Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Happy New Year! If your new year’s resolution is to start a healthier lifestyle, studies have shown that gardening is a great way to get exercise and live a long healthy life! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for January. Events include Volunteer Fair for Montgomery Parks Historic Sites,  MLK Day of Service,  our MCT Garden Club Meeting Program on The Key to Soil Health, 14th Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange in MD, Maple Sugaring Days, Spring Conference, and more!

Planning:

• Start reading those plant catalogs!
• Start collecting plant seeds.
• Decide where your plants from seed are going in your garden.
• Finalize catalog seed orders by the second/third week of January.
• Collect supplies for starting seeds.
• Clean and sharpen your garden tools.
• Clean and tidy up pots and seed trays to get a good start in February.
• Paint a few terra cotta pots in spring-like colors.
• Repair your shed and repair/paint your fences.
• Clean out your greenhouse and wash those windows.
• Volunteer at a local public or historic garden.
  
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
• Support our local parks and gardens. Visit a garden or park for their winter festivities!
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2018 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Prune summer bloomers such as Hydrangeas, Rose of Sharon, Crape Myrtles, and Butterfly Bushes.
• Start seeds for: Petunia, Dwarf Snapdragons and check daily for moisture.
• Last chance to plant bulbs or, if you have waited until the ground is frozen, pot them up for forcing indoors.
• Hand-pull visible weeds.
• Clean out your cold frame or build a new one.
• Collect large plastic soda bottles to use as cloches (A cloche is a clear, bell-shaped cover used to protect tender plants from frost.)
• Check any tropical or summer-blooming bulbs, corms, tubers, and bare root plants in storage for rot or dessication.
• Leave seedheads on Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for birds to enjoy over the winter.
• After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials and then mark beds!
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, spidermites, whiteflies, snails, slugs
• Diseases to watch for:  Damping off of seedlings
• See UMD’s HGIC’s January Flower Tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Prune damaged branches.
• Plant frost-tolerant trees.
• Check that newly-planted trees, shrubs, and perennials have not been heaved out of the ground due to freezing and thawing cycles.
• Moderately prune evergreens, especially hollies, for indoor decorating.
• For care of holiday plants and trees, see these articles on seasonal and indoor plants.
• Take hardwood cuttings from willow and dogwood to propagate them.
• Set out your live potted evergreens from holiday decorating in a protected outdoor space to harden them off in advance of planting them.
• If we have snow, gently dislodge snow from trees and shrubs with a broom to prevent damage to branches.
• Use leftover holiday greens and cut-up tree branches to mulch beds and create windbreaks.
• Prune maples, dogwoods, birch, elm, walnut, and yellowwood to prevent “bleeding”.
• Water slowly and deeply if weather is very dry and ground is not frozen.
• Prune out Fireblight damage Malus and Pyrus when very cold.
• Continue to remove fallen, diseased leaves.
• Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  Gypsy moths, azalea lacebug, adelgids, aphids, bagworms, borer, caterpillars, scale, sawfly, spidermites, leafminers, and Japanese beetles.
• Diseases to watch for:  Fireblight
• For more tips, see HGIC’s January Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

• Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging crowns.
• Do not step on frozen soil in flower beds and lawns.
• Use de-icer sparingly or a nonchemical substitute such as sand, grit, fireplace ashes, or non-clumping kitty litter.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Rake leaves, shred, and gather in compost piles.
• 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 HGIC’s January Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• All indoor plants should be indoors now.
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• 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.
• Do not place live wreaths or greenery in-between your door and a glass storm door, especially if the doorway is facing south. This placement will “cook” the arrangement on a sunny day.
• Reduce fertilizing of your indoor plants (except cyclamen).
• Mid-month, pot amaryllis for winter holiday bloom.
• Take cuttings of plants you want to overwinter inside and place in water.
• Prune potted bougainvillea or hanging baskets that will overwinter inside.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Pests to watch for:  spider mites and  whitefly
• See HGIC’s January Houseplants Tips for more tips.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Clean and refill bird feeders.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• Check for vole problems and set up traps.
• See HGIC’s January Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, moles, snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s January Wildlife Tips.

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

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 Volunteer Fair for Montgomery Parks Historic Sites, MLK Day of Service,  MCT Garden Club Meeting Program on The Key to Soil Health, 14th Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange in MD, Maple Sugaring Days, Spring Conference, and more!

