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January 19, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

  • Home
  • Arts
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  • Education
  • Habitat
  • Health & Recovery
  • Local Life
  • News
  • P.O.V.
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  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
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Food and Garden Garden Notes

January Gardening Tips

January 7, 2021 by University of Maryland Extension Leave a Comment

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After almost an entire year of quarantining, it is a great time to pause and reflect on last year’s gardening success and failures. Here are some simple easy tips to help get your mind and garden ready for the upcoming growing season.

  • Do not handle the hairy poison ivy vines wrapped around trees. Be aware that the offending oil of poison ivy, urushiol, is active and can produce symptoms during any time of the year. Be very careful not to bring firewood into the house with poison ivy vines attached
  • Heavy snow and ice loads can damage shrubs. Using an upward motion, gently sweep snow loads off shrubs to prevent breakage. However, oftentimes bent or weighed down branches will spring back after the snow/ice melts.
  • Order fruit plants from mail-order companies in January and February for early spring planting. Refer to our small and tree fruit sections on the website.
  • Decide on a good site for a new vegetable garden: sunny, level, access to water.
  • Make a garden plan. Put your plan in a notebook or garden journal and start recording ideas, notes from reading, or websites.
  • Purchase a high-low thermometer, to track weather patterns throughout the year.
  • Order catalogs and seeds, especially if you want to start slow-growing, unusual, or heirloom varieties indoors under lights. (See HG #70 “Recommended Vegetable Cultivars for Maryland Home Gardens”- on the Grow It Eat It website).
  • Test viability of saved or leftover seeds by placing 20 on a moist paper towel; roll up and put in a perforated plastic bag. Set bag on top of the refrigerator; in 7 days, count sprouted seeds. If less than 70 percent, toss out and buy new seed.
  • Be sure to clean your bird feeders once every two weeks or more often if seeds get wet or if sick birds visit your feeder. Dirty feeders can spread disease, and spoiled seeds can make birds sick.
  • Bird’s remember-feeding them regularly brings them back. Provide high-fat feed during the winter.
  • Birds are thirsty. Clean your birdbaths regularly. Even during winter, birds need a reliable source of freshwater.
  • Recycle your Christmas tree. Recycled Christmas trees can be used for mulch, soil erosion barriers and many other environmentally friendly uses. Click on the links below to find out how your county recycles Christmas trees. https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Marylander/Pages/ChristmasTreeRecycling.aspx

Bagworm (Photo credit: Rachel J. Rhodes)–Remove and destroy bagworm bags from affected trees especially if seen on evergreens.

Indoor Plant and Insect Tips

  • Be careful not to overwater houseplants. Most houseplants should be watered only when the top of the growing medium begins to dry out.
  • Cut back or stop fertilizing houseplants unless they are grown under supplemental lighting.
  • Did you receive amaryllis for the holidays? Keep it in a sunny window. After it is done flowering, the plant will produce leaves and with proper care can rebloom.
  • Indoor herb plants benefit from daily misting and full sun windows.
  • Avoid the temptation to start seeds too early. Check seed packets for detailed information on starting various types of flowers. Do not depend on windowsill light to grow these seedlings. Refer to our instructions on starting seeds indoors.
  • Indian meal moths are a common problem of grains and grain products, cereals, birdseeds, dried pet food, etc. You may see adult moths flying, larvae crawling, or webbing. Always check bulk foods before purchasing for signs of meal moth infestation.
  • Don’t store firewood inside your home. Only bring in enough to burn at one time. Bark and other wood-boring beetles may emerge inside the home.

Filed Under: Garden Notes Tagged With: Gardening, local news, University of Maryland Extension

Adkins Arboretum Announces Fall Native Plant Sale—Online!

July 30, 2020 by Adkins Arboretum Leave a Comment

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Prepare for fall in the garden! Adkins Arboretum, offering the Chesapeake gardener the best selection of landscape-ready native plants for more than 20 years, announces its Fall Native Plant Sale. All proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s rich variety of education programs, scheduled to resume in 2021, that teach about the Delmarva’s native plants and their connection to a healthy Chesapeake Bay.

Due to recommendations regarding COVID-19, the fall sale will be conducted entirely online. Orders will be accepted through Thurs., Aug. 27 at adkinsarboretum.org and will be fulfilled via timed pickup. There will be no in-person shopping at the Arboretum.

