Do You Have A Gardening Question?
Get quick, expert help from a Master Gardener in King County.
Master Gardeners are university-trained volunteers who will provide you with relevant and unbiased research-based information focused on environmentally friendly gardening practices.
Send your gardening questions year-round to the King County Master Gardeners at ask-a-mastergardener@live.com.
Email our Master Gardeners to receive a detailed message in response to questions about plant problems, plant or insect identification, or general gardening questions. Use the tips below to ensure that our Master Gardener volunteers have the detailed information about your question to help them diagnose a problem.
Tips on Details to Include
To help us better diagnose a plant problem, please try to share as much of the following information as possible:
- What type of plant is this? If you do not know, include a photograph of the stem, flowers, leaves, and fruit.
- What type of damage are you seeing and when did it start? Describe in your own words what you are seeing.
- Which parts of the plant are affected, for example, flower, trunk or bark, roots or soil line, leaf, stem, fruit, etc.?
- How is the plant watered? How much, for example, hand watered. or drip irrigation. How often, for example, 3 times a week for 10 minutes?
- Where is the plant located, for example, in a garden bed or in the lawn, next to a driveway or house? Is it in full or part sun, facing which direction?
- Sharing photographs of your plant problem, plant identification or insect identification is helpful. See the section below for tips on sharing your photos.*
Tips on Types of Photos to Share
Photographs of your plant problem, plant identification or insect identification are helpful.
Here are some hints about the types of photos that will show evidence of a problem and will help us to make the correct diagnosis or identification. Please provide photos that show the plant or insect or identification, or the plant problem as seen:
- Include photos of the buds, stems, leaves and flowers to help with plant identification if necessary.
- Show the damaged or problem plant in the landscape along with other plants to provide additional clues to the probable cause of the problem.
- Clearly show the base or root flare of the plant at the soil line to display any potential root issues.
- Clearly show both live branches/limbs and leaves, and dead or dying branches/limbs and leaves to help us determine the spread.
- Clearly show the margin between affected and healthy tissues. Include healthy tissue as well as diseased tissue in the photo so a comparison with the “normal” plant is possible.
- Show the insect that is the suspected culprit in the damage. Include photos of the kinds of damage you are seeing.
In-Person Ask a Master Gardener Clinics
IN-PERSON KING COUNTY MASTER GARDENER PLANT CLINICS
Visit with our King County Master Gardeners volunteers at one of our in-person plant clinics to discuss your gardening questions. Master Gardener plant clinics offer FREE advice on gardening, plant problems, plant identification, pest management and soil improvement. In-person clinics are usually open from April to October each year. See the tips above about providing photographs of your plants.
See the map of the locations of all the King County Master Gardener in-person clinics and demonstration gardens to find a clinic or garden convenient to you.