Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
Explore artful techniques in plant identification throughout the changing seasons with Extension Master Gardener Mary Jennings. She covers the purpose of botanical journaling: combining scientific observations with artistic documentation.
Interested in bringing your gardening hobby indoors or looking to add a little green to your space? Join Extension Master Gardeners Evin Morrison and Rebecca Secula to learn about getting plants to thrive in your home. Evin and Rebecca cover a variety of topics including ideal lighting conditions, potting soil recipes, and how to deal with pests.
In this session, attendees will learn the essentials of vegetable container gardening, including how to choose the right containers, soil, and plant varieties for a successful vegetable harvest at home.
How can you transform your outdoor space into a welcoming haven while being a champion for your local ecosystems? Join EMG Lynda Ramirez-Blust for an exciting journey into the art and science of landscape design!
While they bloom for only a short time, ephemerals such as Bloodroot, Trout Lily, and Virginia Bluebells can add beauty to the home garden in spring while providing critical support to early-emerging pollinators. Join Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills for this extensively updated presentation on 23 ephemeral species native to the Mid-Atlantic with a discussion of their special adaptations for success, their use in landscape design, and their care.
Winter is an excellent time to prune many trees and shrubs. Extension Master Gardeners Molly Newling and Angela McNamara explain why and how to prune to remove crossing and rubbing branches, suckers, water sprouts, and damaged wood.
Interested in learning how to grow vegetables year-round? Join Extension Master Gardener Intern Joe Larsen to explore the exciting world of hydroponics, a soil-free method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water.
Join Kirsten Conrad, Extension Agent for Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, to learn about sap sucking insects, their particular host plants, their life cycles, and optimal timing and methods for controlling them. Find out how you can work with and encourage natural predators and reduce pesticide use to keep your landscape plants healthy and free of these pests.
The use of salt-based products on roads, driveways, and sidewalks during winter poses a challenge to gardeners. Join Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills to learn about the effect of salt spray and salt runoff on plants and soil as well as treatments, the use of alternative products, and protective garden practices.
Tired of parts of your yard flooding when it rains? Have you ever wondered what you can do to control stormwater on your property? Maybe you experience property damage from excessive water runoff, live in a community that floods frequently, or care about the health of local streams. Join Extension Master Gardeners Cindy Robertson and Kathryn Kellam as they share helpful advice and lessons learned in managing and capturing stormwater in their Northern Virginia yards.
It may be autumn, but it's not time to abandon the garden! This class offers easy tips for onsite composting, providing winter habitat and food for wildlife, and end-of-season care of tools and equipment. Did you know that fall is the ideal time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials? We help you identify opportunities to learn from this year’s successes and failures (we all have them) to lay the groundwork for next year.
So, you want to grow bigger blooms, nutrient packed, disease-free vegetables, that require less watering? Start composting! Listen in to Extension Master Gardener Nina DeRosa as she discusses easy ways to use organic waste, including kitchen scraps, yard waste, and ash from backyard fires to make black gold for your soil that will then feed your plants.