Master Gardener Second Saturday in August
By Laverne Fuller
The Master Gardener Second Saturdays series at the Halifax Farmer's Market continues on August 8 from 8 to 11 a.m. with a 9:30 demonstration on how to divide perennials. Perennials are a mainstay of the landscape in that they come back year after year. You can Google native Virginia perennials to find varieties that are suited to our soils and weather conditions. Once a perennial bed is established, little maintenance is required to keep the area beautiful.
After a few years, you may notice that the blooms on your perennials are getting smaller or the plant gets thinner in the center. This is a sure sign that the plants roots are crowded and need some attention. Perennials can be divided in several ways. The entire plant can be dug up and the roots separated into multiple plants to be replanted. Another method is to use a shovel and to dig into the root ball of the plant and remove some of it. Either way provides more space for the roots to spread out and gives you happier, healthier plants. You can establish new beds or share the extras with friends and neighbors.
Join the Master Gardeners at the Halifax Farmer's Market on August 8 to learn more about maintaining a beautiful landscape. As always, vendors will be at the Market with local goods. In celebration of National Farmers Market Week the Market will have kids activities, corn hole toss, refreshments, grilling demo, free soy tea-light candles, free homemade laundry soap samples (1 per customer), other vendor samples and free recipes. At 10 am Naturally Artistic Dog Grooming will offer free dog grooming and dog obedience training. The great vendor basket raffle, which will be set up next to market entrance, will be filled with vendor goodies and will be raffled off. The raffle tickets will be $1 each with all proceeds going to the Halifax County Humane Society. For more information about the Master Gardener program, call the Halifax Extension Office at 434-476-2147, visit the website at www.ssmga.org or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Join the Southside Master Gardeners at the Halifax Farmers Market for
a special demo at 9:30 dividing this beautiful Japanese Iris, a great
plant for the perennial border.