The University of Guelph will hold its annual trial garden open house Aug. 14-15 at the Guelph Turfgrass Institute, 328 Victoria Rd.

The free event will feature Guelph and Wellington County master gardeners answering questions and the Guelph Healthy Landscape Team discussing natural pest control and smart water use.

The open house will take place Friday, noon to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event attracts about 400 people annually.

“There will be lots for visitors to see,” said Rodger Tschanz, a U of G plant agriculture technician who manages the trial garden.

“We will showcase new annuals for 2016, and visitors will be able to see what perennials survived last winter,” he said.

Tschanz will also discuss various cultivars and announce the results of the alternative garden mulch trial for weed control. New vegetable and flower trials will be launched, and unique plants will also be showcased.

“We’ll have a purple-flowered version of Queen Anne’s Lace, which are normally white,” he said.

“We have 11 different gerberas for the garden; we are having success growing these traditional house plants in flowerbeds. We will also have more than 65 different petunias for visitors to see.”

For details, visit the Trial Garden website.