Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Spring Forward– on your garden plans! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for March. Save the dates for these upcoming events! Events include All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC, Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC, Rolling Ridge Floral Design Spring Events, Garden After Dark: Wild at Home with Hilton Carter, Nature Matters: Moths and their Adaptations at Meadowside Nature Center, “How Does Your Garden Grow?” at Black Hill Nature Center, Earth Day Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup, and more!

Planning

• Mark beds outside where your new plants from seed are going in your garden.
• Clean out pots; store non-frost proof containers in shed, garage, or basement.
• Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
• Select and order fruit plants.
• Decide on new tree/shrub locations.
• If you want to plant a street tree, pick one that grows up to 20 to 30 feet tall if you have overhead power lines.
• Read a good gardening book or magazine.
• Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.

https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/

• Support our local parks and gardens. Visit a garden or park for their winter festivities!
• Volunteer at a local public or historic garden.
• Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!
• Visit a local farmers’ market.

Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers

• Clean up the garden.
• 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.
• Plant the bulbs you forgot to plant last fall!
• Hardy spring bulbs begin to emerge (crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, and tulips).
• Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets, but do not combine them with other flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic substance that may kill your other blooms prematurely.
• 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. 
• Fertilize transplants with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks)
• 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.
• Diseases to watch for:  Damping off of seedlings.
• 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

Trees and Shrubs

• 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.
• Cut some branches (forsythia, quince, bittersweet, redbud, willow, etc.) for forcing into bloom and enjoying indoors.
• Prune butterfly bush to 8″ – 10″.
• 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 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:  Fireblight, Cyrospora canker on Spruce, Phomopsis and Kabatina of Juniper, Diplodia tip blight of 2 & 3 needled pines.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit

If you started seeds indoors, follow tips and guidelines for good care of your plants. Take a look at Seedling Care.
https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/seedling-care

• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
• Start seeds for tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers inside.
• Start greens indoors or outdoors in a cold frame.
• Start hardy herbs (chives, sage, thyme, rosemary), fennel, onions, and cabbage.
• Plant cool-season crops (potatoes, lettuce, peas, root crops, spinach, and kale).
• Fertilize established asparagus, tree and bramble fruits, and strawberries.
• Prune grapevines.
• You can still have your vegetable garden and soils tested.
• Cover garlic plants other root crops with straw or leaf mulch.
• Prune dead bramble canes.
• Prune stone fruit trees like cherries, plums, and peaches.
• Apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees.
• Pests to watch for: rabbits, deer, woodchucks, birds
• Diseases to watch for: Damping off of seedlings.
• Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

Lawns

• Start lawn seeding. Reseed bare spots or overseed (through early April).
• To control crabgrass, apply pre-emergent herbicide to lawn (when forsythia blooms drop).
• Cut over-wintering ornamental grasses to 2 inches above the ground.
• Clean yard of all leaves and other debris.
• Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging the crowns.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Shovel walks and drive before applying ice melt or you’ll damage the lawn.
• Get your lawn mower serviced.
• 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 UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants

• Buy a few new houseplants.
• Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
• Fertilize your winter-blooming houseplants, such as violets.
• Change water in cuttings started last fall and add 2-3 pieces of fish tank charcoal.
• Rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
• 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.
• Start to fertilize with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks).
• Set up a humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
• Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
• Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
• Pests to watch for:  aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, whitefly
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more information.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips

• Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
• Keep bird feeders clean and filled.
• 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.
• Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
• Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, mosquitos, 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.

March

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 All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC, Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC, Rolling Ridge Floral Design Spring Events, Garden After Dark: Wild at Home with Hilton Carter, Nature Matters: Moths and their Adaptations at Meadowside Nature Center, “How Does Your Garden Grow?” at Black Hill Nature Center, Earth Day Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup, and more!

Montgomery County MD Food and Beverage Guide

The third edition of the MoCo Made Food & Beverage Guide is available!

The Guide features more than 60 local producers and farmers offering local-made products. Find the online version here:

https://mocofoodcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/MOCO_Directory_2018_FNL-digital.pdf

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):

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

Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to 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:

 http://www.mocoalliance.org/community-supported-agriculture.html

Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup

Saturday, April 18, 2020

10:00am – 12:00pm

Join Rock Creek Conservancy, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, National Park Service, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club, and Extreme Cleanup Leader Susan Yu for our Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup! We will be cleaning up trash from the Mill Creek Stream near the intersection of Mill Creek Drive and Warbler Lane on Saturday, April 18, 2020 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Trash and pollution are among the biggest threats to this small stream, one of the northern most tributaries of Rock Creek. Our goal is a total cleanup of Rock Creek and its tributaries, including the parks and neighborhoods near the creek where trash originates.

