Celebrating Native Trees
Join Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills to learn details on the characteristics and attributes of 20 native trees and suggestions on their uses in the home landscape.
Trees
Assessing and Dealing with Snowstorm Damage on Trees
Though snowfall can transform our landscape in ways beautiful and wondrous, heavy snowfall can also cause astounding harm. Trees and shrubs broken under the weight of snow and ice need to have damaged wood carefully removed.
Planting Trees
No discussion about how we can help cope with climate change would be complete without addressing the critical importance of trees. Trees offer habitat, nesting sites, and a variety of food to wildlife and the life functions of trees provide many other beneficial ecosystem services.
Small Trees Make Big Canopies
Our Free Tree project stems from concerns that our region’s tree canopy is shrinking fast as our largest trees fall victim to age, redevelopment, poor pruning practices around power lines, prolonged periods of drought, and record-high flash rainfalls. Many people seek to replant, but the instinct to plant a larger tree can lead to disappointing results, since larger nursery trees need extensive root trimming to be portable enough to sell, and their new owners often fail to give them enough water in their first year to survive.
Northern Virginia Bird Parents Face Caterpillar Shortages
Parents often feed their chicks even after they fledge, similar to what some human parents experience these days with their Millennial fledges. And while local parents have recently been confronting scarce supplies of paper products and frozen pizzas, these poor bird parents will tell you they’ve been suffering caterpillar shortages in this urban area for years.
In the Winter Garden, 2019 Edition
Our gardens may lay mostly dormant in this season, but still there are some herbaceous and woody plants with color, form, and texture that can both surprise and delight in the winter landscape.