Growing Season - Help Desk hours

Master Gardeners will be available to assist you Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Please call, e-mail or stop by with questions. We will reply to phone and e-mail messages as soon as possible on our next duty shift.

Plant and Yard Sale

Thanks to the many, many friends and neighbors throughout the area who came to support our annual sale!

Bringing answers to the community

As spring bursts out, Master Gardeners hit the road to give our communties more convenient access to home gardening answers.  You will find Master Gardener clinics at:

Salem Saturday Market from 9 to noon on the last Saturday of each month: April 27, May 25, June 29, July 27, August 31, September 28 and October 31.

We hope to see you at one of these dates!

We get questions...

OSU provides an excellent calendar of tasks for various seasons, helping gardeners plan activities throughout the year.  There is also an archive of helpful articles on a wide variety of gardening topics in the OSU Gardening Encyclopedia.  Dip into these useful resources for tips and inspiration.

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With spring pruning at hand, it's a good time to think about propagating some of your favorite plants, either for your own garden or to share with a friend.  Check out OSU publications on taking cuttings from herbaceous plants, grafting and budding, and growing from seed. An online search for "plant propagation" will return many additional resources. As always, those from the domain edu may tend to be most reliable, since they will be research-based. If you have never experimented with growing your own plants in these ways, it can be a fascinating challenge.

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What is this plant?

This question is usually accompanied by a leaf, a twig, sometimes even a whole plant. Master Gardeners on the Help Desk can usually make an identification, at least after a bit of research. This applies whether the unidentified is a weed or a wanted plant.

For best results, please bring in a good-sized section of the plant, preferably with either blossom or fruit/seeds attached. If possible, a section of root, or a bulb/tuber can also be helpful. Many plants are very similar in appearance, so having several parts to work with definitely improves the result.

Unfortunately, we normally cannot identify a particular cultivar; for example, given the above parts, we can't tell you if a blueberry is Earliblue or Bluecrop.

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If you have a question, call us at 503-373-3770 or drop us an e-mail, marionmg@oregonstate.edu. We love finding answers!

How can Master Gardeners help you?

Marion County Master Gardeners (MGs) are here to serve our neighbors in a variety of ways:

A large group of dedicated MGs maintain the Marion Garden, located behind the county health services building at 3180 Center St. in Salem. Originally a rubbish dumping ground for the county, it has been transformed in the last 15+ years to an outstanding demonstration garden. Stop by and stroll around for inspiration, information, or just enjoyment. Monday mornings are the regular time for MG work parties, so there’s usually someone on hand then to answer your questions. Garden tours are also available by appointment.

We also staff the MG Help Desk at the OSU Extension Office, located in the county health services building, also at 3180 Center St. Clients call 503.373.3770, send an e-mail to us at marionmg@oregonstate.edu, or come in with questions regarding plant culture; weed, insect and plant disease identification; and a wide variety of other home gardening issues. Experience, training, and an excellent library, as well as knowledge of online resources, help us provide the answers to most questions. For those outside our range of information, we supply referrals to other agencies and organizations, including our Marion Co. horticulturist, Neil Bell. From October through March, the Help Desk is staffed Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. April through September, office hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Messages left on our voicemail outside those hours will be answered on the next business day.

During much of the year, MGs also sponsor and staff booths at various fairs, garden shows and farmers’ markets. These serve as a mobile form of the Help Desk, and are an opportunity to find answers to your gardening questions and pick up useful information.

MGs also offer workshops to help with some of those gardening tasks that are best learned from hands-on presentations. Pruning in early spring and beneficial insects in April are recurring topics. Check our website for specific information as events draw near.

Many MGs also simply love to talk about gardening. If you have a community group that would like a speaker, please call the Help Desk, 503.373.3770, and leave your name and number for our Speakers’ Bureau coordinator. You also can sample MG information every Thursday morning on Radio KBZY (1490 am) from 8:40 to 9:00 am.

For our younger neighbors, MGs also develop and present gardening programs at area elementary schools in late spring, and host an activity booth at AgFest.

Home gardens come in all shapes, sizes and types of plantings. Please call or stop by to see how Marion County Master Gardeners can help you make yours the garden of your dreams.

Click here for information about the OSU Master Gardener program. Please e-mail Neil Bell, Marion Co. Horticulturist, Neil.Bell@oregonstate.edu, to be placed on the list for 2014 class information.

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Oregon State University Extension Service offers educational programs, activities, and materials without discrimination based on age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status. Oregon State University Extension Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

El Servicio de Extensión (Extension Service) de Oregon State University ofrece programas educativos, actividades, y materiales sin discriminación basada sobre edad, color, incapacidades, identidad o expresión de identidad sexual, estado matrimonial, origen nacional, raza, religión, sexo, orientación sexual, o estado de veterano. El Servicio de Extensión de Oregon State University es una institución que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades.