Washington Gardener September 2020

SEPTEMBER 2020 VOL. 15 NO. 7

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the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region

The Benefits of Bee Watching Create Your Own Woodland Fernery 7 Secrets to Successful Onion Growing A Condominium Community Garden

Tall Sedums

for Fall Gardens

Grape Hyacinth Planting Tips Attracting the American Goldfinch What to Do in the Garden this Month Pleasant View Garden Brings New Life to Historic Site

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Washington Gardener Magazine’s staff and writers are available to speak to groups and garden clubs in the DC region and ONLINE! Call 240.603.1461 or email KathyJentz@gmail.com for available dates, rates, and topics.

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Green Spring Gardens

www.greenspring.org

A “must visit” for everyone in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area. It’s a year-round goldmine of information and inspiration for the home gardener. It’s an outdoor classroom for children and their families to learn about plants and wildlife. It’s also a museum, a national historic site that offers glimpses into a long, rich history with colonial origins.

Located at 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA. Information: 703-642-5173.

RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL PLANTS FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GARDENER AND COLLECTOR Barry Glick Sunshine Farm and Gardens 696 Glicks Road Renick, WV 24966, USA Email: barry@sunfarm.com

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Izel Plants

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Ask Maryland’s Garden Experts extension.umd.edu/hgic

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FEATURES and COLUMNS

The Takoma Overlook Community Garden provides a place for residents to garden and befriend their neighbors. It also provides a space for adults and kids to learn about gardening, and to build community networks by working with local farms, artists, foundations, and politicians.

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Win several plant-based body care products from Green Goo! See contest details on page 5.

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The American Goldfinch is most-active during the day. They are considered to be social, not solitary, birds. They have excellent flying skills, soaring with a wavelike pattern.

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Besides creating an opportunity to learn local history, the garden project at Pleasant View on Darnestown Road in Gaithersburg, MD, focuses on teaching the benefits of native plants and improved storm water management. This all-volunteer effort is funded by a grant from The Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Montgomery County Water Quality Protection Fund. Native plants were donated by Montgomery Parks’ Pope Farm nursery.

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Taking time for observing during the pandemic.

See page 4.

ASKtheexpert 21 Dogwood Issues, Cicadas, Vegetable Garden Prep BIRDwatch 9 American Goldfinch BOOKreviews 18-20 Big Book of Blooms, Houseplant Party, Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon, Gardener’s Botanical DAYtrip 6-7 Pleasant View Garden GOINGnative 22 Plant a Woodland Fernery INSECTindex 17 Bee-Watching NEIGHBORnetwork 14-16 Yoomie Huynh, Takoma Overlook Community Garden NEWPLANTspotlight 11 Echo Azalea PLANTprofile 8 Tall Sedum TIPStricks 10 Onion Tips, Planting Perennials in Fall, Grape Hyacinths

DEPARTMENTS

ADVERTISINGindex BLOGlinks EDITORletter GARDENcontest GARDENDCpodcasts LOCALevents MONTHLYtasklist NEXTissue READERreactions RESOURCESsources

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ON THE COVER

A bed of Tall Sedum and grasses at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD.

In our October issue: Planning Unique and Beautiful Bulb Combinations and much more . . .

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EDITORletter

Credits Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Proofreader Lindsay Garbacik Nicole Noechel Interns Cover price: $4.99 Back issues: $6.00 Subscription: $20.00

Your editor in a Takoma Park flower installation by Park Florist. Photo by Robert Alonso.

Watching the World Go By

In this issue, we introduce a new column about bird-watching and how to attract these winged friends to our gardens. It is a topic I had been mulling over for a few years now and finally found some time this summer to reach out to local bird groups to ask for columnist recommendations. The timing could not be better, since the hobby of birding has had a surge of interest during the pandemic period, just as gardening did, and for many of the same reasons. It is something many of us dabble in, but never had time before to really pursue. Many of us were saving this passtime for “when I retire.”

Similarly, in this issue, Carol Allen, our insect columnist, share the relatively new hobby of bee-watching. I don’t think I will start a “life list” or journal of bee sightings, but I am certainly more aware of the many bee species visiting my gardens this year—from the tiny Squash bee to the lovely Blue Mason bee.

This unplanned pause in our lives has allowed us to take a much-needed breather and sit back and observe our gardens more closely than ever before. The explosion of insect and plant pictures in my social media groups is astounding as many people who normally are at an office all day, find themselves wandering outside with phone camera in-hand and a curiosity about what they encounter. It is one little silver lining in this COVID-19 lockdown.

Happy gardening,

Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener, KathyJentz@gmail.com 4

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• Washington Gardener Blog: www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com • Washington Gardener Archives: http://issuu.com/washingtongardener • Washington Gardener Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ WashingtonGardener/ • Washington Gardener Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/WDCGardener • Washington Gardener Instagram: www.instagram.com/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Washington GardenerMagazine/ • Washington Gardener YouTube: www.youtube.com/ washingtongardenermagazine • Washington Gardener Store: www.amazon.com/shop/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Podcast: https://anchor.fm/kathy-jentz/ • Washington Gardener is a womanowned business. We are proud to be members of: · GardenComm (GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators) · Green America Magazine Leaders Network · Green America Business Network Volume 15, Number 7 ISSN 1555-8959 © 2020 Washington Gardener All rights reserved. Published monthly.

No material may be reproduced without prior written permission. This magazine is purchased by the buyer with the understanding that the information presented is from various sources from which there can be no warranty or responsibility by the publisher as to legality, completeness, or technical accuracy.

READERcontt

Reader Contest

For our September 2020 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away a set of Green Goo products (value $95, greengoo.com). The set includes Bugs Be Gone, Natural First Aid, Hand Sanitizer, and more.

Green Goo makes potent, portable first aid and body care products for the active gardener. They use only plant-based ingredients and slow-infuse them in enriching oils. The result is one of the mosteffective all-natural product lines on the market. The herbs are carefully sourced from organic farmers and they use a full-spectrum/whole-plant approach when creating their products.

To enter to win the set of Green Goo products, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@g mail.com by 5:00pm on Wednesday, September 30, with “Green Goo” in the subject line and in the body of the email, tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Include your full name and mailing address. The winner will be announced on October 1. o

Your Ad Here

Are you trying to reach thousands of gardeners in the greater DC region/MidAtlantic area? Washington Gardener Magazine goes out in the middle of every month. Contact KathyJentz@gmail.com or call 301.588-6894 for ad rates (starting from $200). The ad deadline is the 5th of each month. Please submit your ad directly to: KathyJentz@gmail.com.

READERreactions

August 2020 Issue My favorite August 2020 article was definitely “A Native Grassland Pollinator Meadow in University Park.” University Park is local to where I live in Berwyn Heights and I was glad to learn of the efforts to rejuvenate an area. Hopefully, they will introduce some additional color to the lot in the future. Northwestern Prince George’s County is hosting an increasing amount of great gardening projects. The municipalities in this area can convert some of their land holdings into interesting spaces, and involving residents sure helps increase pride in your hometown. ~ Michael Kelley, Berwyn Heights, MD This month, I appreciated the book reviews section. I don’t have a lot of flowers and Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening piqued my interest. I wish to have a flower garden next year. ~ Heidi Lovett, Silver Spring, MD Well, most of the articles contained stuff I enjoyed reading. The “Myths Busted” was my favorite, since we see ads for some of those items and they seem hard to believe! ~ Alison Mrohs, Henniker, NH My favorite article this month is “7 Garden Myths Busted!” I must admit that I’ve fallen for several of these. Now I know I can save my money to buy plants instead! ~ Jennifer Whalen, Silver Spring, MD

Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is an easy program to participate in and really does not take any extra resources than what you may have in your garden. In normal times, about 35 million people wonder where their next meal will come from.

Most of these are children. That’s where PAR steps in.

PAR is such a simple program: It urges gardeners to Plant A Row (or a container) dedicated to feeding the hungry, and then take the harvest to someplace or someone that needs it. Once you have donated, send an email to KathyJentz@gmail.com with the total (in pounds and ounces) of what you gave.

That is all there is to it. Easy. Effective. Adaptable and Helpful.

Thanks for an informative and interesting August edition of your magazine. I enjoyed the book reviews, particularly the one about The Story of Gardening reviewed by Jim Dronenburg. The article I liked the best, however, was “7 Garden Myths Busted” by Hadley Baker. I found this article to be the most interesting because it conveyed new information and presented it in a straightforward manner. And it certainly surprised me by disputing some long-held gardening beliefs. ~ Sandra Lange, Greenbelt, MD The piece in the latest issue I enjoyed the most was the one about the bees.

As a beekeeper myself, I am always glad to read about bees and beerelated topics. Thanks for the article. ~ Edward Constable, Washington, DC o SEPTEMBER 2020

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DAYtrip

Pleasant View Garden Brings New Life to Historic Site

By Nicole Noechel In 2017, the Muddy Branch Alliance, a conservation organization dedicated to protecting the Muddy Branch Stream and its surrounding areas in Montgomery County, MD, tasked board member Merikay Smith with finding a nearby site suitable for a conservation landscaping project.

After being told by the Chesapeake Bay Trust that the conservation site would be more likely to receive a grant if the funding request was submitted by a nonprofit other than the Muddy Branch Alliance, which was already funded by another grant, Smith decided to enlist the help of another group she leads: Earth Stewardship East.

Earth Stewardship East, a regional group of the nonprofit LDS Earth Stewardship, is a “nonpartisan, faith-based environmental group” that focuses on “learning from and sharing teachings from scriptures and faith leaders about earth stewardship,” according to Smith.

Although the group is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, members are generally involved with the Mormon church, but everyone 6

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is encouraged to join and participate.

The organization received $25,000 from the Chesapeake Bay Trust through the Montgomery County Water Protection Fund, and Smith and other members of Earth Stewardship East began working to create a native plant garden at Pleasant View, a historic African American site in Gaithersburg, MD. “I had visited services at the church at Pleasant View, and because of the historic nature of the property, its location on a busy highway in a high-density area, the open area of weedy turf, and the proximity to Muddy Branch, it was a perfect site,” Smith said.

The garden’s plants are mostly native to the Chesapeake Bay region. Some examples include trees such as Sugar Maple, River Birch, and multiple species of Magnolia, as well as flowers like Bluebells, Goldenrod, Black-eyed Susan, and Butterfly Milkweed.

There is a full plant list in the “Pleas-

ant View Project” section of the Earth Stewardship East website (eartheast. org).

On top of adding beauty to the Pleasant View site, the garden helps bring community members together and provides education on basic gardening techniques and identifying native plant species. According to Smith, many volunteers have begun planting native trees, shrubs, and perennials in their home gardens as a result of what they learned from this project.

The garden also holds rainwater to keep Muddy Branch Stream from overflowing during storms and provides a habitat for insects and birds in an otherwise-urban setting.

“On a recent visit, I saw at least a dozen American goldfinches eating seeds in the garden...there was also a monarch butterfly and many other species of butterflies and bees,” Smith said.

DAYtrip Apart from Earth Stewardship East members, volunteers from other churches and faiths, particularly congregations with links to the African American community such as Seneca Community Church, Poplar Grove Baptist Church, Mt. Olive Church, and Fairhaven United Methodist Church, have contributed to the creation and upkeep of the Pleasant View Garden. Overall, more than 420 volunteers have helped with cultivation of the Pleasant View garden, according to Smith.

Smith felt it was important for African American community members to be involved with the project, since the garden is on the site of a historic Black church, school, and cemetery.

According to the Earth Stewardship East website, “The Pleasant View Church, a part of the Washington Grove Circuit of the Washington Negro Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was completed in 1888 for residents of Quince Orchard. In 1901, after the school at Pleasant View was burned down under suspicious circumstances (other black schools in the area were also burned at about this time), a one-room schoolhouse, which began life as a school for white children in 1875, was moved across Darnestown Road to Pleasant View. In 1968, the congregation of the Pleasant View AME Church joined with two other small Methodist Churches to form Fairhaven United Methodist Church.�

The Fairhaven United Methodist Church and the one-room schoolhouse still stand at Pleasant View today, and the Trustees of Pleasant View are currently working to complete structural renovations of both, according to Smith.