Fall is the best season for planting, and the Arboretum offers the Chesapeake region’s largest selection of ornamental native trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns and grasses for the fall landscape. Many native plants produce seeds, flowers and fruit in fall that attract migratory birds and butterflies. Brilliant orange butterfly weed and stunning red cardinal flower attract pollinators to the garden, while native asters add subtle shades of purple and blue. Redbud and dogwood dot the early-spring landscape with color, and shrubs such as chokeberry and beautyberry provide food and habitat for wildlife.

Native asters add color to the fall landscape and attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators to the garden. Photo by Kellen McCluskey.

For those not sure how to integrate native plants into their landscape, the Arboretum’s Native Landscape Design Center has launched a new service targeted to smaller areas. In a 90-minute smartphone or video call, professional landscape designer Christina Pax will meet with participants to help devise beautiful and sound ideas for an area targeted for design. The ideas will incorporate native plants, support practices that clean and reduce runoff, and bring colorful support for pollinators and birds to the landscape. At the end of the meeting, participants will have a plant shopping list and a sketch that shows where to plant the plants. The fee for this service is $240. To learn more or to sign up, send email to design@adkinsarboretum.org.

As always, Arboretum members receive a generous discount on plants that varies according to membership level. Leon Andrus, the Arboretum’s first benefactor, lived to the age of 101. In honor of his long and fulfilling life, the Arboretum is seeking 101 new members during 2020. To join, visit adkinsarboretum.org or contact Kellen McCluskey at kmccluskey@adkinsarboretum.org.

For more information on plants, purchasing or pickup procedures, visit adkinsarboretum.org, send email to nativeplants@adkinsarboretum.org or leave a message at 410-634-2847, ext. 0.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Garden Notes Tagged With: Adkins Arboretum, Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

The Garden Hoes – June Edition

June 18, 2020 by UM Shore Regional Health Leave a Comment

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As Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “The only difference between a flower and a weed is judgment.” June weeds are certainly testing our judgment. As we move into our third month of quarantine, our gardens are buzzing with activity. In this month’s episode, we discuss how to become garden detectives with Integrated Pest Management or IPM, fungal spots, timely watering tips, and our features for tip/bug/native plant of the month!

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a research-based holistic approach to pest management that emphasizes biological control versus the use of pesticides until absolutely necessary. In Maryland, we typically experience hot dry summers. Swiftly, our days merge from tranquil and breezy to sweltering and humid. During this time, our plants may show signs of decline. Making sure that they’re properly watered and taken care of will help ensure their survival. For more Watering Tips for Drought Conditions check out Factsheet HG85

Timing:
IPM – Start
Fungal Spots at (~6:55)
Watering Tips at (~10:00)
Native Plant of the Month at (~14:20) “Asclepiassyriaca,” or common milkweed
Bug of the Month at (~20:00) “Water Strides” aka Jesus bugs
Garden Tips of the Month at (~23:00) “Bagworms, warm-season crop updates, and garden updates”

If you have a gardening dilemma or gardening questions join the Garden Hoes (Podcast) on their second installment of “Ask the Garden Hoes,” on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 11 am until 12 pm. This live webinar will address real-life gardening questions with a Q&A for participants. Feel free to submit your questions and photos ahead of time online: https://forms.gle/NJaYXxRdaqUYZkmn6. This program is free and open to the public, but registration required: https://go.umd.edu/askgardenhoes

The Garden Hoes Podcast is a monthly podcast where we help you get down and dirty in your garden, with timely gardening tips, information about native plants, and more! The Garden Hoes Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne’s County), and Emily Zobel-Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County). The University of Maryland is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Equal Access Programs. We want to remind everyone that we are open to all audiences, and will continue to serve our communities.

To listen to the podcast visit https://www.buzzsprout.com/687509 or visit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenHoesPodcast/

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Garden Notes Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

Ask the Garden Hoes

June 17, 2020 by University of Maryland Extension Leave a Comment

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If you have a gardening dilemma or gardening questions join the Garden Hoes (Podcast) on their second installment of “Ask the Garden Hoes,” on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 11 am until 12 pm. This live webinar will address real-life gardening questions with a Q&A for participants. Feel free to submit your questions and photos ahead of time online: https://forms.gle/NJaYXxRdaqUYZkmn6 This program is free and open to the public, but registration required: https://go.umd.edu/askgardenhoes

The Garden Hoes Podcast is a monthly podcast where we help you get down and dirty in your garden, with timely gardening tips, information about native plants, and more! The Garden Hoes Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne’s County), and Emily Zobel-Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County). University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all. To listen to the podcast visit https://www.buzzsprout.com/687509 or visit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenHoesPodcast/

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Garden Notes Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

Planning Your Landscape Like a Pro (Part 2), by Meredith Watters

June 11, 2020 by Meredith Watters Leave a Comment

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“Planning Your Landscape Like a Pro (Part 1)” described how to begin the process of creating your own home landscape design, how to measure, document, and print a sketch of your land plat.    Now comes the fun part — making design decisions to create a beautiful, well thought out garden plan!

First, take a good, analytical look at your house.  Consider design features you already have, such as arches, columns, materials (such as brick, stone, wood), or perhaps the color scheme.

No Landscape

Bad Landscape

Good Landscape

Consider these elements when putting together your overall design.

Form: mostly refers to the architecture, which can be seen as a sense of bulk, expanse, emptiness, height, breadth, straight/curvy, or geometric shapes.  Questions you should ask:

–Do I need to add a sense of height (such as for ranch style architecture)? Include including vertical elements?

–Do I need to reduce height? Use weeping plants or distracting the eye with a great deal of interest on the ground plane.

Color: expressed through plant leaves, flowers, fruit, stems/bark, or even furniture, colors of stone, brick, paint, pottery.

–Use three colors max (not including green).  Yellow or light green plants can make plants look sick; dark green is somber and heavy; bright blue can distract; warm colors (red, yellow, orange) advance toward you; cool colors (blue and pastels) recede; white is neutral.

–Choose your color palette by referring to a color wheel.  On it, find the color you love and what works well with your house color, and then choose the complementary color on the opposite side of the wheel.

–Use brightly colored plants in limited quantities.

Texture: found in plant material (fine textures recede and coarse texture enlarges space and makes for a good accent).  Also found in hardscape, which can be soft textures and therefore recedes, or bold (like the use of boulders), which are focal points.

Line: the easiest element to use.  Lines draws the eye. Curvy lines show movement and relax the viewer, and slows the pace.  Straight lines establish formality and purpose.

The following Design Elements will also provide a sense of order, structure, and unity for planning your landscape.

Simplicity: achieved through repetition, massing, line, materials, color. Limit the different types of plants or their colors. Limit the different kinds of surface or structural materials.

Balance: symmetrical creates formality, asymmetrical creates informality – what’s your preference?

Variety: too much is confusing, and monotone is too boring.

Dominance: be careful not to create too much dominance of one element such as too many accent pieces, repetition of over-powering types of plant shapes, color, etc.  A special specimen or accent plant can provide strong interest, so be careful not to overuse it.

Scale/Proportion: a height-to-width proportion of 2:1 yields a nice personal scale, 3:1 is an excellent social or larger setting.  If a house is two stories tall plus roof (30’high overall) and has a very dominant physical presence, I would suggest your landscaping beds should be at least 15’ deep(wide), i.e., out, from the house foundation.  Within the 15’ setting, sidewalks or patios should be included in the landscaping when analyzing the scale/proportion.  If you had only a 6’ wide plant bed along the tall house foundation, the house doesn’t feel “grounded or well-blended” into the landscape.

Repetition: accomplished through repeating curves, angles, shrubs, ground covers, color, hardscape material can all create unity.

A few more suggestions:

–Try using your garden hose to outline a new bed design.  Put your patio furniture (tables and chairs) in the space where you think you want a new patio.

–The more the plant beds are covered with spreading ground covers, perennials, and shrubs, the fewer weeds because sunlight, critical to survival, is blocked.

–Don’t plant tall shrubs just 2’ away from the house foundation. Doing so will create problems for cleaning windows, painting the house, blocking crawl space air vents.  Research the ultimate size of all your plant purchases.  Just because they are 1’ high now, doesn’t mean that they won’t grow to 10’wide x 10’ tall.

