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Join Mill Creek Towne Garden Club!

• Are you interested in gardening? Perhaps you’re a beginner, looking to learn more, or an experienced gardener interested in sharing your experiences and learning from others?
• Are you interested in making your home and community a more beautiful place to live?
• Are you interested in getting more involved in your community and getting to know your neighbors better?

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Visit Our MCT Garden Club Website for Gardening Resources

• Local Gardening Resources: Looking for a Master Gardener as a guest speaker, need gardening advice, or want to learn about resources in or near Mill Creek Towne? Visit our Resources page for details.
• MCTGC Blog: Check our monthly blog for garden tips and local/online garden-related events.
• Gardening Books: Looking for a gift for your favorite gardener? Visit our Gardening Books Resources page for holiday gift ideas.
• Local Gardens: Visit our Local Gardens page to learn about local gardens in our area.
• Montgomery County Farmers’ Markets: Support our local farmers. Check this page to learn about local farmers markets in our area or join a CSA and get fresh local produce year-round!
• Online Gardening Resources: Looking for gardening apps or online resources to help with your gardening? Check out our Online Gardening Resources page for some apps for your smartphone and online gardening resources focused on the DMV area.
• Recipes: Looking for a recipe for your home-grown veggies and fruit? Check our Recipes page for ideas.

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Other Timely Topics

• 10 Ways to Repurpose Your Christmas Tree
• Seasonal Herbs: Rosemary and Peppermint
• Use De-Icing Salts with a Grain of Salt
• What Can You Start from Seed in February?

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

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Flowers and Groundcovers

• Hardy spring bulbs begin to emerge (crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, tulips).
• Deadhead pansies.
• Prune roses.
• Pull out ornamental cabbages and Kale.
• Lightly fertilize bulbs when green starts to show.
• Transplant seedlings into 3″-4″ pots when crowded. Fertilize transplants with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks).
• Start seeds for: Portulaca, Ageratum, China Aster, Cleome, Dwarf Marigolds, Salvia, Tall Snapdragons, Verbana. Check daily for moisture.
• Walk your yard to check plants and bulbs for heaving and place them back into the ground. Cover with more mulch to prevent further heaving.
• Leave seedheads on Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for the birds to enjoy over the winter.
• Check that all vines are securely tied against winter’s cold winds.
• Rake up weeds and their seedlings.
• After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials, then mark beds!
• Collect plant seeds for planting and for trading at the annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges.
• Gather seeds and carefully label them. Store in dry location.
• Gently clean up the garden.
• Weed. Especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, deer, voles.
• Diseases to watch for:  Powdery mildew, Rust
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.
• For a list of native plant resources, visit: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/native-plant-resources

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Trees and Shrubs

• Prune broken, dead, diseased, or damaged branches.
• Begin pruning of summer flowering shrubs.
• Prune summer bloomers such as Hydrangeas, Rose of Sharon, Crepe Myrtles, and Butterfly Bushes.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Rejuvenate holly bushes and boxwood with a hard pruning.
• Cut a few branches of flowering shrubs to force into bloom inside.
• Plant or transplant trees or shrubs, including berries, roses, and evergreens.
• If we do get more snow in the DC area, gently dislodge snow from trees and shrubs with a broom to prevent damage to branches.
• Check that newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials have not been heaved out of the ground due to freezing and thawing cycles.
• Water slowly and deeply if weather is very dry and ground is not frozen.
• Prune out Fireblight damage Malus and Pyrus when very cold.
• Stake newly planted large trees or shrubs to protect them from winter winds.
• Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits or deer.
• Gently remove layers of snow from your outdoor evergreens with a broom.
• Check often and water newly planted trees if they don’t pass the finger test (stick your finger deep into soil – dry? Water!)
• Check for vole problems and set out traps.
• Spray broadleaf evergreens with anti-desiccant to prevent dehydration.
• Use fallen leaves for mulch or compost.
• Look out for any Poison Ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the late fall and be easy to distinguish from other vines.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• Continue to remove fallen, diseased leaves.
• Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds in your trash — not your compost pile.
• Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. Work compost into your planting beds.
• Apply dormant oil treatment to ornamentals and fruit trees before dormancy breaks.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  adelgids, aphids, azalea lacebug, borers, bagworms, caterpillars, deer, leafminers, Gypsy moths, sawfly, webworm, spidermites, scale, and Japanese beetles, and voles.
• Diseases to watch for: Botryosphaeria canker, Black knot on Prunus, Wood decay/rot, Fireblight.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

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Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit

• Start seedlings indoors under grow lights. Some good choices to start early are peppers, artichokes, onions, beets, turnips, cabbage, kale, and leeks.
• Begin tilling beds (when the earth is dry enough to work, but not muddy) and work in compost.
• Sow greens indoors or outdoors in a cold frame.
• Start seeds for: Cabbage, chives, fennel, sage, thyme, rosemary.
• Direct-sow early, cool-season crops as soon as ground soil can be worked. Good choices are peas, lettuces, mustards, onion sets, kale, and cabbages.
• Begin successive plantings of peas using inoculant.
• Keep ice-melting chemicals away from garden beds. Use coarse sand instead.
• Cover garlic plants with straw or leaf mulch.
• Prune out Fireblight damage on apples and pears when very cold.
• Spread ashes from wood fires on your vegetable beds.
• Avoid walking on frozen planting beds.
• Clean out your cold frame or build a new one.
• Vent cold frames on sunny days.
• Remove finished plants.
• Cover strawberry beds with straw or pine needles.
• Thin seedlings.
• Apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees.
• Pests to watch for: Asparagus beetle, aphids, cabbage worms, corn borer, corn earworm, cutworms, Japanese beetles, squash vine borer, and tomato hornworm.
• Diseases to watch for: Dampling off of seedlings
• Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

