Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Happy Earth Month! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for April. Some upcoming events/resources include our Mill Creek Extreme Cleanup Community Earth Day Event, MCT Garden Club Plant & Yard Sale, RainScapes Portal Now Open; Rebates Up to $7,500 for Residents and $20,000 for Businesses Available to Prevent Stormwater Runoff, Bird Feeder: Earth Day Craft, Seneca Creek Watershed Tree Giveaway Announcement!, Montgomery Parks Earth Month Events, Montgomery Parks Native Plant Sales, Birding Events, Brookside Garden Events: In-Person and Virtual Programs, Seneca Creek State Park April Programs, Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Home and Garden Classes – Spring 2025, Adaptive Recreation – Gardening 101, and more! A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook as well as on our website. These events will be hosted as online or in-person events. 

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Mill Creek Extreme Clean Up – Saturday, April 19

Apr 19, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Please join the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club, Rock Creek Conservancy, and Montgomery Parks for our 2025 EXTREME CLEANUP of Mill Creek Stream on Saturday, April 19, 2025 for a litter removal restoration event in Rock Creek Park. Trash is the visible form of stormwater pollution, a major threat to water quality and park health and its removal makes the parklands cleaner, safer, and more beautiful for all. Event location, directions, and information will be sent prior to the event. This annual event is a watershed-wide cleanup movement with the goal of total trash removal throughout Rock Creek, its tributaries, and surrounding neighborhoods and parklands. Information is included in this link: https://www.rockcreekconservancy.org/extreme-cleanup We will update you the week of April 13, 2025 with instruction and locations of where you can pick up supplies and leave your trash. It’s a campaign clean up event, so go with your children, family or friends, pick out a point in the creek area where you can pick up trash, and spend as much time as you want. Every little bit helps. We hope you’ll join us! Registration required. See below for registration link for this event. https://www.mctgardenclub.org/event/mill-creek-extreme-clean-up-saturday-april-19/

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Mill Creek Towne Garden Club Plant & Yard Sale

Saturday April 26, 2025

8:00AM – 12:00PM

17805 Vinyard Lane

Derwood, MD 20855

Come and check out our amazing selection of plants and yard sale items including: Plants and Seedlings Potting Containers/Vases Kitchen play set for kids, toys Assorted household items and more! Please help support the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club by participating in our Spring Plant & Yard Sale. Proceeds from sales and donations will help defray the costs for landscaping and maintenance of Mill Creek Towne’s main entrances and garden-related educational programs for the Derwood community! Thank you for all your help and contributions! About the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club Established in 1968, the objective of the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club is to stimulate and increase knowledge and interest in all facets of gardening among amateurs, establish an active community beautification program and encourage civic beautification, and foster group activities for the benefit of the members and the community. The garden club also landscapes and maintains the Mill Creek Towne entrances and common areas. https://www.mctgardenclub.org/event/mill-creek-towne-garden-club-plant-yard-sale-sat-april-26/

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Make a Spectacle in the Garden! March MCT Garden Club Community Event Recap

We enjoyed the “Make a Spectacle in the Garden” presentation by Marie Rojas, Master Gardener. View video below with some pictures and gardening resources.

See link below for her gardening resources handout.

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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

• After spring bulbs bloom, let leaves turn yellow and die before trimming.
• Walk your garden – look for early signs of fungal diseases.
• Mulch beds with a light hand.
• Plant Pansies.
• Deadhead pansies.
• Plant and prune roses.
• Lightly fertilize bulbs when green starts to show.
• Transplant seedlings into 3″-4″ pots when crowded. Water when dry to the touch.
• Pinch out growing tips of leggy transplants.
• Transplant spring flowering bulbs after flowering.
• Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother’s Day (traditional last frost-free date for entire areas).
• Make compost tea and use on seedlings.
• Begin hardening off hardier transplants. Sow seeds outdoors of hardier annuals.
• Start seeds for: impatiens, petunias, Mallow, Dwarf Zinnias, Cosmos, Celosia, Tall Marigolds, and Tall Zinnias. 
• Buy or check 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.
• If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process.
• Divide Perennials.
• Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds.
• Edge garden beds.
• Check that all vines are securely tied against winter’s cold winds.
• Rake up weeds and their seedlings.
• Gently clean up the garden.
• Weed by hand to avoid disturbing new forming roots. Especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, slugs, snails, deer, voles.
• Diseases to watch for:  Botrytis on peonies, Volutella blight on pachysandra
• 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