–Pop the plants out of their container and see if it is root bound in the pot before purchasing.  Roots growing in circles in the pot is a long-term problem for some woody shrubs, and especially trees.

–When deciding on how many plants to use, try to use groupings of 3, 5, or 7. Consider staggering them in a zig-zag fashion, instead of planting in a row.  After all,  if one dies years later, what are you going to do with an empty hole?

Of course, there are many other environmental considerations to make, such as water drainage, presence of pesky rabbits or deer, soil quality, etc.  Look for previous Spy articles that I wrote about soil quality (Spy Gardening: Let’s Talk Dirt) and how to prune plants (Spy Gardening: Winter’s False Start (to Springtime)).

If you have any questions, please call me to discuss your situation.

Meredith Watters, Watterscape Designs, received her Masters in Landscape Architecture in 1985. In her consulting and design of residential landscapes, she maintains a strong focus on ecologically sensitive and creative outdoor solutions.

Filed Under: Habitat Homepage, Habitat Portal Lead Tagged With: Gardening, landscape, landscaping

June Gardening Tips

June 7, 2020 by University of Maryland Extension 1 Comment

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The official start of summer is just a few weeks away. The first defense against plant problems is to follow healthy gardening practices. Here are some useful gardening tips for the month of June:

Squash bug eggs on the underside of squash leaf. Photo credit: Rachel Rhodes, Horticulture Educator

Outdoor Garden and Yard Tips
• Cut iris flower stalks down to the crown when they are finished blooming. Leave the foliage alone. If your iris are over-crowded after flowering lift and divide them. Check rhizomes for iris borer.
• Practice IPM (Integrated Pest Management) in your landscape. Do not spray your trees and shrubs preventively. This kills the predators and parasitoids that are helping to keep destructive pests under control.
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs until they become established (for about 2 years), especially in the summer and fall. Water deeply by allowing the water to soak into the soil directly underneath and around the root ball. Check the depth of water penetration into the soil by digging a small hole after watering. It should be moist about 6 inches down. A 2-3 inch layer of mulch is helpful. Keep mulch away from the trunk or stem.
• Apple scab and a number of rust diseases (cedar-apple, cedar-quince, cedar-hawthorn, Japanese apple, and pear trellis rust) are destructive diseases of crabapple in the landscape. They cause severe leaf defoliation by mid-summer if not treated. The best defense is replacing disease prone cultivars with resistant selections available at garden centers.

Squash bug eggs on duct tape. Photo credit: Rachel Rhodes, Horticulture Educator

Vegetable Garden
• Young tomato plants may be exhibiting symptoms of various leaf spot diseases such as septoria and early blight. Remove badly infected lower leaves, keep a thick organic mulch around plants and avoid overhead watering.
• Pinch off tomato suckers, to encourage larger, earlier fruit, especially if training to one central stem.
• “June drop” of excessive fruits (especially peaches) is a natural thinning phenomenon and is more pronounced where no hand thinning has occurred. Hand thin the fruits on plum, peach, apple and pear trees, leaving space (the width of one fruit) between remaining fruits. Disease and insect problems, environmental stress, and lack of pollination or fertilization can also cause fruit drop. Pick up and throw out all dropped fruits.
• Flea beetles are a serious pest of eggplant and also affect potato, tomato and members of the cabbage family. Floating row covers (https://youtu.be/oNm6D0KKG_Q) are an effective means of management but should be removed when plants flower to allow for cross-pollination by bumblebees. Spraying plants with “Surround” (kaolin clay) creates a white particle film that can minimize flea beetle feeding. You can also control flea beetles with “neem”, a botanical insecticide.
• Plant a second crop of beans.
• Keep watering and weeding; mulch new crops to keep them from drying out.
• Learn to identify beneficial insects and keep a vigilant eye out for possible pest infestations.
• Hand pick cabbage worms from broccoli and other members of the cabbage family, or spray with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), if necessary.
• Hand pick Colorado potato beetle adults, larvae and orange egg masses on potato and eggplant plants.
• Hand pick harlequin bugs and their black and white eggs from plants in the cabbage family. Do the same for Mexican bean beetles (yellow egg masses on leaf undersides).
• Prevent flea beetle infestations with row covers. Spray with pyrethrum or neem, both are derived from plants and considered low-risk organic controls. A light dusting of eggplant leaves with flour or wood ash can also deter flea beetles.
• Search the undersides of squash and pumpkin leaves for copper-colored squash bug eggs, and destroy them.
• For slug damage, in a wet period, set out tuna cans filled with beer or a brew of molasses, water and yeast. The slugs will crawl into them and drown. Boards and grapefruit rinds, turned face down, will also attract slugs; turn the board or rind over in the morning and destroy the slugs.