Since the COVID-19 breakout, large volunteer events at the garden have been canceled. If you would like to volunteer at future events at Pleasant View, please email merikays@verizon. net. In the meantime, you are welcome to stop by and enjoy the garden. o Nicole Noechel is a senior multiplatform journalism major and history minor at the University of Maryland. She is interning this fall semester with Washington Gardener.

Photos courtesy of Merikay Smith and www. eartheast.org.

SEPTEMBER 2020

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PLANTprofile

Tall Sedum

By Kathy Jentz

There are two general types of Sedums for the garden— Creeping Sedum groundcovers and Tall Sedum. The tall type grows between 1 to 3 feet high and perform best in full-sun locations with well-draining soil.

They thrive through summer’s dry heat and are extremely drought-tolerant. There is no need to fertilize this plant. In fact, if you do, the growth can become leggy and flop over.

The tall Sedum varieties work well as border perennials or can be planted in groups to give a mass effect.

They combine well with Ornamental Grasses, Asters, and Echinacea.

The taller, upright varieties of Sedum typically develop large flower heads in mid-summer and bloom from late summer through fall. The flowers can be left to dry and stay in place over the winter to provide seeds for wildlife.

Sedums are an easy perennial for even the novice gardener. They are very low-maintenance, requiring virtually no pruning to shape. They make good cut flowers, attract pollinators, and are a great addition to any landscape.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is a classic selection. Some of the newer selections to try include those with darker, purple leaves, such as ‘Vera Jameson’ and ‘Purple Emperor’; bright, variegated foliage like ‘Frosted Fire’; or yellow flowers like ‘Lemonjade’.

It is very easy to divide and propagate Tall Sedums.

Much like the other members of its large succulent family, you can pull out a few stems, strip off the leaves, and simply stick them in the ground. They will form new roots within a few weeks. o

By Hadley Baker

Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.

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BIRDwatch

American Goldfinch

By Cecily Nabors Those yellow birds like shards of sunlight in your yard are American goldfinches. Among the smallest members of the finch family, goldfinches are gifts to gardeners. Even if deer ate all your daylilies, these birds will brighten your day.

The U.S. has three goldfinch species, two of which are found only in the western states. American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) are found all across America, and in our area, they are with us all year long.

The birds molt into their breeding plumage in mid-spring. Females don new olive-green feathers; good camouflage for nesting. The canary-yellow plumage on a goldfinch male makes him a garden dandy. Both sexes have black flight feathers and pale wing-bars, but the male tops off his yellow outfit with a sexy black beret.

Goldfinch flocks move around in non-breeding seasons, but they don’t migrate far. The reason they seem to disappear in autumn is that they molt into drab attire. In September, when breeding season is largely over, the yellow males start to look patchy. By mid-November, males and females both have brownish-gray plumage, with the males retaining a bit of yellow on their shoulders.

Goldfinch songs and calls are distinctive. The male’s courtship song is highpitched and musical; a twittery, tinkling

plant fibers, glues it with webbing from spiders or caterpillars, and lines it with plant down. She does all the incubation; the male brings her food. He also feeds the youngsters until they fledge, while she may go on to make a second nest.

Although I seldom see goldfinches drinking or bathing at my birdbath, an unexpected consequence of hanging hummingbird feeders is the pleasure of watching goldfinches leaning in to drink water from the ant-wells. Another surprising appropriation: Catnip grown for our cats provides food for the birds.

Stems of catnip start bobbing and there’s a goldfinch or two, climbing around on the plants or head-down, deep in succulent catnip seeds. (Catnip is a mint that spreads easily, so I wouldn’t plant it unless you want to delight your cats.)

A cheerful sight at birdfeeders, goldfinches readily eat hulled sunflower series of notes, like a tiny far-off wind seeds, but prefer the tiny black nyjer chime. In their undulating flight, both seeds, an exceptional energy source. males and females issue flight calls (Nyjer is often called “thistle,” but it’s at the low curve of the sine wave, as if actually the seeds from an African urging themselves to daisy.) Pines and achieve that upper spruces in your yard curve. That diagprovide great yearnostic call sounds round shelter and like “perchickoree” their winter cones or “potato chip.” In can be mined for addition, they often seeds. do plaintive contact To lure American calls—the sounds goldfinches to your that gave them the garden, plant native species name tristis. thistles (Cirsium), Like all birds, goldconeflowers (EchiMale goldfinch on catnip. finches need food, nacea), black-eyed water, and shelter to survive. Not deepSusans (Rudbeckia), and sunflowers forest birds, they prefer open wood(Helianthus). When blooming is finlands, weedy areas and meadows, and ished, don’t be quick to deadhead the streamsides, with shrubs for cover and plants. Goldfinches eager to take the nest sites. seeds will come to your garden like flyThese little birds are vegetarians: ing flowers.

Their diet consists almost entirely of Happily, these beautiful birds are seeds. Unlike most seed-eating birds, common and widespread; their conthey seldom feed insects to their servation status is “species of least nestlings, but stuff those noisy gaping concern,” and their population is stable. beaks with regurgitated seeds. They That’s good news. o especially like thistle seeds, and also use soft thistle and cattail down to Cecily Nabors is a retired software manager line their nests. Thistles flower later in who has been watching and counting birds summer, so goldfinches nest later than for much of her life. She publishes the many other garden birds.

Good-Natured Observations blog at The female makes the nest, usually cecilynabors.com.

4 to 14 feet up in an upright fork of a shrub or tree. She weaves the nest from SEPTEMBER 2020

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TIPStricks

The Secrets to Successful Onion Growing According to Barbara Melera of Harvesting History Heirlooms (https:// harvesting-history.com), onions can be planted in the fall for a mid-summer crop. (They can also be planted in the early spring for a late-autumn crop.)

Onions are sold as seed or sets. For most gardeners, Melera recommends planting sets. If you are going to plant seed, she recommends that you do so as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring for a late-fall crop or early in midsummer for a spring crop the following year. Sets are baby onion bulbs that have been grown from seed to about the size of a quarter and give you a head start on the season. When you purchase onion sets, you are almost always purchasing ‘Strasburg’ or ‘Red Burgundy’ onions.

Today’s home gardeners need to amend the soil where they are planting onions with potash and phosphate.

