Mason County WSU Master Gardeners

09/11/2026

Friday Funny from our WSU Master Gardener neighbors🤣

Friday Fun!🤣

09/02/2026

This is good information as fall approaches. Thank-you WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners.

September is a month of transition. As we move from mid to late month, summer vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini start to slow down. In their place, cool-season crops step-into the spotlight — root vegetables, hardy brassicas, and leafy greens become the focus of the garden.

🌿 September To-Do’s for Pacific Northwest Gardeners 🍂

As summer fades, it’s time to pivot in the garden:

✅ Harvest late-summer veggies
🌱 Plant fall + winter crops
🌷 Sow spring-blooming bulbs
🌳 Plant trees & shrubs
🌾 Aerate + overseed lawns
🪴 Add compost + mulch to beds
🌿Prune top half of fall-bearing raspberry canes after final harvest
💚Prune second-year raspberry & blackberry canes. Trellis first year canes

This month is all about preparation—lay the groundwork now for a healthy, thriving garden next season! 🌧️🌱

08/23/2026

Thank-you for sharing WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners.

An emerald ash borer was discovered in Washington— the first detection of this invasive insect in our state.

Two vigilant citizens spotted the live insect on their car window, collected it, and made a report.

As a result of their efforts, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed their report of emerald ash borer in Vancouver, WA.

The arrival of emerald ash borer means ash trees in our forests, parks, and backyards are at risk. This invasive pest has wiped out more than 100 million ash trees throughout the country.

YOU can help protect our trees:

- Never move firewood more than 10 miles to avoid accidentally transporting forest pests

- Consider planting alternatives to ash trees

- Scan existing ash trees for signs of damage (thinning canopy, small D-shaped holes) or emerging adults (metallic green insect about a half inch in length).

Learn more: https://invasivespecies.wa.gov/priorityspecies/emerald-ash-borer/

Images courtesy of David Cappaert

08/19/2026

WSU Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor - what a beautiful fence for your new garden! Thanks for sharing your photos.

08/06/2026

Great information! Thank-you WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners.

🐛 Common “Ask a Master Gardener” Question:
What’s eating my broccoli, cabbage, kale, or other cole crops?

If you’re finding ragged holes in the leaves of your broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, or other members of the cabbage family, the culprit may be the imported cabbageworm.

The adult is the familiar white cabbage butterfly you often see fluttering through the garden. While the butterfly is harmless, it lays tiny yellow eggs on the leaves. Those eggs hatch into velvety green caterpillars that quickly chew irregular holes in the foliage and can even tunnel into broccoli heads or cabbage, leaving behind frass (caterpillar droppings). Three to five generations may occur in a single season. (UC IPM⁠)

🔍 What to look for:
• White butterflies flying around your brassicas
• Yellow eggs on the undersides of leaves
• Small green caterpillars that blend in with the foliage
• Ragged holes and dark green droppings on leaves or heads

🌱 Research-based management tips:
✔ Inspect plants often and hand-pick caterpillars and eggs.
✔ Consider floating row covers to keep butterflies from laying eggs.
✔ Visit Hortsence for approved Pesticides and always follow the label.

The sooner you catch these hungry caterpillars, the easier they are to manage!

📖 Learn more from WSU Hortsense:
https://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/fact-sheet/broccoli-cole-crops-imported-cabbageworm/

07/30/2026

Thank-you WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners. Good information to share.

🍅 Common “Ask a Master Gardener” Question: What’s Wrong with My Tomato?

Have you ever picked a tomato that looked deeply scarred or misshapen on the blossom end?

This condition is called catface, and the good news is—it isn’t caused by a disease or insect! Catface is a physiological disorder, meaning it’s the result of environmental conditions rather than a pathogen. It often develops when tomato flowers are exposed to cool temperatures during early fruit development. Injury to blossoms, exposure to growth hormone type herbicides, or excessive nitrogen can also contribute. (Hortsense⁠)

✅ The fruit is still safe to eat—just trim away the scarred areas if needed.

To help reduce catfacing:
🌱 Choose less susceptible tomato varieties.
🌡️ Protect plants from unusually cool weather during flowering when possible.
🌿 Avoid herbicide drift near your vegetable garden.
💚 Use fertilizer according to soil and plant needs—more isn’t always better! High levels of Nitrogen may increase the problem.

Want to learn more? Read the WSU Hortsense fact sheet:
https://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/fact-sheet/tomato-catface/ (Hortsense⁠)

Have a plant question? Visit one of our WSU Extension Pierce County Master Gardener Plant Clinics or call our Office Clinic at (253)798-7170. Email us at [email protected].
Submit photos of your plant problems using our online form:
https://extension.wsu.edu/pierce/mg-home/contact-us/ask-a-master-gardener-contact-page/

We’re here to help with research-based gardening advice!

07/25/2026

Sharing some valuable information in this wildfire season.

🔥 Washington Wildfire Awareness

With multiple wildfires currently burning across Washington, now is a good time to think ahead about how you can help protect your home and landscape. While we can’t eliminate wildfire risk, we can make our properties more resilient through smart landscaping and regular maintenance.

🌿 Is your landscape Fire Wise?

WSU Extension Pierce County Master Gardeners have assembled a Fire Wise Tip Sheet with practical, research-based steps to help reduce wildfire risk around your home, including:
🔥 Creating defensible space
🌳 Choosing fire-resistant plants
🍂 Reducing flammable materials around your property
🏡 Maintaining your landscape to improve safety

Small changes today can make a big difference tomorrow.

📖 Read the Fire Wise Tip Sheet here:
https://extension.wsu.edu/pierce/mg-home/gardening-resources/fire-wise-tip-sheet/

Follow the Department of Natural Resources for updated information about wildfires due to location and size at:
https://dnr.wa.gov/wildfire-resources/current-wildfire-incident-information
or use the DNR's wildfire portal
https://dnr.wa.gov/wildfire-resources/current-wildfire-incident-information/wildfire-portal

Together, we can create safer, more resilient landscapes for our families, our communities, and our environment. 💚

07/24/2026

Pollinator and a pest? 🦋🥦

Yes! Cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) visit flowers for nectar and can contribute to pollination, but when they lay eggs… it’s on cabbage family crops. After the caterpillars hatch, they can quickly damage broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower and other brassicas.

Have you seen cabbage white butterflies fluttering through your garden lately?

✍️+📸: Charlie Barth

07/24/2026

Great information. Thank-you WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners.

07/19/2026

This is a beautiful garden. Thank-you WSU Pierce County Master Gardeners for sharing. The WSU Mason County Master Gardeners also did a tour a couple years ago. Recommend.