Bagworms. Photo credit: Rachel Rhodes, Horticulture Educator

Indoor Plants and Insect Tips
• Monitor houseplants kept indoors for mealybug, spider mites, aphids, whitefly, and scale. If houseplant pests are a problem consider spraying with a labeled horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. If possible, move the plants outside before spraying and when dry, move them back indoors. Discard heavily infested plants.
• Pantry pests, like Indian meal moths, grain beetles, cigarette beetles, and carpet beetles may be found around windows trying to get out of your home. These pests can be swept up or vacuumed. No chemical controls are recommended.

For further information, please visit https://extension.umd.edu/queen-annes-county/master-gardener-home-gardening or see us on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/QueenAnnesCountyMasterGardeners. For more information contact: Rachel J. Rhodes, Horticulture Educator and Master Gardener Coordinator for the University of Maryland Extension in Queen Anne’s County at (410) 758-0166 or by email at rjrhodes@umd.edu.

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Food-Garden Homepage Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

The Garden Hoes Podcast-April Showers Bring May Flowers

May 11, 2020 by University of Maryland Extension Leave a Comment

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You know what they say: April showers bring May flowers. However, we think that our early warm weather means April showers bring April flowers! After many weeks at home and many of us juggling teleworking with personal life, everyone is ready for that spring weather. In this month’s episode, we tackle the seasonal topics of hydrangeas, mulching, lawn care, and our features for tip/bug/native plant of the month!

Photo: Hydrangea-Flower color of the macrophylla species is dependent on soil pH. Did you know: that the actual mechanism of color variation is due to the presence or absence of aluminum compounds in the flowers. Aluminum is available to the plant in acid soils. A pH below 6.5 will produce blue flowers and a higher pH will produce pink or red flowers. Photo Credit: Rachel Rhodes

Hydrangeas are a fan favorite with large, dramatic blooms with low-effort. In our May episode, we talk about pruning hydrangeas, which is a little more complicated than you would think. Pruning practices are dependent on the type of hydrangea, but you can always remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood at any time of year! For more tips about working with hydrangeas, or to determine which hydrangea you may have, check out “A Quick Guide to Pruning Hydrangeas” from HGIC.

Lawn Care and mulching are both commonplace practices found in practically every landscape. Do not fall victim to “volcano mulching”, or piling mulch too high on shrubs and trees. We discuss mulching with organic materials that biodegrade and improve the soil. Ditch the mulching fabrics and chipped rubber, and learn why composted wood chips are preferable. Grass growth is in full swing, but do not be tempted to cut the grass too short! Turf-type tall fescue, a common turfgrass in Maryland, should be mowed at 3-4 inches high. While we would recommend waiting to seed a new lawn in fall, some overseeding or establishment may be done in the spring (see Fescue Establishment for Low Maintenance Sites for specific details).

To listen to our May episode

Timing:
Mulching (~1:37)
Pruning Hydrangeas (~11:29)
Lawn Care (~15:55)
Native Plant of the Month: “Blue flag iris”, or Iris versicolor (~20:48)
Garden Tip of the Month: “Bulbs, pruning, and warm-season crops” (~23:25)
Bug of the Month: “Spotted Lanternfly” (~39:08)

Photo: Iris veriscolor, commonly called northern blue flag, is a clump-forming iris that is native to marshes, swamps, wet meadows, ditches and shorelines. Flowering stalks rise from the clump to 30” tall in late spring, with each stalk producing 3-5 bluish-purple flowers (to 4″ wide) with bold purple veining. Clumps spread slowly by tough, creeping rhizomes. Photo credit: Mikaela Boley

If you have a garden question or topic, you like us to talk about you can email us at Gardenhoespodcast@gmail.com

For more information about University of Maryland Extension and these topics, please check out the Home and Garden Information Center website at https://extension.umd.edu/hgic

The Garden Hoes Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Assoc. (Talbot Co.) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Assoc. for Horticulture (QA Co), and Emily Zobel- Agriculture Agent (Dorchester Co.).

