Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Happy Thanksgiving!  Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for November. Events include Brookside Gardens’ Gardens of Lights, Heritage Food: Canning and Preserving, Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade, OptOutside with Wizardry & Magical Creatures, Parks Speaker Series: Aiming for Zero Waste: The Future of Recycling and Sustainability in Montgomery County, and more!

Planning:

• Clean out pots; store non-frost proof containers in shed, garage, or basement.
• Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
• Start collecting plant seeds for next year and for trading.
• Preserve gourds and dry flowers for display in the fall.
• Sign up all your friends and family for garden magazine subscriptions as holiday gifts.
• Turn off outdoor water valve and store hoses.
• 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 fall festivities!
• Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!
• Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• Continue planting hardy spring flowering bulbs.
• After blooming, cut mums back to 6 inches above ground.
• Cut back perennials that have turned to mush. Leave others with seed heads for birds.
• Sow wildflower seeds, such as California Poppies, for next spring.
• Collect dried flowers and grasses for indoor vase.
• Continue to deadhead.
• Divide and transplant perennials—in particular, peony and iris.
• Check on your container plants daily and keep them well-watered.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, Deer, 4-lined plant bug, slugs.
• Diseases to watch for:  Powdery mildew, rust, bacterial diseases.
• See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

Tree pruning time! Here is how to do it:

• Trees and shrubs can be planted until ground freezes.
• Dig hole now if you will be planting a “live” Christmas tree.
• Don’t panic over leaf/needle drop on established evergreen shrubs and rhododendrons. It is normal at this time of year for them to shed a third of them.
• Plant evergreens for winter interest.
• Prune evergreens to get in shape for fall/winter.
• 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.
• No more fertilizing for the year.
• Spray with dormant oil to decrease pest infestations.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover 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, Anthracnose,  Powdery mildew, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
• For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

• This is the perfect time for seeding the lawn.
• Continue removing diseased leaves. Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
• Apply fertilizer and lime to turf grass based on soil tests and UME recommendations.
• Turn your compost pile.
• 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:

• 7 Reasons To Get a Christmas Cactus Instead Of — Or In Addition To — A Christmas Tree
• Pot up Paper Whites and Amaryllis for holiday blooming.
• For readying Christmas cactus and poinsettia for holiday blooming, fertilize them and put them where they’ll get 10 hours of bright light per day.
• Rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
• Do not place live wreaths or greenery between your door and glass storm door, especially if the doorway is facing south. This placement will “cook” the arrangement on a sunny day.
• Creating a Closed Terrarium: If done properly, a closed terrarium will establish its own rain cycle and require minimal maintenance. This article describes how to create this unique indoor garden. | Penn State University Extension

  

• 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.
• Reduce fertilizing of your indoor plants (except cyclamen).
• 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:

• Clean and refill bird feeders.
• Switch your deer deterrent spray.
• Check for vole problems and set out traps.
  
• Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent wildlife from coming indoors.
• 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.

See below for upcoming local events in November.

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

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

Montgomery County Alliance

Saturday, November 23, 2019
10 AM – 2 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

It’s Heritage Food Month on the Farm! How did our ancestors make sure their food supplies lasted through the winter? What did they have to do to ensure they had adequate nutrition outside of growing seasons? Explore the variety of ways food has been preserved, historically, and learn the basics of canning and preserving that you and your family can employ at home, today!

https://bit.ly/35Iak6T