Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,
Happy August! It’s the end of summer, so now is the time enjoy your harvest and prepare for the fall. Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for August. A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook as well as on our website. Some upcoming events/resources include a Muddy Branch Alliance’s Meadow Tour, Climate Resilient Gardening Webinar Series, Master Gardener Lectures – Climate Change for Gardeners, The Montgomery County 75th Agricultural Fair, Garden Discovery Day, Volunteer Gardener Opportunities with Montgomery Parks for SSL Hours, Montgomery Park’s – Flora & Fauna Program, Montgomery College’s Home and Garden Lifelong Learning classes, American Horticultural Society’s Great American Gardeners Webinar Series, and more! These events will be hosted as online or live events.
Planning Tips
- It is harvest time and also a good time to start taking stock of what worked well for you this season and what didn’t.
- Mark and photograph your bulb plantings now, while they are still visible.
- Plan where fall bulbs will go.
- Check your local garden center for end-of-summer bargains.
- Order spring-flowering bulbs to arrive for planting this fall.
- The heat of summer is here. Time to start doing chores during early morning or evening. Take a break during the hottest parts of the day. Leave the big projects for this fall. For now, concentrate on maintaining the beds you’ve already established and nurturing your new plantings.
- Check out gardening books from your local library to read on vacation.
- Start or update your garden journals.
- Read a good gardening book or magazine.
- Plan who is going to water plants during your vacation.
- Volunteer at a local public or historic garden.
- Plan for 2024 with these Free resources: Landscaping with Native Plants by the Maryland Native Plant Society, Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas by the National Park Service, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia Reading Room. Visit our Online Gardening Resources page for more helpful online resources.
- Buy a good gardening book or magazine subscription for a gift for your favorite gardener.
- Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
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?
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.
Maryland Grows Blog
In weekly posts on MD HGIC’s blog, learn about pollinator conservation, growing native plants and food, and how to solve plant pest and disease problems.
MD HGIC Video Tips
Our Extension experts are sharing one-minute video tips to help you in the garden this summer. We’re talking about pest management in the vegetable garden, tree and lawn diseases, native plants, mowing lawns, and more!
For more information, please visit:
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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
New HGIC Publications
Social Wasps: Yellowjackets, Hornets & Paper Wasps
Our updated resource page includes a downloadable picture guide to help you identify some of Maryland’s most common social wasps. You can also send photos to us for ID help.
Phytotoxicity: Chemical Damage to Garden Plants
Pesticides, cleaning agents, and salts can damage garden plants in various ways. The risk of damage can be higher during drought and when temperatures are above 85℉.
New Invasive Plants Law
In May, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed the Agriculture and Biodiversity Protection Act, which went into effect on June 1, 2024. This new law will change the regulation of invasive plants in Maryland. Invasive plants are non-native species that cause harm to the economy, environment, or human health.
Currently, 6 plants are prohibited for sale in Maryland. The new law will expand this list. Updated regulations will be posted on the Maryland Department of Agriculture website.
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas is a field guide you can use to identify and manage terrestrial and aquatic species that are threatening our region.
UMD Home and Garden Information Center: Ask a Master Gardener
Do you have a gardening question? Our Certified Professional Horticulturists, faculty, and Master Gardener Volunteers are ready to answer – year-round!
See below to ask a master gardener a question on the UMD Extension website:
Check out the revised list of Mid-Atlantic native plants for pollinators and beneficial insects, from the Xerces Society.
Flowers and Groundcovers
- Cut petunia stems back by 2/3rds and fertilize.
- Start seeds of pansies, calendula, flowering cabbage, kale, other fall annuals.
- Don’t fertilize plants that slow down in the heat, but keep them watered. Fertilize lightly plants that are blooming heavily.
- Check your container plants daily and keep them well-watered.
- Gently clean up the garden.
- Water thoroughly, especially if you receive no rain for more than seven days.
- Divide and cut back Bearded Irises and Peonies.
- Divide Hostas and Daylilies.
- As the days get cooler; plant hardy mums.
- Check for black spot on your roses – remove and discard any affected leaves in the trash, never back into your garden or in your compost – apply fungicide with Neem oil every two weeks during the growing season.
- Inspect your garden from powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation. Discard properly (i.e., not in your compost bin).
- Hand-pick Japanese beetles or shake them off over a bucket of dishwater. Early morning is a good time to catch them, while they are still drowsy.
- Annuals are now hitting their peak. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going until September.
- Pinch back asters, mums, salvias, Joe-Pye weed, and other late-season bloomers to encourage bushy, not leggy growth.
- 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
- 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
5 Million Trees Initiative
Maryland’s goal is to plant and maintain 5 million native trees by 2031. There are various ways you can get involved – plant trees and register them — or volunteer! A number of tree-planting assistance programs are available at the municipal, county, and state levels.
THIS is the SUPERPOWER of YOUR KEYSTONE NATIVE PLANTS.
- No exotic plant could ever achieve this.
- Want butterflies? Feed the caterpillars with keystone plants!
- Exotic plants will never support as many different species of caterpillars as the Keystone Natives can.