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all.

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Filed Under: Garden Notes Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

Spy Gardening: Planning Your Landscaping Like A Pro (Part 1) by Meredith Watters

May 8, 2020 by Spy Staff Leave a Comment

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Staying home, strolling our yards during the ‘shelter-in-place’ for COVID-19 can reveal our garden’s potentials.  Look around. Here, at my home, I see the demise of Leyland cypresses dying from the combination 2018 record wetness and the 2019 drought. The nuisance weeds are already getting out of control and it’s time to address the dangerous front door steps or add that long-talked about patio. The list goes on….

Leyland cypress

Now may be the time to get started on long-term landscape improvements which, by the way, increases your real estate value by 5% to 15% – an immediate return on your investment. To help you start organizing, I have outlined tasks and considerations that I use in my business when working on a client’s landscape design and installation project.

Start with writing a list of long-term dreams about your landscape. When writing this vision, don’t get hung up on the costs because your plan could be implemented over many years.  Prioritize your list from most important to least.

Ideally, phasing should begin with hardscape (sidewalks, patios, driveways), which is the most expensive portion of your dreams.  Next phase is identifying existing and possible addition of plants, large trees and shrubs. Now think about lighting and irrigation. If you choose to do this, I recommend working with a professional.  Next is mulching (no more than 2 ½” deep) plant beds and individual trees.  The final stage is to establish the lawn.

To begin to implement your dreams for your home and garden:: you will need to create a landscape plan.  If you were given a land plat at settlement, take it to be enlarged at the local print shop.  Ask the shop to use a 1” = 8’ or 1” = 10’ scale, or, if your property is over three acres, consider a 1” = 20’ scale.  Don’t have a plat? Use graph paper to record measurements of your house, existing features such as property boundaries, utilities, and restrictions, trees patios, walks, etc.  Take that drawing to the print shop and ask them to enlarge it to the recommended scales.

On your newly printed plat, identify problem areas such as unattractive views, privacy issues, poor drainage, blistering summer sun, set-back restrictions, underground and overhead utilities.  Identify  good qualities such as existing mature shrubs and trees, beautiful views, any existing landscape features, etc.  Identify areas that you want any hardscape such as patios, walkways, pavilions, swimming pool, firepits, outdoor kitchens, or even a vegetable or butterfly garden.

Now, let’s talk about  plants!

Make a list of your favorites and research their attributes such as ultimate growth height and width, seasonal color, etc.  To keep things less complicated, choose perhaps just 3 varieties of the following trees:  shade (oak), understory (dogwood), and evergreen (pine/holly).  Choose perhaps 5 varieties of deciduous and evergreen tall (viburnum) and short (azalea) shrubs.

Make a short list of your favorite perennial flowers, annual flowers, ground covers, and ornamental grasses (again, take notes on the color, time of year of blooming, etc.).

Once you have this plant list, ask a few questions.

  • Do I have native plants to support the butterflies, birds, and bees?
  • Am I retaining my rainwater on my own property so as not to impact my neighbors?
  • Are plants providing a variety of textures (flat, shiny leaves or spikey, fine needles)?
  • Are the plants suited for my wet/dry/sunny/shady conditions?
  • Are the plants deer or rabbit resistant? (just type that question into Google)

You are ready to put it all together – plants and hardscapes!

This is where your base drawing will be useful.  Use tracing paper over it to play with your dream ideas and configurations of plants, patios, walkways, garden features, etc.  Print photos of your house and use the tracing paper over it to sketch ideas as well.

——————————————–

Next time in Part 2 of Planning Your Landscape Like A Pro, we’ll get to the really fun parts of your project and put it all together incorporating color, textures, and other design principles.  Leave a comment below if you have any questions or email me directly at meredithwatters@gmail.com.

Meredith Watters, Watterscape Designs, received her Masters in Landscape Architecture in 1985. In her consulting and design of residential landscapes, she maintains a strong focus on ecologically sensitive and creative outdoor solutions.

