Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Now that it’s almost summer, it’s time to enjoy the outdoors and our gardens! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for June. Save the dates for these upcoming events!  Events include Nature Matters: Keeping Animals, Saving Species, Montgomery Parks Speaker Series: M-NCPPC – Park Safety, Brookside Garden’s Wings of Fancy, Brookside Garden’s Summer Twilight Concert Series, Lightening Bug Jubilee, Montgomery County Heritage Days, Field & Fiddle Festival for the Ag Reserve, Music on the Farm- Ken Kolodner and Rachel Eddy, Food Matters: Foodie Fridays Speaker Series, and more!

Planning:

• Check out plants going on sale.
• Peruse fall bulb catalogs.
• Plan who is going to water plants during your vacation.
• Plan where to plant fall bulbs.
• As the heat and humidity move in, take it easy by working in the morning or early evening to avoid intense sun and humidity. Leave the big projects for the fall. For now concentrate on maintaining the beds you’ve already established and nurturing your new plantings.
• Inspect your garden hose for leaks and tighten all connections.
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2018 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Remove spent lilac and rhododendron blossoms.
• Pinch buds of fall-blooming plants (asters, mums, Joe-Pye weed).
• Feed your roses and new plantings with slow-release fertilizer sparingly.
• Spray roses with Neem oil every two weeks.
• Take cuttings of roses to start new plants.
• Provide supports for fast-growing perennials such as delphiniums, peonies, and lilies.
• Deadhead spent blooms on your annuals and perennials to encourage re-flowering.
• Direct-sow annual flower seeds.
• Pinch out growing tips of leggy seedlings.
• Transplant spring flowering bulbs after flowering.
• Plant summer flowering bulbs.
• Start a sunflower patch.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, spidermites, whiteflies, snails, slugs
• Diseases to watch for:  Blackspot on roses; powdery mildew, rust, bacterial diseases
• See UMD’s HGIC’s June Flower tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Directly after blooming, prune flowering shrubs (forsythia, lilacs, and azaleas) and vines.
• Shape your evergreens and hedges.
• Contact a certified arborist to have your trees’ health inspected.
• Take cuttings of azaleas to start new plants.
• Fertilize your azaleas and rhododendrons and monitor them closely for any lacebug damage.
• Plant and transplant shrubs that have finished blooming.
• Transplanting azaleas is still possible.
• Check often and water newly planted and transplanted trees if they don’t pass the “finger test” (stick your finger deep into the soil – dry? Water!)
• If you must mulch, remove old mulch then add 2″ – 3″ shredded pine or pine needles, keeping 3″ away from the trunk.
• Avoid hardwood mulch (water phobic).
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  Gypsy moths, azalea lacebug, adelgids, aphids, bagworms, borer, caterpillars, scale, sawfly, spidermites, leafminers, and Japanese beetles.
• Diseases to watch for:  Powdery mildew
• See HGIC’s June Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

• Mow in the early evening and cut no more than 1/3 of grass height at one time. Leave clippings on the ground to provide nutrients.
• Sharpen your lawnmower blade.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Mow high to reduce weeds and stress and leave the clippings on the lawn: Fescue and Bluegrass: 3″ – 3 ½”
• Test soil if you haven’t already (every 3 years minimum).
• Calibrate your spreader before fertilizing.
• Fertilize turf ONLY if weak: apply 1 lb. N/1000 sq. ft.
• Start lawn seeding.
• Dethatch if necessary and plug aerate BEFORE applying weed control.
• Apply pre-emergent crabgrass and broadleaf weed control when forsythia finishes blooming.
• The annual soil science calendars from the Natural Resources Conservation Service are both educational and beautifully done. The one for 2018 as well as those for previous years are available as free PDFs here: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/edu/?cid=nrcseprd1250008
• Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
• Pests to watch for: Grubs
• See HGIC’s June Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Begin hardening off prior to putting outside in shade for summer.
• Move to shady location for summer.
• Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
• Repot and fertilize houseplants when new growth begins.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film to build-up.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Fertilize houseplants now that they are actively growing again.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, mealybug, spider mites, scale, and  whitefly
• See HGIC’s June Houseplants Tips for more tips.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Ticks are very active now.
• Look for slug trails in the early morning and put out slug bait as needed.
• Make hummingbird food by boiling two cups of sugar in four cups of water.
• Clean and refill bird feeders.
• Put up birdhouses.
• Apply a different deer deterrent.
• Wash and refill the bird bath or set out a shallow bowl of water in icy weather.
• Be vigilant for mosquito breeding spots — any standing water from a bottle cap to blocked gutters, and clean them out quickly.
• Vacuum up any ladybugs that come in the house.
• Check for vole problems and set up traps.
• See HGIC’s June Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, moles, snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s June Wildlife tips.

Source: University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) and the Washington Gardener.

See below for upcoming local events in June.

Montgomery Parks Special Events & Festivals

More events are being added regularly. Please check back often!

Save the dates for these upcoming events!   Events include Nature Matters: Keeping Animals, Saving Species, Montgomery Parks Speaker Series: M-NCPPC – Park Safety, Brookside Garden’s Wings of Fancy, Brookside Garden’s Summer Twilight Concert Series, Lightening Bug Jubilee, Montgomery County Heritage Days, Field & Fiddle Festival for the Ag Reserve, Music on the Farm- Ken Kolodner and Rachel Eddy, Food Matters: Foodie Fridays Speaker Series, and more!