- Find your keystone native plants here by zip code.
If your zip code doesn’t give you enough information try zip codes of the nearest larger town or city. LINK: https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/
Trees and Shrubs
- Don’t transplant azaleas this month.
- At this time of year, it is best not to fertilize trees, shrubs, and perennials. They do not need the burst of growth; they need to wind down for the winter.
- Avoid late summer pruning.
- Water slowly and deeply if summer is very dry.
- Hold off on planting any new trees and shrubs until the summer heat has passed.
- Contact an certified arborist to have your trees’ health inspected.
- Check often and water newly planted trees if they don’t pass the finger test (stick your finger deep into soil – dry? Water!)
- If you MUST mulch, remove old mulch then add 2″ – 3″ shredded pine or pine needles, keeping 3″ away from trunk.
- Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits and deer.
- 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.
- Soil test established trees that have not been performing well.
- 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 dead and dying trees.
- Pests to watch for: Eastern tent caterpillar, voles, and deer.
- Diseases to watch for: Gypsy moths, sawfly, azalea lacebug, webworm, spidermites, leafminers, caterpillars, adelgids, scale, aphids, borers, bagworms, and Japanese beetles.
- For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.
Vegetable Planting Calendar
Download vegetable planting calendars from University of Maryland Extension, in English and Spanish. This page also has a link to a frost/freeze date calculator.
VIDEO: How to use row cover to protect crops from pests
Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit
- Harvest leaves of herbs used in cooking (rosemary, basil, sage) in the early morning for best flavor.
- At the end of the month, begin planting cool-season vegetables (turnips, carrots, beets, spinach, Chinese cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts).
- Order garlic, onions, and shallots for fall planting.
- Attend a county fair and enter some of your garden bounty.
- Preserve gourds and dry flowers for display in the fall.
- Buy raspberries and peaches at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.
- Water deeply when needed.
- Remove finished plants.
- Cut off bottom, yellow foliage on tomato plants.
- Harvest regularly from your vegetable garden to prevent rot and waste.
- Harvest onions when tops die back.
- Deadhead garlic chives before they go to seed. Makes a nice cut flower.
- Harvest strawberry beds daily.
- Pinch back any straying strawberry runners.
- Direct-sow vegetable seeds.
- Harvest herbs to use in salads and summer dishes.
- Start planting heat-tolerant fall crops (Malabar spinach, Swiss chard).
- New fruit plants – keep watered their first spring, summer, and fall.
- Hand-pick cabbage worms from cabbage and broccoli.
- 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: Powdery mildew, fungal, bacterial, viral diseases.
- Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.
Lawns
- Let the lawn go dormant for now; it will green back up in the coming rains.
- Cool season lawns go dormant in hot, dry weather — Do Not Water.
- Over seeding may be done now through October.
- Keep newly seeded lawns well watered.
- Move in the early evening and cut off no more than one-third of the grass height at one time. Leave clippings on the ground to provide nutrients.
- Sharpen your lawnmower blade.
- Test soil if you haven’t already.
- Dethatch if necessary and plug aerate BEFORE applying weed control.
- 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.
Indoors/Houseplants
- Prune potted bougainvillea or hanging baskets that will overwinter inside.
- Bring Christmas cactus and poinsettias indoors if you took them out for the summer in preparation for holiday blooming. Fertilize them and put them where they’ll get just 10 hours bright light per day.
- 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.
- Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
- Change water in cuttings started last fall and add 2-3 pieces of fish tank charcoal.
- Do not over water house plants.
- 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.
Read and follow label instructions on all pesticides and herbicides.
Start the year off by minimizing your #risk to #pesticides and always #ReadTheLabel! Learn more here: http://npic.orst.edu/health/readlabel.html
Questions about your label? Call us! 800-858-7378 M-F 8am-12pm PST
Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips
- Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
- This is the perfect time to apply grub control.
- If you see spotted lanternfly in your garden, do not spray with chemicals or home remedies because it may harm beneficial insects and pollinators.
- Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insect entry into your home.
- Check for any stagnant water mosquito breeding grounds, especially your gutters. Dump out any water that sits stagnant for more than three days.
- Add Mosquito Dunks to any standing water in your yard such as birdbaths, downspouts, plant saucers, and gutters.
- Check your plants at night with a flashlight for any night-feeding insects like slugs.
- If you find slug damage, set out beer traps or Sluggo pellets.
- Watch for insect and disease problems throughout your garden.
- Put suet out for birds.
- Keep bird feeders clean and filled.
- Wash out birdbaths weekly with diluted bleach solution.
- Clean your hummingbird feeders and add new sugar-water every three days.
- Switch your deer deterrent spray.
- Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
- 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:
Meadow Tour | Muddy Branch Alliance
Saturday, August 3 at 9:00 AM
Izaak Walton League of America
707 Conservation Ln
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Would you like to know how to transition larger areas of turf to a gorgeous low-maintenance meadow? This is a FREE event courtesy of the Muddy Branch Alliance Lands Green Waters Clean program.