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):

http://extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/plant-clinics

Volunteer Fair for Montgomery Parks Historic Sites

 

February is Maple Sugaring Month at Brookside Nature Center. Every Saturday and Sunday you’ll have an opportunity to experience an American tradition: maple sugaring! Watch the whole maple sugaring process from start to finish. See sap drip from trees and taste it. Watch us boil it down into sweet maple syrup, then sample a tasty treat. Join in the fun and activities and learn something new at this family-friendly program!

REGISTER

Spring Conference

Saturday, February 23, 2019 | 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM

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

Save the Date!  Gardening From the Ground Up

This year’s Spring Conference will occur on Saturday, February 23, 2019.  Our theme is “Gardening from the Ground Up”.  The Montgomery County Master Gardener Spring Conference is held in February each year.  The day-long event is open to the public and offers multiple presentations by Master Gardeners, morning snacks, a delicious bag lunch, door prizes, networking with other gardeners, answers to your gardening questions, handouts, and reference materials.  Registration is required to attend.  Click here to view this year’s Spring Conference flyer.

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Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Happy Earth Month!  Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for April. Events include Montgomery Parks Speaker Series, Nature Matters Lecture Series: African Penguin Conservation, MCT Garden Club’s Brookside Garden Guided Group Tour, Earth Day Festival, and more! Join us for our 50th Anniversary Mill Creek Town Garden Club Celebration on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 @ 7:30pm with special guest speaker Kathy Jentz, who will provide garden tips on native plants in Montgomery County, MD gardens!

Planning:

• Take an inventory of pots and containers; clean or replenish potted soil.
• Set aside a few hours each weekend for attending garden shows and tours.
• Mark beds outside where new plants are to go.
• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
• Read a good gardening book or magazine.
• Select and order fruit plants
• Decide on new tree/shrub locations.
• If you want a street tree, pick one under 20-30 feet if you have overhead power lines.
• Plan landscape design projects.
• When planning your wildlife-friendly backyard don’t forget to include native trees and shrubs that produce fall and winter persistent fruits.
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2018 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Hardy spring bulbs begin to emerge (crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, tulips).
• Plant pansies.
• Transplant seedlings into individual 3″-4″ pots when crowded.
• Pinch out growing tips of leggy seedlings.
• Transplant spring flowering bulbs after flowering.
• Begin hardening off hardier transplants. Sow seeds outdoors of hardier annuals.
• After spring bulbs bloom, let leaves turn yellow and die before trimming.
• Pests to watch for: voles
• Diseases to watch for:  Botrytis on peonies, Volutella blight on pachysandra.
• See UMD’s HGIC’s April Flower tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Plant a tree for Arbor Day, Friday, April 27th.
• Prune flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, lilacs, and azaleas when they finish blooming.
• Do not fertilize newly planted or transplanted plants the first year.
• Soil test established trees that have not been performing well.
• Keep mowers and trimmers away from trunks!
• Prune winter damage on evergreens when new growth begins.
• Prune damaged branches.
• Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs before new growth.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs weekly or as needed.
• Pests to watch for:  Gypsy moths late in month, scale, sawfly, spidermites, leafminers, and caterpillars.
• Diseases to watch for:  Anthracnose, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
• See HGIC’s April Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

• Mow high to reduce weeds and stress: Fescue and Bluegrass: 3″ – 3 ½”
• Test soil if you haven’t already (every 3 years minimum).
• Start lawn seeding.
• Dethatch if necessary and plug aerate BEFORE applying weed control.
• Control wild onions in warm season turf with broadleaf weed control.
• Apply pre-emergent crabgrass and broadleaf weed control when forsythia finishes blooming.
• 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
• Build a compost bin.
• Get your lawn mower serviced.
• Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
• Pests to watch for: Grubs
• See HGIC’s April Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
• Repot and fertilize houseplants when new growth begins.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film to build-up.
• Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
• Fertilize houseplants now that they are actively growing again.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, mealybug, spider mites, scale, and  whitefly
• See HGIC’s April Houseplants Tips for more tips.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Ticks are very active now.
• Clean and refill bird feeders.
• Put up birdhouses.
• Wash and refill the bird bath or set out a shallow bowl of water in icy weather.
• Vacuum up any ladybugs that come in the house.
• Check for vole problems and set up traps.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• See HGIC’s April Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, moles, snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s April Wildlife tips.

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

See below for upcoming local events in April.