We invite you to join us for our 12th Annual Extreme Cleanup to help remove trash and keep this section of Rock Creek clean.

We hope to see you there!

You MUST register for this event; Early registration is required so we can get an accurate count to provide supplies for everyone.

Register for Our April 18th Mill Creek Extreme Cleanup Today!
https://events.time.ly/8ib56fp?event=37548728

Rolling Ridge Floral Design Spring Events

Rolling Ridge Floral Design is hosting some exciting Spring events over the next few months, including a DIY Arrangement Workshop, an Easter event featuring an egg hunt & pony rides, and a fabulous Mother’s Day Bouquets and Brunch!

Rolling Ridge Floral Design is owned by Montgomery County residents Glenn and Emmi Bergman, who purchased the farm back in 2012 with the goal of sharing the tranquility of their horse and flower farm, through community events to include DIY flower/garden workshops as well as private family celebrations and corporate retreats. They offer local deliveries, personal flowers, arrangements & décor for weddings and all types of events, DIY workshops. In addition, the floral shop may be rented for intimate celebrations for up to 48 guests – perfect for bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays and weddings.

LLI022: Orchids: How to Grow and Bloom at MC

Orchids are more popular than ever, and are readily available at mass markets, florists, and garden centers. Explore how to be successful with orchid selection in the home environment. Learn how to purchase, care, handle, repot, and rebloom your orchid. The instructor will use live plants to demonstrate best practices. You are encouraged to bring your own orchid plants for questions.

LLI354: All About Birds: Ornithology for the Beginner & Beyond at MC

Did you know that some dinosaurs survived? This course takes a look at the fascinating world of these survivors – birds. Explore bird identification, anatomy, physiology, and behaviors. Examine their place in the natural world and the complex bird-human relationship. Meet for a field trip in a park to observe birds during the last class session. Tuition waiver applies; seniors pay fee only.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sunday, March 22 | 12 – 4 pm | All Ages | Free
Black Hill Nature Programs

Celebrate “World Water Day” and learn new ways to garden to help your watershed. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, all are welcome for a day of garden talk and practice. Naturalists, gardening pros, and Master Gardeners will share their advise and expertise. Bring your questions or tips to share with other plant lovers. We’ll have activities for the whole family!

LEARN MORE

Nature Matters: Moths and their Adaptations

Thursday, March 26 | 6:30 – 8 pm | $8
Meadowside Nature Center | 5100 Meadowside Lane |
Rockville, MD 20855

Moth species of the Lepidoptera family come with many adaptations, some include not developing a mouth after their caterpillar phase. Join us at the Nature Matters Lecture Series as we zoom into the tiny world of moths!

LEARN MORE

April

Montgomery County GreenFest

Sunday, April 19 | 11 am – 4 pm | Free
Brookside Gardens | 1800 Glenallan Ave
*Free Shuttle Provided from Glenmont Metro – Parking extremely limited day-of

GreenFest is committed to helping everyone in the County explore their path to a greener life. For some, GreenFest could be the first step towards discovering more about their environment, while others may be further along their path, looking for ideas on how to reduce their footprint. And for the “Dark Greens”, GreenFest is a place to share ideas and meet other innovators. GreenFest is where all of these different groups come together, learn together and celebrate together.

LEARN MORE

#HeartYourParks Event

Wednesday, April 22 | 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm | Free
Black Hill Nature Programs | 20926 Lake Ridge Drive |
Boyds, MD 20841

Join us at the Visitor Center to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and show what Black Hill means to you! We will be creating our very own Litter Letters, and international community art project and we need your help.

LEARN MORE

LEARN MORE

May

Montgomery County Master Gardeners: Grow It Eat It Open House

Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 10 AM – 4 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

It is time to start planning 2020’s edible garden! Our event will have several workshops, from soil testing to garden planning! Reserve your spot. Several free classes will also be available as well that do not require registration.

Nature Matters: Naturiotism

Thursday, May 7 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | $8
Meadowside Nature Center | 5100 Meadowside Lane |
Rockville, MD 20855

Join us for this special evening lecture series about  “Naturiotism” with Jason Beale, animal care program director, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Penn State University. Mingle with fellow science and nature lovers while enjoying light appetizers, beer and wine before the engaging presentation by an expert in the field. 

Recommended ages: Eighteen and up.