There are organic sources for both of these nutrients. Some lime will make the onions sweeter. Besides forgetting to amend their soil with potash and phosphate, the other mistake that gardeners make when it comes to planting onions is to plant the sets too deep.

Onion sets should be planted no more than 2 inches deep. In areas where there are frequent freeze-thaw cycles, Melera recommends that you mulch with 4 inches of straw (not hay) in the winter.

If you want to start from onion sets to get scallions, plant each set less than 1 inch from the next, in rows 4–6 inches apart. Your sets will then produce scallions. If you want the best of both worlds from sets, thin the sets you have planted to get some scallions in late fall, before the frosts kill the top growth, but leave one onion plant every 6 inches and next summer, you will harvest big onions as well.

Onion plants are hardy and can withstand temperatures lower than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. With the onset of winter, the leaves die back and the roots cease to grow. This process is called vernalization. Proper bulbing is a function of adequate growth, vernalization, and subsequent growth during longer days. o 10

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Fall Is for Planting — Perennials

Fall may be a better time to plant perennials than spring, according to the National Garden Bureau (ngb.org). Like spring, fall has cooler, rainier weather that is more conducive to helping plants establish. Unlike spring, fall doesn’t subject freshly planted perennials to the stress of summer heat.

Fall is an excellent time to assess your garden. It is the conclusion of a full season of watching your garden perform. Compared with spring, everything is at its mature size. This makes it easy to see bare spaces or estimate the size of something you plan to replace.

By evaluating at the end of the season, you might also find yourself focusing more on fall color. This is a good time to check whether your perennials melted away after flowering, or are a few items still in bloom? Is the foliage chlorotic or riddled with holes from some bug’s dinner? Ensure you get three seasons of interest from your garden by dealing with fall color in the fall.

Is there a bad time for to shop for plants? When you are picking up your mums or ornamental kale, pop over to the perennials department and see what is looking good. How the plant looks in the garden center in fall is usually a good representation of what it will look like every fall. Watch for perennials still in flower or showing a particularly vibrant leaf color.

Garden centers often reward lateseason shoppers with a different set of plants from early spring. Late-to-emerge and late-to-flower plants are now stocking the shelves. This time of year also often sees discounts on plants the garden center doesn’t want to over-winter.

Don’t worry about new growth.

You probably won’t see many new shoots or flowers, but that’s okay!

You’re planting this perennial for next year. What you can’t see above the soil is happening below with fine root development.

Do not fertilize. The slow-release fertilizer included in the nursery pot and held in the rootball is more than enough to get them to winter. Too much nutrition can have adverse effects on the plant and interfere with the transition to dormancy. o

Plant Grape Hyacinths to Brighten Up the Garden

Grape hyacinths (also known by their Latin name of Muscari) are among the first flower bulbs to bloom in the spring.

The most familiar species is Muscari armeniacum. According to iBulb.com, the most-important advantage of this species is that it remains attractive for such a long time. It also attracts many bees. This benefits biodiversity.

The small, bell-shaped flowers are clustered tightly together, resembling a miniature cluster of grapes, and are usually blue, although some are purple, pink, or white, or even display two colors. The margins of the flowers often have a pretty white edging.

The original habitat of these popular little flower bulbs includes the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. There are about 40 different varieties of grape hyacinths.

Grape hyacinths can easily tolerate frost and are also easy to grow. No wonder that any garden could do with some grape hyacinths. The plant itself grows to a height of 4 to 8 inches, with each little bulb producing more than one cluster of flowers. If you would like to enjoy grape hyacinths in the spring, plant them in the fall between October and December before the ground freezes.

Do you like to have bright colors in your garden? If so, plant clusters of at least 25 grape hyacinths closely together. What a pretty sight they will make in the spring!

What if you have a patio or balcony instead of a garden? You can also enjoy grape hyacinths there. They will thrive in pots and give you lots of color in the spring. Muscari armeniacum is most commonly used for this purpose.

But what if your thumb isn’t that green or you simply want instant results? In this case, buy grape hyacinths as pre-forced bulbs in pots in the spring. You can find these convenience items in the garden center or at the market. Just place them in a pretty pot or plant them in the garden for instant gratification.

Maybe you’d like a cheerful combination of plants. If so, plant grape hyacinths along with Grecian windflowers (Anemone blanda). o

GARDENnews

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • Groundcherry Surprise • Tragedy and Triumph • Meet the Fall Interns • DIY: Teacup Garden See more Washington Gardener blog posts at: WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o

September–October Garden To-Do List

New Plant Spotlight

Photo courtesy of Gardener’s Confidence.

Echo™ Bloom ’N Again® Reblooming Southern Indica hybrid Azalea Echo™, a new release in the Gardener’s Confidence® Collection Bloom ‘N Again® series of repeat blooming azaleas, is a reblooming sport of ‘Formosa’ and the first reblooming Southern Indica azalea on the market. Two seasons of bright flowers on a large evergreen shrub make this the South’s showiest reblooming azalea.

Prized by generations of Southern gardeners, Southern Indica hybrid azaleas include a number of well-loved varieties in addition to the popular ‘Formosa’, including ‘George L. Taber’, ‘Judge Solomon’, and ‘Mrs. G. G. Gebring’. Echo™ (Rhododendron x ‘RutRhod1’ PPAF) has the same appealing features as its parent, including large, brilliant fuchsia flowers featuring showy stamens; vigorous growth; sun tolerance; and velvety evergreen leaves. Plants naturalize quickly and easily reach 4 to 6 feet in height and width, maturing without pruning to 8–10 feet. Echo’s vigorous growth surpasses other reblooming azaleas on the market, but can also be easily maintained to a desired height with selective pruning. Echo is hardy in USDA Zones 7b–10.

Echo™ was identified by Dr. John Ruter of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Science (UGA CAES).

Echo will launch in spring 2021 with larger availability in garden centers throughout the Southeast. You can learn more at www.echoblooms.com. o

• Keep an eye out for the first frost date. In Zone 6, it is expected between September 30 and October 30. In Zone 7, it is predicted for between October 15 and November 15.

• Divide and transplant perennials—in particular, peonies and iris.

• Pick apples at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.

• Pot up rosemary and chives for over-wintering indoors.

• Take cuttings from coleus and begonias to propagate and over-winter indoors.

• Look out for any poison ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the fall and be easy to distinguish from other vines.

