Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

It’s time to get ready for Spring! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for February. Save the dates for these upcoming events!  Events include a Beekeeping Class at MC, All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC, Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC, Green Matters Symposium, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club’s Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup Training, and more!

Planning

• Clean out pots; store non-frost proof containers in shed, garage, or basement.
• Paint a few terra cotta pots in spring-like colors.
• Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
• Turn off outdoor water valve and store hoses.
• Clean your gutters.
• Select and order fruit plants.
• Decide on new tree/shrub locations.
• If you want to plant a street tree, pick one that grows up to 20 to 30 feet tall if you have overhead power lines.
• Decide where your plants from seed are going in your garden.
• Finalize catalog seed orders.
• Collect supplies for starting seeds.
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.

https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/

• Support our local parks and gardens. Visit a garden or park for their winter festivities!
• Volunteer at a local public or historic garden.
• Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!
• Visit a local farmers’ market.

Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers

• Deadhead pansies.
• Pull out ornamental cabbages and kale.
• Lightly fertilize bulbs when green starts to show.
• Plant the bulbs you forgot to plant last fall!
• Hardy spring bulbs begin to emerge (crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, and tulips).
• Transplant seedlings into individual 3″-4″ pots when crowded. 
• Fertilize transplants with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks)
• Weed—especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
• Start seeds for Portulaca, Flowering Tobacco, Ageratum, China Aster, Cleome, Dwarf Marigolds, Salvia, Tall Snapdragons, Verbena, and perennials. Check daily for moisture.
• Cover garden beds with shredded leaves to minimize soil erosion.
• Apply deer deterrent.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, Deer, 4-lined plant bug, slugs.
• Diseases to watch for:  Damping off of seedlings.
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs

• Prune broken, dead, or diseased branches.
• Begin pruning of summer flowering shrubs.
• Stake newly planted large trees or shrubs to protect them from winter winds.
• Check that newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials have not been heaved out of the ground due to freezing and thawing cycles.
• Cut a few branches of flowering shrubs to force into bloom inside.
• Root prune trees and shrubs to be transplanted next year.
• Don’t panic over leaf/needle drop on established evergreen shrubs and rhododendrons. It is normal at this time of year for them to shed a third of them.
• Prune maples, dogwoods, birch, elm, and walnut—if needed.
• Remove fallen diseased leaves.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• Gently brush snow from evergreen shrubs.
• Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
• Spray with dormant oil to decrease pest infestations.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like ground cover from under shrubs.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  bagworms, caterpillars, Gypsy moths, Japanese beetles, scale, sawfly, spidermites,  leafminers, Voles, and webworms.
• Diseases to watch for:  Phomopsis and Kabatina of Juniper, Diplodia tip blight of 2 & 3 needled pines.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit

• Start pepper seeds indoors.
• Start greens indoors or outdoors in a cold frame.
• Start hardy herbs (chives, sage, thyme, rosemary), fennel, onions, and cabbage.
• You can still have your vegetable garden and soils tested.
• Do not step on frozen soil in flower beds or lawns.
• Cover garlic plants other root crops with straw or leaf mulch.
• Prune dead bramble canes.
• Remove finished plants.
• Prune stone fruit trees like cherries, plums, and peaches.
• Apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees.
• Pests to watch for: Corn borer, corn earworm, asparagus beetles, Japanese beetles, tomato hornworm, squash vine borer, rabbits, deer
• Diseases to watch for: Damping off of seedlings.
• Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

Lawns

• Start lawn seeding. Reseed bare spots or overseed (through early April).
• Clean yard of all leaves and other debris.
• Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging the crowns.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Shovel walks and drive before applying ice melt or you’ll damage the lawn.
• Get your lawn mower serviced.
• 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 UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants

• Buy a few new houseplants.
• Cut off the flower stalk on your amaryllis once flowers fade. Leave foilage to grow.
• Fertilize your winter-blooming houseplants, such as violets.
• Change water in cuttings started last fall and add 2-3 pieces of fish tank charcoal.
• Rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• 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.
• Start to fertilize with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks).
• Set up a humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, whitefly
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more information.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips

• Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
• Keep bird feeders clean and filled.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• Check for vole problems and set out traps.
  
• Remove and destroy gypsy moth egg masses.
• Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent wildlife from coming indoors.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, mosquitos, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, mice, moles,  snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

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

February

See below for upcoming local events in January.

Montgomery Parks Special Events & Festivals

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

Save the dates for these upcoming events!  Events include a Beekeeping Class at MC, All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC, Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC, Green Matters Symposium, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club’s Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup Training, 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):

https://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

Mill Creek Towne Garden Club Meeting Topic: Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup Training

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Topic: Extreme Cleanup – Mill Creek Stream Training for Mill Creek Drive / Warbler Lane, Mill Creek Towne, Derwood, Maryland
Time: 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: Mill Creek Parish United Methodist
Fellowship Hall
7101 Horizon Terrace
Derwood, MD 20855

Speaker:   Samantha Battersby , Program Coordinator, Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative, Alice Ferguson Foundation
Cost: FREE, Donations gratefully appreciated!

Mill Creek Towne Garden Club has invited Samantha Battersby, of the Alice Ferguson Foundation to provide creek cleanup training at our next meeting on February 25, 2020 7:30 PM. Our meeting is open to the public. Samantha is the Program Coordinator, Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative for the Alice Ferguson Foundation. During the training, we will do a group activity to determine the length of time trash could remain in the environment if left unattended. Even if you can’t make our clean up event, come and learn the process on how to organize a successful community cleanup, whether it’s along a stream, roadside, or park. Refreshments will be provided.