Filed Under: Food-Garden Homepage, Food/Garden Homepage Tagged With: Gardening, gardens, landscaping, spring

May Gardening Tips

May 3, 2020 by University of Maryland Extension Leave a Comment

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Warm weather is just around the corner, which means it is time get your garden ready for summer flowers and tasty home grown vegetables. Here are some helpful tips to get you started this month.

Outdoor Garden and Yard Tips
• If your azaleas, rhododendrons and other spring flowering shrubs are growing too large prune them after they bloom.
• Thin out interior boxwood branches to improve air circulation and reduce disease problems such as volutella canker. Also, look out for boxwood blight. Watch How to Prune Your Boxwoods.
• Older leaves of holly and magnolia may begin to yellow and drop. This is a natural process of regeneration and does not indicate a problem with the trees.
• Lace bug feeding may be seen on rhododendrons, azaleas, andromeda (Pieris japonica), and mountain laurel. Look for small white or yellow spots on the upper sides of leaves. On the underside of leaves, you may notice small black fecal spots, nymphs, and adults. Damage on new growth indicates overwintering eggs have hatched and the new generation has started to feed. There are multiple generations per growing season. Lace bugs are more of a problem on stressed plants growing on exposed, hot, and sunny sites.
• Rose Rosette, a relatively new disease of roses caused by a systemic virus and spread by small eriophyid mites, can kill landscape roses. Including the more disease resistant roses such as the Knockout cultivars.
• Summer annual bulbs like gladiolus, tuberous begonias, cannas, caladium, and dahlias can be planted now.
• Attract pollinators and natural enemies to your landscape by planting a wide variety of flowering annuals and perennials, including native plants that will bloom over the entire growing season.
• Begin setting out transplants of warm season crops like squash, pepper, eggplant, and tomato. There is still a small possibility of late frosts. Be prepared to cover plants with a tarp or light blanket if frost is expected.
• Pinch the blooms from flower and vegetable transplants before you set them out. This will help direct the plants’ energies to root development and will result in plants that are more productive. Gently break up the roots of root-bound transplants before planting.
• Did weeds overtake your garden last year? Start spreading mulch around plants and between rows. Use dried grass clippings, leaves collected from last fall, sections of newspaper covered with straw, black landscape fabric.
• Cover strawberry plants with bird netting, tulle (found in fabric stores), or floating row cover before the berries become ripe to exclude birds, squirrels, and other hungry critters.
• Leave grass clippings where they lay. Grasscycling eliminates bagging labor and costs, adds organic matter and nitrogen to your soil and does not contribute to thatch build-up.
• Carpenter bees cause concern at this time of year. They make clean, round holes about a ½ inch in diameter but usually will not bother wood that is freshly painted or stained.
• Ticks are active when the temperature is above freezing. Wear light-colored clothing and get in the habit of checking yourself, your loved ones, and pets closely for ticks after spending time outdoors. Repellents are also an effective tool to keep ticks away.

Vegetable Garden
• Pinch the blooms off tomato, pepper and other plants before setting them out in the garden; this will encourage root and stem growth. Continue to pinch off pepper blossoms for 2-3 weeks to establish a stronger, higher yielding plant.
• Keep cutworms away from cabbage, broccoli and other susceptible plants by putting a cardboard or plastic collar around each plant, or sprinkle ground up oyster shells, cat litter, sharp sand, or other gritty material around each one.
• Keep weeding and thinning plants. To keep down weeds, mulch plants with dried grass clippings, sections of newspaper covered with straw, black landscape fabric or black plastic. Do not mulch with wood chips or bark, which takes nitrogen out of the soil as it decomposes.
• As peas ripen, pick pods when tender, to keep plants producing.
• Don’t let transplants or young seedlings dry out. Use a drip irrigation system, soaker hose, sprinkler, or hand-held hose with a water breaker (shower head), to keep beds evenly moist, but not too wet.
• Plant warm-season crops like tomatoes and peppers, only after danger of frost is past. Mix ½ cup of ground lime with soil in the planting hole to prevent blossom-end rot. Water each transplant with a soluble fertilizer, like compost tea or kelp extract to get them off to a good start.
• Pound in stakes or install tomato cages, at planting time, to prevent plant damage later.
• Set out herbs in pots or plant in garden beds.
• Inspect plants daily for cucumber beetles, cabbageworms, vine borers and flea beetles, which can be excluded with row covers. For plants requiring cross-pollination—cucumber, squash, melon, pumpkin—take covers off when plants are flowering, to let in pollinators.
• Hand pick cabbage worms from broccoli and other members of the cabbage family, or spray with Bt(Bacillus thuringiensis). Bt may injure non-pest butterfly larvae, though, so use judiciously.