• Check your local garden center for end-of-summer bargains.

• Put netting over your pond to prevent the accumulation of leaves and debris.

• Start feeding birds to get them in the habit for this winter.

• Attend a local garden club meeting or plant exchange.

• Pick mature tomatoes and peppers to ripen on your window sills.

• Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. Work compost into your planting beds.

• Remove rotting fruits from fruit trees and compost them.

• Plant evergreens for winter interest.

• Plant garlic bulbs.

• Collect plant seeds for next year’s planting and for trading at the annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges.

• Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.

• Fertilize your lawn and re-seed if needed.

• Dig up your Gladiolus, Canna, Caladiums, and other tender bulbs; cut off foliage; let dry for a week; and store for the winter.

• Transplant trees and shrubs.

• Harvest your herbs often and keep them trimmed back to encourage leafy growth.

• Bring in houseplants if you took them outdoors for the summer.

• If your conifers start shedding their needles or your spring bulb foliage starts peeking out of the ground, don’t worry. This is normal for our autumn cycle.

• Leave hummingbird feeders out until October 15.

• Start bulb plantings of early-spring bloomers at the end of the month.

• Watch your pumpkins/squash. Harvest them when their rinds are dull and hard.

• Divide ornamental grasses.

• Cut herbs and flowers for drying indoors.

• Plant strawberries in a site with good drainage for harvest next spring.

• Look out for slug eggs grouped under sticks and stones—they are the size of BBs and pale in color.

• Plant cover crops in vegetable gardens and annual beds (for example, rye, clover, hairy vetch, and winter peas).

• Begin conditioning the Poinsettias and Christmas cacti to get them ready for the upcoming holiday season.

• Bring Amaryllis indoors before a hard freeze. Repot every other year at this time.

Store in a cool, dark place and do not water until flower buds or leaves emerge.

• Your summer annuals will be reviving now with cooler temps and some rain. Cut back any ragged growth and give them some fertilizer. They should put on a good show until the first hard frost. o SEPTEMBER 2020

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GARDENDCpodcast

GardenDC Podcast Episode Guide

The GardenDC podcast is all about gardening in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic area. The program is hosted by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and features guest experts in local horticulture.

Episode 1: A discussion with garden writer Marianne Willburn about the Philadelphia Flower Show, rose pruning, Edgeworthia, March gardening tasks, and more.

Episode 2: A chat with Kit Gage, a Chesapeake Bay landscape professional, about the recent Green Matters Symposium, the novel The Overstory, and Doug Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope.

Our Plant Profile in this episode is the coolseason annual Sweet Alyssum.

Episode 3: A chat with Kim Roman of Square Foot Gardening 4 U (SFG4U) about Square Foot Gardening techniques, microgreens, and what cool-season edibles you can start right now.

Our Plant Profile in this episode is about Forsythia.

Episode 4: A talk with Doug Oster all about tomatoes—from the earliest varieties to ripen to combating blight issues—along with Doug’s best tips and tricks. Our Plant Profile in this episode is Heuchera.

Episode 5: A talk with Abra Lee of Conquer the Soil, who is a horticultural storyteller and Longwood Fellow. The Plant Profile focuses on the Pussy Willow and we add a new segment about what is growing in our community garden plot and home garden this week.

Episode 6: A chat with David Ellis, editor of The American Gardener, the magazine of the American Horticultural Society, about favorite spring flowering trees and shrubs.

The Plant Profile is about pansies/violas and we reflect on the late, great Henry Mitchell.

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Episode 7: A chat with returning guest Marianne Willburn about chickens in the garden, her fuzzy ducklings, and her new hugelkultur installation. The Plant Profile is about lilacs and we vent about leaf blowers.

Episode 8: A chat with Heather Zindash about IPM and best practices for diagnosing and treating issues in your garden. I share why gardening is not canceled and the Plant Profile is Kale.

Episode 9: An in-depth talk with Barbara Bullock about all things azalea—from planting tips to pruning to favorite selections. She is the recently retired curator of the U.S. National Arboretum’s azalea collection. We also reminisce a bit about Behnke Nurseries, and Barbara talks about what gardening in retirement is like.

Episode 10: A chat with Peter Pepper about growing Peppers, I describe my visit to Rachel Carson’s home a few years ago, and I discuss what is blooming in my garden.

The Plant Profile is fothergilla.

Episode 11: A chat about Lotus with Kelly Billing of Water Becomes a Garden, and I answer a listener question about harvesting Asparagus. I share what is blooming in my garden and the Plant Profile is Calamintha.

Episode 12: A chat with Eva Monheim about her new book on Shrubs and Hedges.

I opine about gardening in movies and the Plant Profile is Hakone Grass.

Episode 13: A chat with Connie Hilker of Hartwood Roses about Heritage (aka Old or Heirloom) Roses. I share my love of Crocs and the Plant Profile is Hardy Waterlily.

Episode 14: A chat with Niraj Ray of Cultivate the City about unusual edibles, including Papalo, Malabar Spinach, and Megberries. I share my Confessions of a Plant Killer and the Plant Profile is Daylilies.

Episode 15: A wide-ranging conversation with plantswoman Carol Allen about Orchids, insects, hummingbirds, and more. The Plant Profile is Common Milkweed, and I share why gardening has real value.

Episode 16: A talk with Tony Sarmiento about all things Garlic. The Plant Profile is Lavender and I share my lessons in Nostress Gardening.

Episode 17: An in-depth conversation with Mike Whalen about garden photography. The Plant Profile is Hardy Geranium, and I share my “Confessions of a Plant Hoarder.”

Episode 18: A chat with Jenny Rose Carey about shade gardening. The Plant Profile is

Clematis and we provide tips for “Logging Offline in the Garden.”

Episode 19: A talk with Holly Heider Chapple about floral design. The Plant Profile is Black-eyed Susans, and I share my thoughts on “Gardening by Rules.”

Episode 20: A talk with Shari Wilson about native plants. The Plant Profile is Sunflowers and I share my thoughts on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Garden.”

Episode 21: A talk with Drew Asbury of Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens about cutting gardens. The Plant Profile is Monarda and I share my Adventures in Garden Speaking..

