Gardening questions?

The Times News will be publishing a new advice column called “Ask a Master Gardener,” featuring the Carbon County Master Gardeners, and the experts are hoping to hear from you.

The master gardeners want your letters, your phone calls and your emails. Ask about a specific plant, a “how to” question, or a pest or disease that’s causing you problems.

Are you an organic gardener invaded by stink bugs? The master gardeners will give you some tips and tricks to help you manage. They can steer you to an inexpensive Penn State soil testing kit so you’re sure your plants are getting a balanced diet. Do you have animals in your compost pile or weeds you can’t defeat? Let them know.

Here’s what you need to do. When you contact the master gardeners, they will need your name, address, phone number and email so they can put you into their hotline computer, and so they can call you if they need more information. If you have photos that show your problem or samples, the master gardeners can send them to the Penn State plant clinic if need be.

Selected questions and answers will be published in the new column, but only your first name and your location will be used, like “Eileen from Jim Thorpe.” If you include clear, high resolution photos with your query, those may be printed as well.

Send your questions by mail to Penn State Extension, 529 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229; by email to CarbonExt@psu.edu; or call 570-325-2788.

Wednesday was the kickoff date for the 2017 gardening season. That’s when the master gardeners began starting seeds indoors. Then comes spring cleanup, soil testing, tool sharpening and planting.