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Lawns

• Start lawn seeding.
• Clean yard of leaves and other debris.
• Trim ornamental grasses such as liriope, mondo, and pampas.
• Spread new gravel on paths.
• Mulch bare areas.
• Shovel walks and drive before applying ice melt or you’ll damage lawn.
• Get your lawnmower serviced.
• Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging the crowns.
• Some alternatives to de-icing salts include sand, beet juice sugars, light gravel, or non-clumping kitty litter. Using de-icing salts around driveways and sidewalks can harm your garden plants and turf.
• Keep newly seeded lawns well watered.
• Apply fertilizer and lime to turfgrass based on soil tests and UME recommendations.
• Sharpen your lawnmower blade.
• Check and tune-up power equipment (mowers and trimmers).
• Clean yard of all leaves and other debris.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
• Pests to watch for: Grubs
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

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Indoors/Houseplants

• Check indoors for termites and ants.
• Scan houseplants for insect activity.
• Begin to pot up rooted cuttings. Fertilize with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer every other watering.
• Buy a few new houseplants.
• Change water cuttings started last fall and add 2-3 pieces of fish tank charcoal.
• Pinch back leggy plants.
• Maintain moisture in pots, but do not overwater!
• Set up humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
• Start new indoor plants from cuttings – try an easy one such as violets.
• Vacuum any ladybugs that come into the house.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
• Give your houseplants a quarter turn every few weeks.
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Keep succulents and cacti on the dry side.
• Check on your container plants daily and keep them well-watered.
• 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.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, and whitefly.
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more information.
  

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Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips

• Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
• Caulk and seal your home to prevent wildlife from coming indoors.
• Put suet out for birds.
• Keep bird feeders clean and filled and provide a source of water.
• Wash out birdbaths weekly with diluted bleach solution.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
• Remove and destroy gypsy moth egg masses.
• Watch for: eggs, larvae, overwintering stage of many species, carpenter ants, flies, 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.

See more tips from HGIC:

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All About Chiles (a presentation from Master Gardeners) – In Person

Saturday, February 22: 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Quince Orchard Library
15831 Quince Orchard Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Age group:  Teens, Older Adults, Adult

event type:   Environment  Arts, Crafts and Hobbies

Learn how to choose, grow, preserve and enjoy hot peppers!

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“OUR EARTH” Book Discussion Club – IN PERSON – Connie Morella Library

Saturday, February 22: 3:30pm – 5:00pm

Connie Morella Library
7400 Arlington Rd
Bethesda, MD 20814

Age group:  Teens, Older Adults, Adult

event type:   Lectures and Discussions  Environment

Come, share your ideas and learn more about environmental topics in this space for thoughtful exchange, around fiction and non-fiction books.

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MoCo’s first seed library takes root at Rockville Science Center

Last summer, neighbors Laura Saint-Jean and Sally Maayan turned a neglected storage shed surrounded by “ugly bushes” in their Derwood townhouse neighborhood into a vibrant native pollinator garden.

In just one growing season, Saint-Jean said the pair brought the area around the shed to life with donated seeds from friends and neighbors, sprouting a colorful array of flowers and collecting several acres’ worth of seeds. With limited space to plant all of the collected seeds by late fall, the pair donated the surplus to the Rockville Makerspace Seed Library, providing its first batch of non-food seeds.

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Montgomery Parks – Events

GreenScapes Symposium

Friday, February 14, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

*Live Zoom Event

Early Bird fee ends Friday, January 10

Join us for a fascinating day of presentations offering practical strategies to design sustainable and resilient landscapes. Don’t miss out on the Early Bird fee of $50 that ends Friday, January 10. To learn more and register for this live Zoom event, click on this link: www.brooksidegreen.org. 

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Implementing Climate Resilient Living Shorelines in Maryland

Wednesday, March 12 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Online

This webinar will cover the history of shoreline erosion control practices and how traditional techniques have evolved in recent years. What is a ‘living shoreline’? How can we enhance habitat, water quality, access, and prepare for climate impacts at the same time? We will cover the Shoreline Conservation Service and discuss which technical and financial assistance opportunities are currently available through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

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Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Home and Garden Classes – Spring 2025

See Schedule of Spring Classes below:

CRN#	Class ID	Course	Course Name	Start Date	End Date	Days	Times	Location
33853	18212	LLP152	Annuals and Perennials for Mid-Atlantic Landscape	4/29/2025	5/6/2025	Tue	10:30 AM – 1:00 PM	R-MK-Mannakee Building
33822	18216	LLI519	Garden Design	2/18/2025	3/11/2025	Tue	6:30 PM – 8:30 PM	R-MK-Mannakee Building
33821	18214	LLI022	Orchids:How to Grow and Bloom	1/28/2025	1/28/2025	Tue	6:30 PM – 9:30 PM	A-DL-WD&CE Virtual-Remote
34067	18215	LLP153	Woody Ornamentals for the Mid-Atlantic Region	4/1/2025	4/8/2025	Tue	6:30 PM – 9:00 PM	A-DL-WD&CE Virtual-Remote

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