• Plant a Tree for Arbor Day or Earth Day. Arbor Day is on the first Wednesday in April in Maryland. Earth Day is April 22.
• Prune non-flowering and shrubs before new growth.
• Water shrubs and trees deeply during any dry spells.
• 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.
• Soil preparation: add lime, compost, etc. as needed.
• Keep mowers and trimmers away from trunks!
• Prune winter damage on evergreens when new growth begins.
• Prune broken, dead, diseased, or damaged branches.
• Prune summer bloomers such as Hydrangeas, Rose of Sharon, Crepe Myrtles, and Butterfly Bushes.
• Plant or transplant trees, shrubs, perennials including berries, roses, and evergreens.
• Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits or deer.
• 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.
• 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:  Gypsy moths, Scale, sawfly, spidermites, leafminers, caterpillar, deer, and voles.
• Diseases to watch for: Anthracnose, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

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Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit

• Turn under cover crop when soil has warmed enough and is not too wet.
• Divide perennials and herbs.
• Fertilize new growth.
• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
• Fertilize established asparagus, tree and bramble fruits and strawberries.
• Prune grapevines.
• Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to prune out.
• Keep all transplants watered deeply for 2-3 weeks.
• Harden off cool season transplants. Plant asparagus.
• Sow seeds of: carrots, endive, sunflowers, lettuce.
• 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.
• Sow beans and corn directly outdoors.
• Thin seedlings.
• Put up trellises and teepees for peas, climbing beans, etc.
• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
• Start carrots, turnips, and parsnips in well-draining beds or deep containers.
• Keep cutworms off newly planted edible seedlings by surrounding the seedlings with a collar cut from a plastic bottle or cardboard tube.
• Pick peas often to encourage the plant to produce more.
• Ensure new seedlings do not dry out by installing a drip-irrigation system.
• Start herbs from seed or cuttings.
• Put row covers over vulnerable crops – remove cover to allow for pollinating once they set flowers.
• Thin lettuce seedlings and plant more seeds in new rows. (You can eat the seedling greens you pull.)
• Spread ashes from wood fires on your vegetable 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: Rabbits, deer, woodchucks, and birds.
• Diseases to watch for: Dampling off of seedlings, Fireblight of pears and apples.
• Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

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Lawns

• Cut perennials and over-wintering ornamental grasses such as liriope, mondo, and pampas to 2 inches above ground.
• Test soil if you haven’t already.
• Dethatch if necessary and plug aerate BEFORE applying weed control.
• To control crabgrass, apply pre-emergent herbicide to lawn (when forsythia blooms drop).
• Start lawn seeding.
• Clean yard of leaves and other debris.
• Spread new gravel on paths.
• Mulch bare areas.
• Get your lawnmower serviced.
• 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

• Repot larger plants that are going outside for the summer.
• Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
• Buy and indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an orchid or African violet.
• Check indoors for termites and ants.
• Scan houseplants for insect activity.
• Start/keep fertilizing your indoor plants.
• Pinch back leggy plants.
• Maintain moisture in pots, but do not overwater!
• Start new indoor plants from cuttings – try an easy one such as violets.
• 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

• Ticks are very active now.
• Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
• Put up birdhouses.
• Put suet out for birds.
• Keep bird feeders clean and filled and provide a source of water.
• Provide nesting materials (try dryer lint) for birds as well as houses for the start of their family season.
• 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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Bird Feeder: Earth Day Craft

Saturday, April 26
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Germantown Library
19840 Century Blvd
Germantown, MD 20874

Enjoy the fun of making your very own bird feeder and then taking it home where you can hang it up in a tree and watch as birds and wildlife enjoy your creation too!

Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Co-sponsored by Friends of the Library, Montgomery County.

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Seneca Creek Watershed Tree Giveaway Announcement!

Friday, April 4
3:30pm – 5:00pm

Free Native Tree Give-Away: We’ll be distributing trees on Friday, April 4 starting at 3:30 pm from Seneca State Park and 14909 Spring Meadows Drive, Darnestown.

We reserved 50 seedlings of the following species: swamp white oak, baldcypress, black walnut, buttonbush, red chokeberry, American plum, red osier dogwood, and pawpaw and 25 seedlings of possumhaw.

Trees must be planted immediately and should be protected from deer. Each household may take up to 10 trees which will be on a first come basis.

If you’d like to volunteer to help contact Merikay at merikays@verizon.net.

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Montgomery Parks – Events

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Montgomery Parks Native Plant Sales

Maydale Nature Classroom
(Online Only — Plant Pick-up)
1638 Maydale Dr.
Colesvilles, MD 20905

Sale begins April 7, Pick up by April 26

www.MaydaleNature.org

Brookside Gardens Plant Sale
South Terrace
1800 Glenallan Ave.
Wheaton, MD 20902

Sunday, April 27, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

www.BrooksideGardens.org

Black Hill Discovery Center
20926 Lake Ridge Dr.
Boyds, MD 20841

May 3 and 4, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

www.FriendsofBlackHillNature.org

Locust Grove Nature Center
Pope Farm Nursery
7400 Airpark Rd.
Gaithersburg, MD 20905

May 17 and 18, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

www.MoCoParks.org/LGPlantNative

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