The hard work is done on the entrances. Thank you for your donations and Imas General Services for the masonry work. In the next few days/weeks we will be cleaning up and mulching. And every gardener knows it is best to plant in the fall. More is yet to come.
Mill Creek Towne Garden Club
Video and Masonry Work by Imas General Services https://www.imasgeneralservices.com/
Hope you are staying safe and healthy! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for May. Because of the coronavirus, many events have been cancelled. There are some events that have been modified to online classes, check out U.S. Botanic Garden, Master Gardeners of Montgomery County, and Maryland Gardens. A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook and we share them on our Facebook page as well as on our mctgardenclub.org website. Some live events have been set up for online preordering and limited to ensure everyone’s safety.
Planning
Mark beds outside where your new plants from seed are going in your garden.
Go on a virtual garden tour to see what plants are thriving in other’s area home gardens.
Select and order fruit plants.
Read a good gardening book or magazine.
Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
“During shelter-in-place, farmers’ markets remain open as an essential service, providing a vital source of fresh fruits and vegetables and food staples for our communities in a spacious, open-air setting. But our community and our farmers’ markets could be jeopardized if we don’t each do our part to stay safe during this public healthy crisis.
In good times, farmers’ markets have been places to gather and converse, however, now is the time to follow public health and safety advisories and resist the urge to linger and socialize. We all have a critical role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19.”
Brookside Gardens is adapting our programming by bringing you two free online gardening courses in May!
The first free lecture is “Perfect Plant Marriages for Spring and Summer” and will take place Saturday, May 16, from 10 am to 11:30 am. Learn more and register now: https://bit.ly/35H8ZxI.
Flowers and Groundcovers
Directly after blooming, prune flowering shrubs and vines.
After last frost date, plant warm-season annuals and tender bulbs (call lilies, dahlias, and gladiolus) in the ground and in containers.
Pinch out growing tips of leggy plants.
Plant up containers. Remove last of spring flowers, replacing them with transplants or seeds.
Plant hardier transplants.
Plant summer flowering bulbs.
Begin hardening off tender transplants.
Plant tender transplants starting around mid-May.
Water transplants deeply when dry.
Walk your garden — look for early signs of fungal disease.
Divide perennials and herbs.
Plant and prune roses.
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.
Hardening is the process of exposing transplants (seedlings) gradually to outdoor conditions. It enables your transplants to withstand the changes in environmental conditions they will face when planted outside in the garden. https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/hardening-vegetable-seedlings
After the last frost date, plant warm-season vegetables (squash, peppers, eggplant, okra, sweet potato, tomatoes, corn, and beans).
Sow seeds of: beans, melons, cucumbers.
New fruit plants — keep watered their first spring, summer, and fall.
Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
Tomatoes are the most common and beloved vegetable crop for home gardeners. They require relatively little space and can yield 10 to 15 pounds or more of fruit per plant. https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/tomatoes
Keep all transplants watered deeply for 2–3 weeks.
Stuck in Quarantine, Gardening Sees Growth in Popularity
“It’s deep in our humanness to want to be connected to nature,” said Jon Traunfield, director of the UME’s Home & Garden Information Center. “It connects you to the soil. It’s very calming for people.” | UMD HGIC
Lawns
Mow high to reduce weeds and stress. Fescue & Bluegrass: 3″ – 3 1/2″ .
Mow zoysia grass at 2″
To control crabgrass, apply pre-emergent herbicide to lawn (when forsythia blooms drop).
Calibrate your spreader before fertilizing.
Fertilize Turf only if weak: apply 1 lb. N/1000 sqft
Control wild onions in warm season turf with broadleaf weed control.
In this video we show you how to take a soil sample, determine the amount of fertilizer needed, and calibrate your spreader to have a healthy lawn while protecting the environment in Maryland. | UMD HGIC
Indoors/Houseplants
Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
Begin hardening off prior to putting outside in shade for summer.
Repot and fertilize houseplants when new growth begins.
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).
Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
Pests to watch for: aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, whitefly
Expert: ‘Murder Hornets’ Still a Distant Threat Let the ‘Bug Guy’ Exterminate (Most of) Your Angst About Giant Insects https://bit.ly/3fMyqlR
Be vigilant for mosquito breeding spots—any standing water from a bottle cap to blocked gutters—and clean them out immediately. Put Mosquito Dunks in any areas that accumulate water.
The wild rabbit in Maryland is the Eastern Cottontail. Rabbits are abundant in both rural and suburban areas. They tend to concentrate around shrubs, overgrown fence rows, or the edge of a field. https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/rabbits
Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
Put up birdhouses.
Keep bird feeders clean and filled.
Ticks are very active now.
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.
Source: University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) and the Washington Gardener.
Mill Creek Towne Garden Club News
Dear Neighbors, We want to thank you for all your support and give you an update on our Mill Creek Towne Entrance Repair Project. See message below for details.
This year’s Guide lists over 70 MoCo Made food and beverage producers and farmers, with products ranging from honey to craft beverages to artisanal meats and more.
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):
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:
