The Most Wonderful Time of the Year for Master Gardeners

   Spring has sprung and the Parker County Master Gardeners have dug in their heels and shovels in their annual spring clean up of the various plant beds located at the Parker County Extension Office, 604 N. Main St. in Weatherford.

   While the recent rainfall caused them to get a late start, much was accomplished at the March 29 ^th event.

   “We weeded and prepped our kitchen garden bed for planting,” said Publicity Chair Ava Blais. “We also weeded and did some heavy pruning in our All Seasons' bed, our Wildlife bed and the Water-wise bed.  We are also in the process of re-designing two beds at the end of the north side of the building.”  

      Blais said there are plans to use the area around the newly

re-walled oak tree to demonstrate ground covers for the shade.             

   “We are grateful to county leaders for repairing the wall

recently so that we can move forward with plans to use that area as a demonstration area,”1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 added Blais. 

   All of these beds have different purposes and the plant material used reflects applications that home gardeners can use successfully.

   Though they are the pros when it comes to gardening, Blais said there are always opportunities to learn, especially when it comes to horticulture. 

   “These beds also allow us to learn, as well,” she said. “Occasionally, we will have failures that we might not have expected, so it is a learning ground for us, sometimes. We consider these demonstration beds as a free, public resource for citizens to view and get ideas for their own homes.”

   Clean up and beautification of the beds with native plants is not the only thing sprouting with the Master Gardeners.

   “We will be manning an ‘Ask a Master Gardener’ booth at theChandor Gardens event this Saturday,” she said. “We are also offering a second seminar on vegetable gardening this Saturday at the Weatherford Farmer's Market plus we will have several more seminars on different subjects at the area nurseries through mid-June and a drip irrigation program at the National Vietnam Museum Gardens in May,” Blais said.

   Their biggest event, the Spring Plant Sale, will take place on April 17 ^th from 8 a.m. – Noon.

 “The spring plant sale is our largest fundraising event of the year,” she said. “That is how we fund our activities, including our educational events and programs along with our gardening projects that are county wide.”

   In recent months, with funding provided by the Parker County Commissioners Court for a plant study at the Parker County Farm, the Master Gardeners took the information to area school districts to assist science teachers in helping to educate students about native plant and grasses, as well as the topic of horticulture as a whole.

  

  

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