Episode 22: A talk with Michael McConkey of Edible Landscaping about Fruit Tees. The Plant Profile is Crape Myrtles and I share “Low-Maintenance Lawn Alternatives.”

Episode 23: Returning guest Marianne Willburn chats about summer cocktails and makes a case in defense of the lawn. The Plant Profile is cucumbers and I share my love for the ‘Green Cloud’ container lotus.

Episode 24: A talk with Peggy Cornett of Monticello about their historic plant collection. The Plant Profile is Echinacea and I share tips for Guerilla Gardening.

Episode 25: A chat with Michael Judd of Ecologia Design about all things related to growing Paw Paws. The Plant Profile is on Cup Plant.

Episode 26: A talk with Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes, about Heirloom Tomatoes and Straw Bale Gardening . The Plant Profile is on Cannas.

Episode 27: A talk with Jay Hutchins of Brent and Becky’s about Gardening with Bulbs. The Plant Profile is on Tiger Eyes Sumac and I share my top Tulip picks.

Episode 28: A talk with Wendy Brister of Cavano’s Perennials about Preserving: Canning, Freezing, and Drying. The Plant Profile is on Great Blue Lobelia.

Listener Support Needed You can become a listener-supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! We will give you a thank you shout-out on the next episode. See how at: https:// anchor.fm/kathy-jentz/support.

Find Our Podcast

You can listen online at https://anchor. fm/kathy-jentz/ or at our blog: https:// washingtongardener.blogspot.com/.

We are available on Spotify, Apple, RadioPublic, Breaker, PocketCasts, Overcast, and Google Podcasts. o

TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events Listing Classes and Webinars • Saturday, September 19, 10am Cool Season Edibles Many edible plants grow best in cooler weather. Try your hand at growing them and enjoy the “fruits”—or veggies—of your labor during the winter months. We’ll cover techniques for lengthening the growing season and what edible plants do best in our Mid-Atlantic climate. Speaker: Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine.

Register at https://apm.activecommunities.com/montgomerycounty/Activity_Search/conquering-cool-seasonedibles/82654. Cost: $10/FOBG: $8.

• Friday, September 25 and Saturday, October 24 (choose one) 1–4pm HOAs and Condo Associations: Planning and Managing Common Open Space Join Plant NOVA Natives for an engaging session about ecologically sustainable community master planning and land management in Loudoun County, VA. (The examples will be from Loudoun, but the information is applicable anywhere, so all are welcome.) Register at https://www.plantnovanatives.org/ symposiums-for-hoa-and-condo-assoc-.

• Tuesday, September 29, 7:30pm Native Grasses for Use in Home Gardens and Native Meadows Fall is when our native grasses strut their stuff. Join the Maryland Native Plant Society for a fun, non-technical discussion of native grasses and their design/aesthetic considerations for use in garden beds and native meadows, soil and light requirements, and establishment and maintenance techniques.

The species covered will include: Wood Oats, Bottlebrush, Virginia Wildrye, Indiangrass, Little Bluestem, Switchgrass, Purpletop, Bushy Beardgrass, Purple Lovegrass, and Woolgrass.The speaker will be Dr. Sara Tangren. To register, go to: http://www.mdflora.org/event3954648.

• Saturday, October 3, 11:30am Foundations of Cut-Flower Care Join Arrin Sutliff, owner of Tint Floral, online to learn the basics of cut-flower

care! This lecture lays the groundwork for flower arranging by covering seasonal and local sourcing methods. Register at https://www.usbg.gov/.

• Sunday, October 4, 2–3pm Dealing with Deer and Other Mammal Pests in Your Garden Bambi may be cute, but he and his mother, cousins, and rest of the herd are very hungry and would love to make a feast of your garden. This talk will cover proven and humane tactics for coping with deer, rabbits, rats, groundhogs, and other creatures that are attracted to both edible and ornamental gardens. Speaker: Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine. Held via Zoom. Note: If you cannot attend the live class, you can still register and get a link to view the class for two weeks after the actual date. Fee: $10. Register at https://py.pl/180w3U. • Wednesday, October 14, 2–3:30PM Pruning Small Trees and Shrubs: Don’t be Intimidated by Pruning VCE Master Gardeners offer basic pruning techniques and tips to give you the confidence to tackle those pruning tasks in your landscape. Held via Zoom.

Cost: free. Registration link: https:// forms.gle/W2Y7xyoZnrggUY9k7.

Plant Sale • Saturday, September 19, 10 am–

4pm Plant Society Sales Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA, is hosting the Cactus and Succulent Society and the Azalea Society in a plant sale. The plant sale will be just outside the Visitor Center and is free to attend (since it is before entering the gardens). Garden rates and memberships still apply to enter the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

Online Garden Clinics • Tuesday, September 29 at 12noon

In the Garden Garden Q&A with Montgomery County Master Gardeners has the answers.

Submit your questions and photographs using the form on the Montgomery

County Master Gardeners-Maryland website, https://go.umd.edu/inthegarden. Then tune in to the Montgomery County Master Gardeners-Maryland Facebook page on the first and third Tuesdays of the month for your answers. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions live at www.facebook. com/MoCoMasterGardenersMD/. If you miss the live show, you can visit their YouTube channel to see the recorded program.

Garden Book Club • Thursday, November 12, 6:30–8pm For the next Garden Book Club selection, we will discuss Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence—A Friendship in Letters. You can order it new or used at the Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3mo1SSv. The Washington Gardener Magazine’s Garden Book Club is free and open to all. RSVP to washingtongardenermagazine @gmail.com, to receive the Zoom link.

Plant Swap • Sunday, September 20, 11am–12n

DC Plant Swap The annual DC Plant Swap hosted by Washington Gardener Magazine at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC, is open to all. This year, the event will be by pre-registration only and will observe all social-distancing precautions. Start potting up and labeling your plants now to prepare for it. Register at http://dcplantswap.rsvpify.com.

Event Listing Updates See updated event listings on the Washington Gardener Yahoo discussion list. Join the list at http://groups.yahoo. com/group/WashingtonGardener/.

How to Submit Local Garden Events To submit an event for this listing, email washingtongardenermagazine@gmail. com with “Event” in the subject line.