Join us on Saturday, August 3 at 9:00 AM for a Meadow Tour at the Izaak Walton League of America Meadow (707 Conservation Ln, Gaithersburg, MD 20878)!
Our meadow managers will be there to walk you through the process of creating a meadow, what we did, what is working well and what we need to do to keep it looking beautiful. This walk and talk is perfect for HOA Green Teams, grounds managers and anyone who wants to add meadow to their property. You will be able to see what a maturing meadow looks like and ask our sustainable landscaping professional questions. We can discuss funding opportunities, native plant identification, why native plants help pollinators, how native plants help manage stormwater, weed identification, weed management strategies, and much more!
Please RSVP for your household to help us plan for the number of attendees: https://forms.gle/hBJJ9Cpk39UzArt69 (UPDATED LINK)
We’ll send you more details ahead of the event, as well as announcements about weather delays or any other changes in plans.
Climate Resilient Gardening
2024 Climate and Biodiversity Action Webinar Series
Select Wednesdays, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. | FREE
This year’s theme is regeneration. Join Dr. Sara Via, Professor and Climate Extension Specialist, for webinar discussions on these topics:
- August 7 – Regenerative Agriculture and Other Fixes to the Food System
- August 28 – Rewilding: Regenerating Communities and Ecosystems
- September 18 – Progress in the Energy Transition
Recordings will be available afterward. | Details and registration
Master Gardener Lectures – Climate Change for Gardeners
Saturday, August 10: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Rockville Memorial Library – 2nd Floor Meeting Room
21 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
AGE GROUP: TEENS, OLDER ADULTS, ADULT
EVENT TYPE: LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS ENVIRONMENT
Master Gardener Irene Eckstrand’s lecture covers topics about adapting gardens to climate change.
The Montgomery County 75th Agricultural Fair
Friday, August 9th – Saturday, August 17th, 2024
Montgomery County Fairgrounds
501 Perry Parkway
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Montgomery County Fair on August 9-17th at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg. Enjoy amusement rides, carnival games, food, contests, exhibits, live music, homegrown entertainment and more! The fair has activities for all ages and includes special events for children, the military, and seniors. Be sure to visit the Montgomery County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden. Master Gardeners will be there to answer your gardening questions!
More info found at their website.
Montgomery Parks – Hot Volunteer Opportunities!
| Are you looking for a way to complete your Student Service-Learning Hours? Or are you looking for a way to give back to your community? Check out these gardening volunteer opportunities: Gardener | Various dates and times | Ages 16+ | Agricultural History Farm Park Gardener | First Tuesday of every month beginning May 7 through October 1 | 9 am to 1 pm | Ages 21+ | Silver Spring Intermediate Neighborhood Park Crop Production Aide | Various dates and times | Ages 18+ | Pope Farm Nursery Grown@Pope Volunteer Coordinator | April through September | Ages 18+ | Pope Farm Nursery Grown@Pope Workdays | Various dates and times | Ages 16+ | Pope Farm Nursery |
Garden Discovery Day
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Montgomery County Agricultural Center
16 Chestnut Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
University of Maryland Extension and Montgomery County Master Gardeners are proud to present Garden Discovery Day for children grades K-12 on September 21st at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Programs will cover a variety of topics from growing seasonal plants to sustainable food systems in the county. Plant a garden to take home! Find out what are good and bad bugs! Children will experience live demonstrations and participate in take-home activities. The event is open to all, but registration is required. Session prices range from $10 to $18 depending on the session. Find all the details and register here:
Montgomery Parks – Flora & Fauna Program
Montgomery Parks is pleased to offer a new online learning series for adults that teaches you to recognize the most common species of Montgomery County. Led by our expert Parks staff, you’ll practice identification skills, learn the best ways to see wildlife, and be empowered to practice conservation in your own neighborhood. Montgomery County is a biodiverse place with so many interesting plants and animals, and we can’t wait to share them with you!
Go to Montgomery Parks event calendar for a complete list of special events and programming and to learn how to sign up using ActiveMontgomery.
Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Home and Garden Classes – Fall 2024
See Schedule of Fall Classes below:
| HOW TO GROW AND BLOOM – LLI 022 | ||||||||
| View Catalog Description & Prerequisites | ||||||||
| Course | CRN | Credits | Days | Time | Start – End Dates | Campus | Location | Instructors |
| LLI022 | 24355 | 0.300 | S | 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM | 11/09/24 – 11/09/24 | WDCE Virtual-Remote | DL | Janet S. Johnson |
| GARDEN DESIGN – LLI 519 | ||||||||
| View Catalog Description & Prerequisites | ||||||||
| LLI519 | 24368 | 0.800 | T | 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM | 10/22/24 – 11/12/24 | Rockville | MK 101 | Janet S. Johnson |
Let’s Talk Gardens
Thursdays 12 to 1 p.m.
Smithsonian Gardens
“Grow” your gardening know-how! Our free online gardening program, Let’s Talk Gardens, covers a wide range of topics presented by our own professional staff, as well as guest speakers.
And we encourage you to watch videos in our Let’s Talk Gardens Video Library.
