Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

March brings us the promise of gardening and warm(er), sunny days and the beginning of spring! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for March.  Events include Parks Speaker Series: Ed McMahon/The Case for Open Space, Orchid Festival, Show & Sale at Brookside Gardens, Nature Matters: Spiders!, Backyard Composting, our MCT Garden Club Meeting Program: Jump On The Butterfly Bandwagon, and more!

Planning:

• Select and order fruit and vegetable plants.
• Decide on new tree/shrub locations.
• Decide where your plants from seed are going in your garden.
• Clean and sharpen your garden tools.
• Paint a few terra cotta pots in spring-like colors.
• Repair your shed and repair/paint your fences.
• Clean out your greenhouse and wash those windows.
• Take your children to the park this week. You will thank yourself when they grow up. A positive study about nature, kids, and mental health from NPR : “Greener Childhood Associated With Happier Adulthood” http://ow.ly/ZddK30nZjA7.
• Another article, in the latest issue of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, renowned British horticulturalist Monty Don — who has spoken about his struggles with depression — shares how gardening has been beneficial for his mental and physical health.
• Volunteer at a local public or historic garden.
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
• Support our local parks and gardens. Visit a garden or park for their spring festivities!
• Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Gently clean up the garden.
• Cut perennials and over-wintering ornamental grasses to 2 inches above ground.
• Lightly fertilize bulbs when green starts to show.
• Transplant seedlings into individual 3″-4″ pots when crowded. Fertilize transplants with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks).
• Start seeds for: Mallow, Dwarf Zinnias, Cosmos, Celosia, Tall Marigolds, Tall Zinnias, and check daily for moisture.
• Collect large plastic soda bottles to use as cloches (A cloche is a clear, bell-shaped cover used to protect tender plants from frost.)
• Check any tropical or summer-blooming bulbs, corms, tubers, and bare root plants in storage for rot or dessication.
• After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials and then mark beds!
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, slugs, snails, Deer
• Diseases to watch for:  Damping off of seedlings
• See UMD’s HGIC’s March Flower Tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Plant a tree for Arbor Day.
• Prune out Eastern tent caterpillar egg masses.
• Prune summer-flowering trees, except for crepe myrtle.
• Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs before new growth.
• Prune damaged branches.
• Spray with dormant oil to decrease pest infestations.
• Prune dead, weak, broken, rubbing limbs of trees — or to open them up to light and air.
• Begin planting when soil is not too wet.
• Prune butterfly bush to 8″ to 10″.
• Rejuvenate prune hollies.
• Test soil pH on some hydangeas and adjust: pH 5-5.5 – blue; pH 6-6.5 – pink.
• Check that newly-planted trees, shrubs, and perennials have not been heaved out of the ground due to freezing and thawing cycles.
• If we have snow, gently dislodge snow from trees and shrubs with a broom to prevent damage to branches.
• Prune maples, dogwoods, birch, elm, walnut, and yellowwood to prevent “bleeding”.
• Water slowly and deeply if weather is very dry and ground is not frozen.
• Prune out Fireblight damage Malus and Pyrus when very cold.
• Continue to remove fallen, diseased leaves.
• Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  Eastern tent caterpillar.
• Diseases to watch for:  Fireblight
• For more tips, see HGIC’s March Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

• Test soil if you haven’t already!
• Dethatch if necessary and plug aerate BEFORE applying weed control.
• To control crabgrass, apply pre-emergent herbicide to lawn (when forsythia blooms drop).
• Reseed bare spots or overseed (through early April).
• Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging crowns.
• Do not step on frozen soil in flower beds and lawns.
• Use de-icer sparingly or a nonchemical substitute such as sand, grit, fireplace ashes, or non-clumping kitty litter.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Rake leaves, shred, and gather in compost piles.
• 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 March Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Pinch out growing tips of leggy cuttings and plants that are overwintering.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
• Reduce fertilizing of your indoor plants (except cyclamen).
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Pests to watch for:  spider mites, mealybug, scale, aphids
• See HGIC’s March Houseplants Tips for more information.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Clean and refill bird feeders.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• See HGIC’s March Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, mice, moles,  snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s March Wildlife Tips.

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

See below for upcoming local events in March.

Montgomery Parks Special Events & Festivals

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

Save the dates for these upcoming events!   Events include Parks Speaker Series: Ed McMahon/The Case for Open Space, Orchid Festival, Show & Sale at Brookside Gardens, Nature Matters: Spiders!, Backyard Composting, our MCT Garden Club Meeting Program: Jump On The Butterfly Bandwagon, and more!

Montgomery County MD Food and Beverage Guide

The third edition of the MoCo Made Food & Beverage Guide is available!

The Guide features more than 60 local producers and farmers offering local-made products. Find the online version here:

https://mocofoodcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/MOCO_Directory_2018_FNL-digital.pdf

 

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

Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!

CSAs can take many forms, but essentially they are community supported farms in which members contribute to farming projects, usually by way of membership fees, in exchange for fresh, local produce. The concept came to the United States from Europe in the 1980s.  They are a great way to take advantage of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, and more while supporting nearby farms. Each one is different, some offer pickup locations in urban areas, some offer only farm-based pickups.

There are multiple CSAs located around the County offering a wide variety of products. CSAs begin taking sign-ups for spring and summer seasons in the early part of the year, and they tend to fill up FAST! Know of another CSA not on our list? Let us know! Montgomery Countryside Alliance also maintains a list: http://www.mocoalliance.org/community-supported-agriculture.html

23rd Annual Gas and Steam Engine Show