Our next deadline is October 5 for the October 2020 issue, for events taking place after October 15. o SEPTEMBER 2020

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NEIGHBORnetwork

Meet Yoomie Huynh

Takoma Overlook Community Garden

By Lindsay Garbacik Yoomie Huynh is no stranger to making a difference in her community. She has worked with international nonprofits and inter-governmental organizations for eight years and has lived and worked around the globe.

Most recently, Huynh volunteered with Peace Corps Response in Tbilisi, Georgia, for six and a half months.

She has also run for local offices in Washington, DC, a couple of times in the past. She now lives in Takoma Park, MD, with her husband and enjoys gardening and cooking in her free time.

Currently, Huynh is making use of her years of nonprofit experience by organizing the Takoma Overlook Community Garden.

Planning for the Takoma Overlook Community Garden began in July 2019, and the site was dedicated in March 2020. The garden is on the grounds of the Takoma Overlook Condominium at New Hampshire Avenue and Merwood Drive in Takoma Park. It is for the private use of residents of Takoma Overlook Condominiums and is overseen by the Takoma Overlook Garden Club.

This interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.

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The garden sits on a quarter-acre of land on the front lawn in a high-traffic area of the grounds, across from the dog park and next to the parking lot.

It holds a total of 11 8x4-feet raised garden boxes; it rents out seven full or half boxes annually to residents, and four are community boxes tended collectively by the garden club.

Unlike other Takoma Overlook committees, the garden club was established separately from homeowner’s association (HOA) funding and operates on rental fees, grants, and private donations. This was done to maintain autonomy. Garden club membership consists of residents who are interested in the garden but do not or cannot rent their own garden boxes. During the growing season, harvests from the garden club boxes are set out in the lobby for consumption; they are free for any resident to take. Harvests are usually set out once every three weeks from May to November.

What inspired you to start this community garden project?

The Takoma Overlook Community Garden was started as an idea to pro-

mote community recovery and provide group healing for our community after one of our residents committed suicide by jumping from her ninth-story balcony on April 18, 2019. As the chair of the Takoma Overlook Social Committee, I worked with a member of the HOA Board to apply for a $2,000 grant. The startup funding for the garden was given through the Takoma Foundation, which “raises funds to advance the […] greater Takoma Park community” and focuses their “grant-giving on projects that empower individuals, […] build connections between people, and expand community capacity.”

We wanted to start a community garden after this tragic event because a garden nurtures not only the body, but the soul as well. We did not want to make it a memorial garden, but a community garden where the whole community can benefit: to provide a space to befriend fellow neighbors; practice teamwork, grow low-cost fresh fruit and vegetables for people without space to garden; teach and learn about gardening for adults and kids; and build community networks.

NEIGHBORnetwork What got you interested in gardening?

I love to cook and the idea of having a kitchen garden is appealing to any home chef. I have never let the lack of a green space deter me from starting a garden, whether having only a window sill garden of herbs and lettuce grown in Mongolia when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer or using urban spaces when I was living in a four-apartment building in Washington, DC. What are your tasks as garden chair?

In this capacity, I draft and annually update the Community Garden Information and Policies that state the Community Garden Rules and outline both the gardener’s responsibilities and the garden club’s responsibilities.

My responsibilities can be categorized into: 1) record-keeping, 2) financial, 3) garden operation and maintenance, 4) public outreach, and 5) liaising with Takoma Overlook management and the HOA board.

Under record-keeping I, keep a list of gardeners; update the waiting list; maintain financial tracking, including coordinating with management on collecting signed Garden Agreement forms and fees; create marketing materials; and maintain social media accounts for events and announcements.

For the financials, in addition to collecting rental fees, I raise annual funds for big projects (i.e., deer fence, compost system, rain barrel system) through grant-writing, fundraising campaigns, and soliciting donations. I also maintain garden operations and maintenance through delegating garden work to individual garden club members/family units, and communicate with gardeners and members through email updates.

Although the Takoma Overlook Community Garden is private, we do not want to be insular. Our public outreach includes working with local community farms, artists, and the wider metro area. In 2020, we partnered up with Nisani Farm, run by Ann Codrington, a fellow Return Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), to provide seedlings for the garden club and gardeners. We are hoping to partner with a local Takoma Park artist to paint our garden boxes in 2021.

Lastly, I act as the liaison between management and the HOA board, and

provide monthly garden club reports to the Takoma Overlook Community in person at the monthly HOA board meetings.

What was the process of starting the community garden like?

When I founded the Takoma Overlook Community Garden, I did not look up formal steps on how to start a community garden, but rather followed my instincts and conformed to the needs and resource limitations of my community. However, the steps I took mirrored the foundational steps listed by the American Community Garden Association (ACGA), of which the Takoma Overlook Community Garden is a member. A community garden project should be kept as simple as possible, whether large or small.

There are 10 key steps to starting a community garden: 1) Organize, 2) Visualize, 3) Identify, 4) Support, 5) Establish, 6) Prepare, 7) Plan, 8) Reach Out, 9) Determine, and 10) Communicate. The following steps are adapted from the ACGA’s guidelines for starting a community garden.

• Organize your group. Form a planning committee to determine your garden goals: what you want to grow there; who will be involved (are there conditions for membership, i.e., residence); the beneficiaries; how large the plots should be and how should they be assigned (by family size, residency, need, etc.); how the funds wil be used; what services, if any, will be provided to the gardeners in return; will the group do certain things cooperatively; will the gardeners meet regularly, and if so, how often; and will the gardeners share tools. If the project is meant to benefit a particular group or neighborhood, it is essential that the group be involved in all phases of the planning process.

In our case, we held a public forum to present our ideas for a community garden and the proposed location and timeline, and for the community to ask questions and voice concerns. After, the members of the Social Committee took over the initial planning and construction stages before founding of the garden club.

• Visualize your goals. Write a mission statement or formal bylaws that lists the official name of your garden/organi-

zation; legal address; goals and philosophy of the garden; membership dues; any official policies or practices (i.e., gardeners will only use organic growing methods; group will make all repairs necessary to keep equipment, fence, and outdoor furniture in good order and repair), special committees (i.e., funding and partnerships, youth activities, construction, communication); their purpose and how they operate. Also, choose well-organized people as garden coordinator(s).

