FREEHOLD –The Rutgers Master Gardeners will hold its annual spring garden sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 16, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday May 17 in front of the Monmouth County Agriculture Building at 4000 Kozloski Road.
Items for sale will include annuals, perennials, vegetables (many heirloom), herbs, hanging baskets, deck/patio containers and unique containers filled with small plants. A new cookbook complied by the Rutgers Master Gardeners “From Seed to Table” also will be available.
The spring garden sale will take place rain or shine.
The Master Gardeners will be present to answer gardening questions and provide environmental displays, tours and free garden talks each day.
Tours are available on site to see:
- BULLETThe Master Gardener’s Plant a Row for the Hungry garden which gives hands-on experience in vegetable gardening
- BULLETThe Junior Master Garden where young teens grow their own garden under the direct tutelage of master gardeners.
- BULLETThe herb garden and the rain garden, started last year, which demonstrates ecologically safe ways to minimize erosion and waterway pollution caused by runoff from hardscapes such as driveways.
- BULLETThe new native plant garden.
Rutgers’ Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Helpline will be live at the spring garden sale to answer everyone’s gardening questions and help troubleshoot home garden, lawn and tree and shrub problems. Bringing a sample of the plant to demonstrate its condition is extremely helpful in pinning down the problem and providing accurate timely advice.
Soil samples are tested free on site for pH (acidity). Rutgers fact sheets are available on how best to cope with pests as diverse as stinkbugs, azalea lacebugs, deer and damage from the weather caused by wind, rain, snow, and drought.
A helpline is also available year-round weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 732-303-7614, or by visiting the Master Gardener office in the Monmouth County Agriculture Building at 4000 Kozloski Road.
During the spring garden sale, a series of free discussions by Master Gardeners will provide expert advice on such topics as lawn care, beekeeping and vegetable gardening.
