For practical gardening advice, join us for a weekly Ask a Master Gardener call. During this time of limited outings, gardening is more important than ever. A garden is a place to find solace, joy, wonder. A garden gifts us offering delicious things to eat. A garden provides sanctuary to birds, pollinators, bees and more.
To plant a garden is to bring into being a more beautiful future.
We’re featuring Q&A conversations, mini-workshops and virtual tours with Kingston & Thousand Islands master gardeners & friends.
Come prepared with any & all gardening questions!
What to look forward to
April 9th 1:00-1:30: Whether you’re starting a vegetable garden, pollinator garden or planning to wildscape your yard Joyce Hostyn shares a few tips on how to start a new garden bed.
Organic gardener Janette Haase, author of From Seed to Table: A Practical Guide to Eating and Growing Green will answer questions about what’s up in your vegetable garden on the first Thursday of the month. You can get Janette’s book from Novel Idea.
Delve into wildscaping as the future of sustainable landscaping on the fourth Thursday of the month.
The details
When: Every Thursday afternoon from 1-1:30 pm starting Thursday, April 9th.
Where: Virtually via Zoom. Zoom is easy to use. You don’t even have to download the Zoom app, but it’s better if you do: zoom.us
Registration: Register in advance for Ask a Master Gardener (you only need to register once and can then join in any week you’d like)
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJ0tf-mrpjgrUVBXXWgfV-jLoFg3sCRpKw
After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the call.
Gardening Kingston 
Can you tell me when is the best time to plant peas outside?
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Hi Anne, peas are one of the best cool weather crops to start the season with. Any time now should be fine for direct sowing peas outdoors. I started my peas indoors and have just been waiting for the nighttime temperatures to warm up before planting them out. Tonight will still be quite cold overnight, but Saturday is looking really good. I planted radish and spinach seeds outdoors when we had the warm spell a couple of weeks ago and they have germinated already. Good luck, David
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This is my first year of my hydrangeas and we live a 1/2 north of Kingston. They’re in the bed next to the house facing east covered in Oak leaves, when do I uncover them?
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Hi Sherry, it is definitely time to remove any leaves that you have covering the crowns of your perennials. The leaves can be left in place to act as a mulch surrounding your plants to cover any bare soil and suppress weeds. If you prefer a tidier look, they can always be removed and kept aside in a black plastic garbage bag for the summer. Over time they will gradually begin to break down. The decomposing leaves are a great soil amendment. Next fall, if you shred the leaves by passing the lawnmower over them and bagging them, the shredded leaves can more easily be incorporated into your existing flower beds once they have done their job as winter protection. Take care, David
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Ok thank you that’s great to know. I am looking forward to blooms this year, I noticed buds on the branches sticking above the leaves today so I think that’s a good sign.
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Hello David,
I hope my hydrangeas will now survive this cold snap. Any suggestions, I have row covers over them now in case of snow.
Thank you
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What type of Hydrangea do you have?
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H. Macrophylla
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H. macrophylla are winter hardy to USDA Zone 6 (-20 to -23 C range) so in our climate they need thorough winter protection with at least 3″ of mulch, but we are now well out of that kind of severe cold so you should be fine. If this species does not perform well for you over the long term, a cultivar of H. paniculta (hardy to zone 3) might be a better bet.
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David,
Thank you for your time and the valuable information. Appreciate it.
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Hello David, So far my hydrangeas have large wonderful leaves and am crossing my fingers for blooms, this year.
On another matter completely, we are experiencing a Japanese beetle infestation in the vegetable garden and I am curious if you have any suggestions other than the traps. So far the traps remain elusive, but on order. I have made one homemade concoction with yeast, sugar water and fruit but no luck.Thank you in advance.
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