I've gotten carried away in the past and bought too many seeds that I couldn't accommodate! I have some tried and true seeds I buy but I always order a few different things too. I'm getting excited just writing about this!
One of my winter projects this year is to learn more about tree identification. I'm compiling resources and will spend some time doing a self study. Our property has many trees and while I can competently recognize a maple, birch, oak, etc., I want to be more knowledgeable about the species of maple, birch, etc., as well as being able to identify some of the other trees. Hopefully none of them are of the invasive variety! I'll let you know how this project goes in the coming months.
Another winter project is to create a pruning spreadsheet for the various shrubs on our property. I always find that I can't remember in the spring if I should prune this shrub now or later, how much, how often, etc. Having this type of handy reference will be most helpful and save time looking up information each year. It will also help to know when and how to propagate each type of shrub should I be so inclined.
Grey County Master Gardeners are once again offering our free Winter Seminar Series (click on the bold text to go to the events page) starting this month (January 17th). This year's focus is on adapting to a changing climate - Weathering the Change: Climate Smart Gardening. Given the crazy winter weather we have had so far, I can't think of a more timely topic! We have excellent speakers lined up and hope you will join us for these Zoom presentations.
Wishing you and your families a wonderful 2026. May you have good health, happiness, good weather and 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.
