UC Master Gardeners Logo
UC Marin Master Gardeners

Marin IJ Archive

Help Desk | Events Calendar | Español | Garden Walks | Marin IJ Archive | Leaflet | Edible Demo Garden | Falkirk Garden | Harvey's Garden | Youth Programs | School & Community Gardens | Seed Saving & Sharing | Speakers Bureau | Master Gardener Program 

UC Marin Master Gardener Articles in the Marin Independent Journal

UC Marin Master Gardeners have contributed to the Marin Independent Journal's "Ask a Master Gardener" column every Saturday since 1999. We have a team of dedicated writers who have covered nearly every aspect of gardening for Marin County over the years. Search our archives below by category of interest, or use the search box to locate stories by year, month or specific subject.

> BACK TO ASK US
 
Fruit infested with codling moth
Article

Codling moths: protect your fruit tree from them now!

March 31st, 2025
 If you have fruit trees, especially apples, pears, or walnuts, now is the time to be on the lookout for the codling moth. This is the time of year (mid-March to early April) when the adult codling moth, a little grayish-brown lepidopteran, emerges from its cocoon.It has spent the winter pupating,…
View Article
Pride of Madeira plant
Article

Right place, wrong plant

March 24th, 2025
 What’s worse than a weed? The answer is an invasive plant. While weeds are plants that grow where they are not wanted, invasives are always non-native plants introduced (intentionally or accidentally) that spread rapidly and cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health. Invasive plants are…
View Article
Argentine ant
Article

Ant invasion

March 17th, 2025
 They can’t help it, that trail of ants crawling up a kitchen cabinet. The determined critters head inside to escape cold, wet winter days or hot, dry summer conditions. But our sympathies don’t extend to safe harboring ant armies. Nor are we happy to see them in the garden keeping aphids alive.There…
View Article
planting a seedling
Article

Common soil problems in Marin

March 14th, 2025
 Good garden soil contains 30-50% sand, 30-50% silt, 20-30% clay, and 5-10% organic water. The bacteria, fungi, and worms in the soil produce substances that act like glue, binding all these different parts together to form groupings. These groupings determine the size of the soil pore space. In…
View Article
swiss chard
Article

Ready, set, go

March 14th, 2025
 As I write this, it is mid-January, and I just finished weeding in my garden. The sun is so pleasantly warm, and I am picking peas, chard, kale, and lettuce from my winter garden. The days are getting a bit longer, bulbs are showing their faces, and my mind is moving towards my spring garden…
View Article
hummingbird at flower
Article

The beauty and singular importance of the pollinator garden

March 14th, 2025
 Gardening is a uniquely healthy, relaxing, and inspirational activity. Planting that seed or seedling is perhaps the ultimate expression of optimism. The beautiful blooms and bountiful harvests we labor to cultivate can provide matchless feelings of accomplishment and pride. But we don’t do it alone…
View Article
coffee grounds
Article

The biggest gardening myth of all

March 14th, 2025
 Gardening myths are common and hard to shake. Most of the time these old wives’ tales are harmless, but sometimes they offer false hope to the gardener. Take the misconception about adding coffee grounds to soil to increase acidity for growing camellia, hydrangea, and azalea. Turns out fresh…
View Article