Join Rock Creek Conservancy, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, National Park Service, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club and Stream Team Leader Susan Yu for our Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup! We will be cleaning up trash from the Mill Creek Stream near the corner of Mill Creek Drive and Warbler Lane on Saturday, April 18, 2020 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Trash and pollution are among the biggest threats to this small stream, one of the northern most tributaries of Rock Creek. Our goal is a total cleanup of Rock Creek and its tributaries, including the parks and neighborhoods near the creek where trash originates.

Register for Our April 18th Mill Creek Extreme Cleanup Today!
https://events.time.ly/8ib56fp?event=37548728

For more details, please visit:

NOTE: If Montgomery County Schools are closed due to inclement weather, the Garden Club meeting will be cancelled.

RSVP: info@mctgardenclub.org

Beekeeping Class at MC, Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC

3/4/2020–5/13/2020

Course LNTP 141, Beekeeping, is to be given in the Spring 2020 semester at Montgomery College, Germantown. Registration at www.montgomerycollege.edu, or contact Stephen Dubik (contact info is in the picture) for details.

Provides the knowledge to start and maintain a honeybee hive. Key topics include honeybee life cycle and functions, seasonal management, parasite and pathogen management, and products from the hive. Course gives students hands-on opportunity at an apiary. Two hours each week. Formerly LN 141.

2 semester hours

Course Outcomes:
Upon course completion, a student will be able to:

• Explain the life cycles and functions; queen bee, worker bee, and drone.
• Detail colony management tasks throughout the year.
• Identify major parasites and pathogens, and select appropriate available control methods.
• Discuss the components of conventional and non-conventional hive structures.
• List approaches for modifying and/or enhancing  the colony environment.
• Explain the significance as bees as pollinators.

LLI022: Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC

Orchids are more popular than ever, and are readily available at mass markets, florists, and garden centers. Explore how to be successful with orchid selection in the home environment. Learn how to purchase, care, handle, repot, and rebloom your orchid. The instructor will use live plants to demonstrate best practices. You are encouraged to bring your own orchid plants for questions.

LLI354: All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC

Did you know that some dinosaurs survived? This course takes a look at the fascinating world of these survivors – birds. Explore bird identification, anatomy, physiology, and behaviors. Examine their place in the natural world and the complex bird-human relationship. Meet for a field trip in a park to observe birds during the last class session. Tuition waiver applies; seniors pay fee only.

Maple Sugaring Days

Brookside Nature Center
1400 Glenallan Avenue
Wheaton, MD, US 20902

February 2020 – Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday

(301) 962-1480

Brookside Nature Center, Montgomery Parks‘ Maple Sugaring Days.

Every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday in February.

Brookside Nature Center is located at 1400 Glenallan Avenue in Wheaton.

Register: http://ow.ly/UZWa30nysuo.

#MoCoMapleSugaring

Green Matters Symposium

Practical Solutions For Ecologically Sustainable Landscapes

Friday, February 21, 2020
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Silver Spring Civic Building
1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD

The early bird gets the savings. Sign up for Green Matters Symposium by Friday, January 10, and save $15.

This symposium will offer practical solutions to help shift the focus of gardening and landscape design away from merely aesthetics and towards creating and managing sustainable landscapes. Industry experts will explore how native plants can be incorporated into our landscapes while realizing the ecological benefits through plant community-based design strategies. Attendees will learn ecological gardening and maintenance practices that lead to a “greener” and more resilient garden. Case studies will shed light on how to minimize the environmental impact of humanmade landscapes ranging from home gardens to commercial projects.

Find out more and register: http://ow.ly/izO230pYLbK.

Photo: Green Matters Symposium participants in the lobby at the Silver Spring Civic Center.

Gardening with 20/20 Vision Spring Conference

Saturday, February 22, 2020
8:30 AM – 2:30 PM

University of Maryland Extension, Montgomery County Office
Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park
18410 Muncaster Road
Derwood, MD 20855

We are pleased to present the 20th Spring Gardening Conference on Saturday, February 22, 2020 (snow date: February 29, 2020).  This year’s conference, “Gardening with 20/20 Vision – Focus on the Future” will offer courses to help you decide what to grow and how to manage your landscape to create a sustainable gardens for the future.

The Montgomery County Master Gardeners’ mission is “to educate Maryland residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices that build healthy gardens, landscapes, and communities.” Whether you are a new participant or a returnee to this conference, it is our goal to provide you with new ideas and information to help you solve your horticultural problems and take pleasure in your gardening efforts. We hope you can join us this year. 

March

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sunday, March 22 | 12 – 4 pm | All Ages | Free
Black Hill Nature Programs

Celebrate “World Water Day” and learn new ways to garden to help your watershed. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, all are welcome for a day of garden talk and practice. Naturalists, gardening pros, and Master Gardeners will share their advise and expertise. Bring your questions or tips to share with other plant lovers. We’ll have activities for the whole family!

LEARN MORE

Nature Matters: Moths and their Adaptations

Thursday, March 26 | 6:30 – 8 pm | $8
Meadowside Nature Center | 5100 Meadowside Lane |
Rockville, MD 20855

Moth species of the Lepidoptera family come with many adaptations, some include not developing a mouth after their caterpillar phase. Join us at the Nature Matters Lecture Series as we zoom into the tiny world of moths!

LEARN MORE