Indoor Plants and Insect Tips
• Move houseplants outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. To avoid sunscald first place them in a shady location and over a period of two weeks or so gradually introduce them to more sunlight.
• Fleas are sometimes observed in homes where there are no pets. The most likely source is a wild animal such as a raccoon living in the attic, crawl space, chimney or some other sheltered area connected to the inside of the home. If you have pets that have a flea problem, contact your veterinarian for the safest and most effective flea control products.
• Clover mites are usually most noticeable in the spring when temperatures are between 45° and 80°F and the humidity is high. On warm days they cross the grass and crawl up the sunny sides of buildings and will possibly enter into homes.

For further information, please visit https://extension.umd.edu/queen-annes-county/master-gardener-home-gardening or see us on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/QueenAnnesCountyMasterGardeners. For more information contact: Rachel J. Rhodes, Master Gardener Coordinator at (410) 758-0166 or by email at rjrhodes@umd.edu.

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Food-Garden Homepage, Food/Garden Homepage, Garden Notes Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

The Garden Hoes Podcast-Gardening with Children

April 29, 2020 by University of Maryland Extension Leave a Comment

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If you are teleworking like we are, keeping the little ones entertained while getting everything checked off on your weekly “to do” list can seem impossible. In this special edition, we explore all the fun ways you can include your little ones in your gardening activities.

Gardening with Children is easy and fun. Photo credit: Rachel Rhodes

For parents struggling to find engaging ways to keep children busy and entertained gardening is a great activity to introduce to your kids while you are home. Gardening does not require advanced skill, the perfect raised bed, or a sprawling backyard. Gardening with kids can be as simple as planting seeds in a container (or starting seeds inside) or by reading them a garden-themed children’s book. There countless garden-themed children’s books that work for children of all ages. We discussed some of our all-time favorite books and fun activities to go along with them. The wonder of planting a garden and watching it grow can spark endless questions from your kids. Questions like: Why do plants need the sun to grow? Why are worms in the garden? How do plants “drink” water? Before you know it, you will be talking about soil, compost, and photosynthesis!

We also discussed the Callery pear (Pyruscalleryana) and its invasive tendencies. You will hear the name Callery and Bradford used interchangeably, however, ‘Bradford’ was the name of the first cultivar of Callery pear but is often used to refer to the species. Many beautiful native alternatives benefit our birds and butterflies. Visit the UME-Home and Garden Information Center if you would like more information about the Bradford Pear. For more information about Maryland Invasive Plants Prevention and Control visit the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

Safety in the garden is a top priority. Photo credit: Mikaela Boley

Garden Themed Children’s Books:
The Bad Seed, by Jory John
Monsters don’t eat broccoli by Barbara Jean Hick
Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
Up Down & Around by Katherine Ayres
I will never not ever eat a tomato by Lauren Child
Wiggly Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
Velma Gratch and the way cool butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes
Gardening With Children, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Guide (for activities)
Tree, by Britta Teckentrup (a Fletcher favorite)

To listen to our episode on Gardening with Kids
The Garden in a Glove activity can be found here.
Callery Pear: (~21:15)
Native Plant of the Month: “Pinxterbloom Azalea”, or Rhododendron periclymenoides (~25:45)
Bug of the Month: Eastern tent caterpillars (~29:45)

If you have a garden question or topic, you like us to talk about you can email us at Gardenhoespodcast@gmail.com

Pinxterbloom Azalea. Photo credit: Mikaela Boley

For more information about University of Maryland Extension and these topics, please check out the Home and Garden Information Center website at https://extension.umd.edu/hgic

The Garden Hoes Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Assoc. (Talbot Co.) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Assoc. for Horticulture (QA Co), and Emily Zobel- Agriculture Agent (Dorchester Co.). University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all.

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all people and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

Filed Under: Archives Tagged With: Chestertown Spy, Gardening, local news

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