Master Gardener Plant Clinics

Varied Locations, dates, and times

Montgomery County Master Gardeners - Maryland

What can Master Gardeners do for you?

• Help you select and care for annual and perennial plants, shrubs and trees.
• Determine if you need to test your soil.
• Provide you with information on lawn care.
• Identify weeds, beneficial and noxious insects, and plant diseases and remedies.
• Teach you how to use pesticides, mulch and compost.
• Guide you in pruning trees and shrubs.
• Provide you with options for managing wildlife.
• Provide you with gardening resources.
• Help you submit a plant sample for diagnosis

Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase.  There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens.  The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round.  Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):

http://extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/plant-clinics

 

Summer Twilight Concert Series

Tuesday, June 5 | 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Performance by Ocho de Bastos (Latin Rock)

Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Avenue
Wheaton, MD, US 20902
FREE

Join us each Tuesday evening in June at Brookside Gardens for a series of musical performances set in the beauty of the Gardens! Bring your friends and family, and don’t forget your chairs or blankets (allowed in the Gardens on concert evenings ONLY). Food trucks will also be available. FREE

Montgomery Parks Speaker Series: M-NCPPC – Park Safety

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Montgomery County Planning Department Auditorium
8787 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

https://www.montgomeryparks.org/speakerseries/

Join us for the Montgomery Parks Speaker Series, which will cover a diverse range of parks topics including planning and design for urban parks, park advocacy, public-private partnerships, and more! RSVP for lunch – space is limited.

Lieutenant Nicole Adams, M-NCPPC – Park Safety

The Assistant Chief of the Support Branch oversees the Administrative Section, Communications Section, and Management & Technology Services Sections. The Support Branch is dedicated to providing quality support services to the Division. Our goal is to provide the tools for Division members to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

Lt. Nicole Adams is the primary Public Information Officer for the Support Branch of the Division. 

RSVP for Lunch-Space is Limited

Register Now

Laytonia Recreational Park: Grand Opening Celebration

Sunday, June 10
11am – 1pm
Laytonia Recreational Park
7300 Airpark Road, Gaithersburg, MD
FREE

Join Montgomery Parks for the grand opening of Laytonia Recreational Park.
The celebration will include a ribbon cutting, family-friendly activities, food trucks and more!

Please bring new and used sports equipment to donate to local nonprofit Leveling The Playing Field. The equipment will be distributed to families in need.

More

Summer Twilight Concert Series

Tuesday, June 12 | 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Performace by Kurlou Reggae Band

Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Avenue
Wheaton, MD, US 20902
FREE

Join us each Tuesday evening in June at Brookside Gardens for a series of musical performances set in the beauty of the Gardens! Bring your friends and family, and don’t forget your chairs or blankets (allowed in the Gardens on concert evenings ONLY). Food trucks will also be available. FREE!

Summer Twilight Concert Series

Tuesday, June 19 | 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Avenue
Wheaton, MD, US 20902
FREE

Join us each Tuesday evening in June at Brookside Gardens for a series of musical performances set in the beauty of the Gardens! Bring your friends and family, and don’t forget your chairs or blankets (allowed in the Gardens on concert evenings ONLY). Food trucks will also be available. FREE!

Montgomery County Heritage Days

Explore the timeline of agricultural history in Montgomery County with a day full of hands-on farming activities, farm animals, historic house tours, food, and the beautiful landscape of the Agricultural History Farm Park! Begin in the 1780s, when the Magruder Family first lived settled on the site where the Farm Park is, today, and travel through time, meeting the farmers and families who worked the land until the 1960s, experiencing all the changes in agriculture and society they witnessed along the way.

FREE and open to the public. No registration required.

 

Field & Fiddle Festival for the Ag Reserve

Saturday, June 23
4 PM – 8 PM

Madison Fields
21355 Big Woods Rd
Dickerson, Maryland 20842

Join us for the 4th Annual Field & Fiddle Festival to benefit the protection of Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve.

Come on out to beautiful Madison Fields and enjoy music from the 19th Street Band and Tim and Savannah Finch with The Eastman String Band. Bring your picnic blanket and enjoy fare from Cipolla Rossa Pizzeria3rd Alarm BBQ, LLC, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream – Frederick, MD and libations from Rocklands Farm and Waredaca Brewing Company. Local artisans will offer unique crafts. All ages welcome to this family-friendly event!

Registration required.

Register Today!

Music on the Farm- Ken Kolodner and Rachel Eddy

Saturday, June 23

7 PM – 9 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park

18400 Muncaster Rd

Derwood, Maryland 20855

 

Join us for a spectacular evening of bluegrass and heritage music on the Farm as we welcome back musicians Ken Kolodner and Rachel Eddy. Bring your family, friends, and a picnic and watch the sunset as beautiful music carries you away into the evening. $10 per vehicle. Pre-registration available or pay by cash or check on site up to one hour prior to event.

Regarded as one of the most influential hammered dulcimer players in the US, Baltimore’s Ken Kolodner (hammered dulcimer, fiddle, hammered mbira) joins forces with West Virginia native and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Eddy (fiddle, guitar, banjo, vocals). Rachel is widely known as one of the finest practitioners of old-time music in the nation.

Websites:
www.kenandbrad.com
www.kenkolodner.com and www.sandbridgedulcimer.com
www.racheleddy.com