Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Promoting environmentally sound gardening practices for over 35 years!
After adhering to healthy lawn care practices, one expects to be rewarded with verdant carpets, dense with grasses and perhaps intermixed with eco-friendly clover. Depending on one’s sensibilities though, desire can turn to dismay by the sight of leafy patches that look like they belong among the vegetables rather than the turf.
Controlling pests in our gardens can be frustrating whether they be blatantly furry and adorable or seemingly impossible to find as you search the ruins of a plant. Pests can even be invasive plants that bully the non-invasive vegetation. If you are experiencing pest problems in your garden or yard, the following classes and resources will help you.
Please remember that just because it’s pretty doesn’t mean it’s nice. Unfortunately, Star-of-Bethlehem plants naturalize easily and are becoming a real NUISANCE. Beyond its nuisance appearance in your lawn or garden, agriculturally, it is a significant emerging weed problem.
The hot days of July pose challenges for the summer garden and the summer gardener. Whether it’s keeping plants and yourself well hydrated, learning to identify and combat pests and diseases that thrive in our local humidity, or adopting climate-conscious gardening practices to help your garden and the wildlife it supports thrive, our July classes have something for you.
Two spring weeds - mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum) and horseweed (Erigeron canadensis).
Summer is waning or fall just beginning and our gardens are awash in the bright and muted colors of asters, goldenrods, lobelias, pink muhly, sages, turtleheads, and zinnias, and with due diligence, relatively free of creeping weeds. But then you return home from a weekend getaway and find some stout, green, budded stems of notable height rising above the flowers in your perennial bed or butterfly garden.
Join Extension Master Gardener Joyce Hylton as she discusses some of the most common weeds in our area that flourish in our area. While a weed may be just a wildflower in the wrong place, learn why they may like your lawn and garden and how you can safely and effectively control them.
Most people, adults and children alike, recognize the dandelion, but how well do they really know it?
If you have been out and about enjoying the warmer weather, then you may have noticed, especially in shady areas where the soil is moist, scattered clusters of tiny, white, 4-petaled flowers with 4–6 stamens.
Articles and resources for weed identification and control.
The month of March is a good time to talk about the shamrock, a symbol often associated with Ireland and Saint Patrick’s Day.
“Spring Cleaning” in the Garden
Spring cleaning is not just for rugs and rooms. Planting beds need attention early in March. Many weed seeds will have already germinated on warm winter days.
Invasive Plants in Northern Virginia: Mile-a-Minute
Persicaria perfoliata (mile-a-minute) is a noxious weed present throughout the Mid-Atlantic and is of serious concern in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
THE MYTH: Vinegar is an effective way to kill weeds.
THE REALITY: Household vinegar has long been heralded for its many uses around the home and garden, but is it actually an effective weed control method?
The minister began the sermon by asking how many in the congregation were gardeners. Then the minister asked what was the first thing they saw when they walked into their gardens. Silence … followed by the obvious answer … weeds! To many of us their very existence seems to ruin an otherwise beautiful scene, leading to countless hours grousing about and cursing their existence. Not to mention the physical labor and money expended in our weed-fighting efforts.
Interspersed among vibrant spring flowers are the delicate lacy leaves of bittercress, the rich green tufts of annual bluegrass, colorful expanses of henbit and deadnettle, and cheerful clumps of chickweed … In case you’re wondering, remember, a weed is merely a wildflower in the wrong place.
