Gardeners Spring Plant Sale is May 13-14
Purchase unique plants and get tips for your home garden

FREEHOLD, NJ –The Rutgers Master Gardeners will hold their annual Spring Garden Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 13 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 in front of the Monmouth County Agriculture Building at 4000 Kozloski Road in Freehold.

Items for sale include annuals, perennials, vegetables (many heirloom), herbs, hanging baskets, compost sifters, custom painted birdhouses and rough cedar birdhouses hand-crafted by Master Gardeners.

The Spring Garden Sale will take place rain or shine and customers may purchase items by check or cash.

“The annual Spring Garden Sale is a great event for residents who not only want the tools to start or improve their garden, but also the guidance to do it well,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry. “The Master Gardeners are knowledgeable and eager to help create healthy and flourishing gardens in our communities. Gardening is not a hobby for them, rather it is a sense of duty to impart the expertise and skills they have acquired and pass it along to new gardeners as well as those who have done it all their life.”

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:

· The Junior Master Garden where young teens grow their own garden under the direct tutelage of Master Gardeners.

· The Herb Garden and the Rain Garden, which demonstrate ecologically safe ways to minimize erosion and waterway pollution caused by runoff from hard-scapes such as driveways.

· The Compost Center showing how easily any household can recycle everyday organic waste into rich organic mulch.

The Rutgers’ Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Helpline will be open at the Spring Garden Sale to answer gardening questions and help trouble-shoot home garden, lawn, tree and shrub problems. Bringing a sample of the plant to demonstrate its condition is extremely helpful in identifying any problems and receiving accurate and timely advice.

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 in Freehold.

During the Spring Garden Sale, a series of free discussions by Master Gardeners will provide expert advice on such topics as lawn care, herb gardening, beekeeping, composting and attracting birds and butterflies to the garden.

In conjunction with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, the Monmouth County Master Gardener program seeks to educate everyone in horticultural matters, help answer questions regarding gardening problems around the home, support community gardens for towns and schools, and provide a speaker’s bureau to bring Master Gardener led discussions to local gardening clubs and other interested community groups around the County.

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