In the Garden Spring

By Tina Will

strength That will be enough, and it will increase the microbial activity in the soil which increases the availability of nutrients to the lawn you are trying to grow. If you want to mulch areas around trees, or in garden beds, apply mulch to the surface area around the tree where the feeder roots are, but NOT to the trunk. Mulch volcanoes do the tree's bark no good. The tree's own bark is the only covering it needs! Also, choose a mulch that is more like chipped bark which allows water and air to flow through more easily.

use native plants in the landscape. The HGW website gives all the particulars: www.vagardenweek.org/tours/fredericksb urg-king-george/.

While We Wait

Are you an early Spring Gardener? There is much that can be done. The cold hardy vegetables we all love can already have been started, and successive sowings can follow as the first crops get harvested. Cold hardy vegetables include lettuces, spinach, broccoli, kale, cabbage, peas, radish, onions, and leeks.

Lawn work? Virginia Cooperative Extension guidelines now recommend fertilizing only in the Fall because it feeds the roots which will produce better growth the following Spring. This once-ayear schedule reduces by half the potential fertilizer run-off into our waterways. If you can't resist putting fertilizer down in Spring, use a natural fertilizer (like composted manure) and apply it in half

Historic Garden Week Gardener's delight? Yes, especially when we can see what others have done. Historic Garden Week (HGW) in Virginia is a unique o pportunity to tour both the historical and current landscapes that are usually off limits to anyone but the owner.

This year, several historic properties in King George County will be on the tour on April 18 for ticket holders. Cedell Brooks, Jr Park is the place to start, and there you can get a tour of the Native Plant Demonstration Garden, now in its fourth year. What has been accomplished there is marvelous, and gives good examples of how to

While we await the hiring of a new Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent for this district, I would like to acknowledge our Master Gardener Coordinator Lisa Ellis Since September, almost single-handedly, she has kept our VCE office open and running. Lisa guides and tracks our volunteer work, and keeps us apprised of lectures and volunteer opportunities. In this interim position she's managing many different tasks with cheerfulness and encouragement. A new Master Gardener training class filled up with eager enrollees within 48 hours. It started in late March thanks entirely to her efforts. We are looking forward to working with the new Master Gardeners in the months to come. Thanks Lisa!

Spring Beauty

We might still get some snow or a late frost, but I am so glad to have had a Spring that let Magnolias and Camelias show their beauty. The Camelias at the entrance to the YMCA Butler Rd (pictured bottom left) had perfect conditions to produce a bounty of flowers! Yellow daffodils and wonderful pink tulips all around Fredericksburg lift our mood to welcome a lovely early Spring!

It is almost that time of year again! The too short, yet eagerly awaited time for the peonies to bloom!

It is a long held belief that peonies can't bloom without ants! It is no surprise people have thought this because this time of year you will see ants crawling all over peony blooms!

But this tale is just a myth! The reason ants flock to peony buds are because peonies secrete a substance called extrafloral nectaries. Essentially, this means that the buds are producing nectar, which is basically sugar, and the ants are drawn to it like...well... ants to sugar.

While these may seem like a really sweet thing for the peonies to do, they are not doing it just out of the goodness of their heart, they also benefit from the ants being there! While the ants are there feeding, they protect the forming flowers from insects that would feed on the plant itself This is a perfect