Median strip on Roslyn – a kind neighbor has mowed the median strip. The county is responsible for the mowing and once the county is running as usual they will be resuming these duties. We want the county to continue maintaining the median.
Entrance Wall News
Thank you to all the neighbors who donated to fund the repair of the entrance walls at Roslyn and Miller Fall. Good things are coming soon. We have secured a contractor to power wash and repair the Roslyn and Miller Fall entrances. New letters have been ordered for the Miller Fall entrance that are the same as the letters on Roslyn- a simple easy to read font, Helvetica. We are in contact with the contractor and once the work is complete we will be doing some landscaping. A start date has not been established yet.
During this difficult time, there are still some things that we can be thankful for. For one, gardening is not cancelled! Gardening is good exercise and good for your mental health! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for April. Because of the coronavirus, we are not able to list April events. However, here is a link to Maryland Gardens. Although buildings may be closed, the grounds for many of these gardens are open and spring is still on.
“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.”
Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.
Flowers and Groundcovers
Genty clean up the garden. Add 1 inch of compost.
After spring bulbs bloom, let leaves turn yellow and die before trimming.
Pull out ornamental cabbages and kale.
Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water, if you want to give them an early start on the season.
Lightly fertilize bulbs when green starts to show.
Walk your garden — look for early signs of fungal disease.
Divide perennials and herbs.
Plant and prune roses.
Transplant seedlings into individual 3″-4″ pots when crowded.
Start some more seeds — especially try flowering annuals like impatiens, marigolds, nasturtium, and petunias.
Fertilize transplants with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks)
Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother’s Day (traditional last frost-free date for our entire area).
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.
USDA entomologist Sammy Ramsey (and UMD Department of Entomology alumnus) tells host Maddie Sofia about the “three P’s” that are driving these die-offs. And how our industrious friends the bees actually love it when we’re a little lazy with our yard work.
Trees and Shrubs
Plant trees, shrubs, perennials; this is a good time to plant evergreens.
Begin planting trees when soil is not too wet.
Plant a tree for Arbor Day. In our area, it is the first Wednesday in Maryland.
Soil test established trees that have not been performing well.
Keep mowers and trimmers away from trunks!
Cut some branches (forsythia, quince, bittersweet, redbud, willow, etc.) for forcing into bloom and enjoying indoors.
Prune butterfly bush to 8″ – 10″.
Prune azaleas when they finish blooming.
Do not fertilize newly planted or transplanted plants the first year.
Rejuvenate prune hollies.
Prune out Eastern tent caterpillar egg masses.
Test soil pH on some hydrangeas and adjust: pH 5 – 5.5 = blue; pH 6 – 6.5 = pink
Prune broken, dead, or diseased branches.
Prune winter damage on evergreens when new growth begins.
Prune flowering (except Crepe Myrtle) and non-flowering trees and shrubs before new growth.
Root prune trees and shrubs to be transplanted next year.
Prune maples, dogwoods, birch, elm, and walnut—if needed.
Remove fallen diseased leaves.
Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
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: Anthracnose, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process.
Start seeds for tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers inside.
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.
Because so many of us are finding ourselves at home in self isolation for the time being, we want to share free learning opportunities offered by Extension offices and Universities across the country. For anyone in the Southeast U.S. who wants to get out there and start a vegetable garden, here is a free course from University of Florida Extension that includes an adult and kid’s book club!
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.
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:
