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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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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

• Plant hardy bulbs for spring flowering.
• After blooming, cut mums back to 6 inches above ground. Plant mums if still in pots.
• Cut back perennials that have turned to mush. 
• Continue to divide and transplant perennials.
• Leave seedheads on Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for the birds to enjoy over the winter.
• Prune and mulch tea roses.
• Force spring bulbs for indoor blooms this January by potting them up, watering thoroughly, and placing them in your vegetable crisper for about 10 weeks.
• Collect dried flowers and grasses for an indoor vase.
• Check that all vines are securely tied against winter’s cold winds.
• Rake up weeds and their seedlings.
• Wait to mulch until ground freezes hard.
• After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials, then mark beds!
• Collect plant seeds for next year’s planting and for trading at the annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges.
• Continue to deadhead.
• Dig up bulbs from your Gladiolus, Canna, Caladiums, and other tender bulbs; cut off foliage; let dry for a week; and store for the winter.
• Gather seeds and carefully label them. Store in dry location.
• Gently clean up the garden.
• Water thoroughly, especially if you receive no rain for more than seven days.
• Inspect your garden from powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation. Discard properly (i.e., not in your compost bin).
• 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

• No more fertilizing for the year. But planting is still OK.
• Plant evergreens for a winter interest.
• Harvest most fruits before frost.
• Protect fig trees from freezing by piling up leaves around them.
• Trees and shrubs can be planted until the ground freezes.
• Dig a hole now if you will be planting a “live” Christmas tree.
• If your conifers start shedding their needles or your spring bulb foliage starts peeking out of the ground, don’t worry. This is normal for our autumn cycle.
• Transplant trees when leaves begin to color.
• Divide ornamental grasses.
• Contact an certified arborist to have your trees’ health inspected.
• Soil test established trees that have not been performing well.
• Check often and water newly planted trees if they don’t pass the finger test (stick your finger deep into soil – dry? Water!)
• Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits and deer.
• 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.
• Remove rotting fruit from fruit trees and compost them.
• Spray with dormant oil to decrease pest infestations.
• Remove dead and dying trees.
• Pests to watch for:  adelgids, aphids, azalea lacebug, borers, bagworms, caterpillars, leafminers, Gypsy moths, sawfly, webworm, spidermites, scale, and Japanese beetles, voles, and deer.
• Diseases to watch for: Wood decay/rot.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

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Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit

• Keep an eye out for the first frost date. In Zone 7, it is predicted to be between October 15 and November 15.
• Cover carrots, parsnips, and turnips with straw to extend harvest.
• Plant garlic for harvest next spring.
• Remove this year’s fruiting raspberry canes down to the ground.
• Dig up your potatoes and store them in a cool, dark spot.
• Plant cover crops in vegetable gardens and annual beds. Continue planting cool-season vegetables (rye, clover, hairy vetch, winter peas, turnips, carrots, beets, spinach, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts); plant garlic now through the end of October.
• Harvest sweet potatoes.
• This is a good time to have vegetable garden and landscape soils tested.
• Pick pumpkins at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.
• Watch your pumpkins/squash. Harvest them when their rinds are dull and hard.
• Pot up rosemary and chives for over-wintering indoors.
• Harvest your herbs often and keep them trimmed back to encourage leafy growth.
• Harvest leaves of herbs used in cooking (rosemary, basil, sage) in the early morning for best flavor.
• Cut herbs and hang dry in a cool, dry place indoors.
• Preserve gourds and dry flowers for display in the fall.
• Water deeply when needed.
• Remove finished 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.
• Direct-sow vegetable seeds.
• Mulch strawberry beds for winter.
• 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.

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Lawns

• Fertilize your lawn and re-seed if needed.
• Keep newly seeded lawns well watered.
• Apply fertilizer and lime to turfgrass based on soil tests and UME recommendations.
• Have soil tested (every 3 years at minimum). Apply lime as needed to adjust pH.
• Sharpen your lawnmower blade.
• 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.

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Indoors/Houseplants

• Mid-month, pot amaryllis for winter holiday bloom.
• Do not fertilize indoor plants (except cyclamen) until January.
• 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.
• Set up humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
• Vacuum any ladybugs that come into the house.
• Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
• Look out for slug eggs grouped under sticks and stones; they are the size of BBs and pale in color.
• Force the buds on Christmas cactus by placing in a cool (55-60 degrees) room for 13 hours of darkness.
• Pot up Paper Whites and Amaryllis for holiday blooming. Repot every other year at this time. Store in a cool, dark place and do not water until flower buds or leaves emerge.
• 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.
• 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.
  

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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 home to prevent wildlife from coming indoors.
• 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.
• Start feeding birds to get them in the habit for this winter.
• 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:

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Montgomery Parks – Events

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FeederWatch Thursdays and Fridays

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Festive Centerpieces

Thursday, December 5 / 1:30 – 3:30 pm 
Fee: $55 / FOBG: $50
Instructor: Jason Gedeik, Brookside Gardens Horticulturist 
Location: Brookside Gardens Adult Classroom

Make a long-lasting beautiful centerpiece  using fresh greens and pine cones! The centerpieces will include a candle and seasonal decorations. Fee includes all materials for two centerpieces.

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‘Christmas On the Farm’ Returns To Agricultural History Farm In Derwood On December 7-8

Saturday – Sunday, December 7-8, 2024
12:00PM – 5:00PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, MD 20855

The free annual look at how the holidays would be celebrated in the historic agricultural areas of Montgomery County will be on display Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7-8, at “Christmas on the Farm” at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. The event will run from noon-5 p.m. each day.

The Agricultural History Farm Park is located at 18400 Muncaster Road in Derwood. In addition to free admission, parking also is free.

The day will include hayrides, farm animals, free cider and cookies, a bake sale table, barn decorations, holiday crafts and music.

For more information, go to www.friendsofthefarmpark.org

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Master Gardener Lectures – All About Chiles

Saturday, December 14: 2:00pm – 3:00pm

Rockville Memorial Library – 1st Floor Meeting Room

21 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850

AGE GROUP:  TEENS, OLDER ADULTS, ADULT

EVENT TYPE:   LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS  ENVIRONMENT

Master Gardener Betty Cichy will cover topics in this talk related to how to choose, grow, cook, preserve and enjoy hot peppers and Chiles.

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55+ Nature Book Club – Holiday Book Swap