Our mission statement is listed in the Takoma Overlook Community Garden Agreement, which every gardener has to sign. It is updated annually because it also includes our goals and timeline for each year.

• Identify your tasks. Create a list of tasks that answers “Who? What?

When? Where? How? and Why?” Who will be benefiting from your garden?

What are your short- and long-term objectives? What is your timeline?

Where will your garden be located? How will you accomplish your goals? How will you raise money? Membership dues, fund raising, grants, sponsors? Do you want to be incorporated or act as a club? Why are you motivated to create and maintain this garden?

For us, we wanted the Takoma Community Garden to be an additional amenity but be funded separately from HOA funding to maintain autonomy.

Thus, we created the garden club—a separate entity from the other HOA board-sponsored committees—with its own funding.

• Gather your support. Most community gardens are supported through some combination of membership dues and/or plot rentals, and donations of land, tools, seeds, or money. Knowing your motivation of “why” is useful here.

Some community gardens get adopted into preexisting nonprofits to increase their success in obtaining grant funding.

Other community gardens, like ours, are born out of preexisting goals of established organizations. I wanted to keep the use of the community garden local, so I approached our Takoma Overlook HOA about land use for a shared public space and jointly writing a grant proposal to fund the project.

• Establish your site. When determinSEPTEMBER 2020

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NEIGHBORnetwork ing a garden site, keep in mind the amount of daily sunshine (vegetables need 6+ hours per day), availability of water, and soil. Consider past uses of the land. Is there any contamination?

Do a soil test for nutrients and heavy metals or build raised beds and control the soil you use. Our building hosts 232 condominiums; the largest condo building in Takoma Park, MD. The proposed garden space sits on a quarter-acre of land on the front lawn in a high-traffic area of the grounds, across from the dog park and next to the parking lot.

It was the only location on our condo grounds that was close enough to a water source and level enough to build raised beds on (the land was previously used as a dog lawn and we were afraid that nitrogen in the dog urine would prohibit plant growth). However, it was not large enough to hold 232 garden boxes. Keeping in mind the 6+ hours of sunlight, the proposed garden space could only hold 11 raised garden boxes.

• Prepare your site. Does your land need preparation for planting? Organize volunteers work crews to clean the site, and arrange for land preparation (plowing) or build garden boxes.

Since our proposed garden space was level, we didn’t need to prep the land or clean the site. We just needed to organize community volunteers to build the raised garden boxes. We advertised two community building-stage days for residents to come help build garden boxes and paint donated tomato cages.

Later, we also arranged for free county compost pickup and drop-off by our residents.

• Plan your garden. Decide on plot sizes or garden box sizes; gather resources (try to gather free materials); include plans for a storage area for tools and other equipment, as well as a compost area; build a deer fence; and plant a hedge row of flowers or shrubs around the visible perimeter. This helps promote goodwill with non-gardening neighbors, passersby, and municipal authorities, and discourages animals from coming in. Consider too the beauty of your garden with picnic tables, benches, statues, or arbors.

We put out a call to the wider Takoma Park community for garden tools and outdoor furniture donations. By 16

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December 2019, we were ready for our first growing season in 2020.

• Reach out to your community.

Promote your community garden’s successes, needs, or goals at public meetings or events that allow booths and/or presentations. It is also fun to hold tours for groups and individuals who want to learn more about gardening and community gardens.

We promoted our garden club events, announcements, and photographic updates on the Instagram account and Facebook page, as well as Nextdoor. I am also giving a virtual tour and session on “The Benefits of Starting a Community Garden” sponsored by the Georgetown Alumni Association and the Georgetown Club of Metro DC. • Determine your rules. Ground rules help gardeners know what is expected of them. Examples of issues that are best dealt with by agreed rules are: How are the plots assigned? Will gardeners share tools, meet regularly, handle basic maintenance? What consequences will there be for gardeners who abandon plots?

We list the “Community Garden Rules and Gardener’s Responsibilities,” as well as the “Takoma Overlook Garden Club’s Responsibilities,” in the Takoma Overlook Community Garden Agreement signed by each gardener. Gardeners’ responsibilities include: being responsible for your guests to the garden; keeping the garden pet-free; understand that the garden is organic and not use weed killers, herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides; planting and clearing deadlines; use of community equipment and tools; minimum hours of general garden maintenance; and lease termination.

Garden club responsibilities include: assigning available garden beds; providing garden equipment (i.e., compost, hose, and unlimited water); extending their relationship with local farms to gardeners to use their services as well (e.g., provide seedlings, education, field trips to farms); overall maintenance of the garden site, including mowing grass and cutting tree branches that hover over garden boxes; building the deer fence; and establishing compost and rain barrel systems.

• Communicate about your garden.

Good communication ensures a strong

community garden with active participation. Some ways to do this are: create an email list, install a rainproof bulletin board in the garden, have regular celebrations.

I regularly update the gardeners on the garden’s next event or project, as well as any issues that arise during the growing season. Moreover, I follow up with garden club members after I assign garden tasks. The updates also get sent out with the building’s monthly newsletter and posts on the Takoma Overlook website.

How has COVID affected the program?

Starting a community garden is hard work. 2020 was our first growing season and we were derailed by COVID-19.

The virus hit in late-February; March 20 was the first day of spring. Although we have found alternatives to accomplish many of our set-out tasks, we still have not achieved our goals of building a deer fence, implementing a compost practice, and designing a rain barrel system.

Further, although I was aware that angry neighbors and bad gardeners pose problems for a community garden and usually the two are related, and that most gardens can ill-afford poor relations with neighbors, local politicians, or potential sponsors, what I failed to predict was the amount of complaints to something visibly new in a high-traffic area on the grounds. Even though the complaints about the “look” of garden boxes from non-gardeners and passersby increased, both management and the HOA Board voted to financially assist us in planting deer-resistant evergreen hedges around the perimeter of the garden, as well as contribute some funds to our deer fence project.

Any final thoughts?

My wish for this Takoma Overlook Community Garden is for it to thrive long after I have moved out of the building. I want to create not only a beautiful garden but also a self-sustaining and low-cost functioning community garden that gives more than it takes to be maintained. o Lindsay Garbacik is a junior journalism major, with a minor in art history, at the University of Maryland. She is interning this fall semester with Washington Gardener.

INSECTindex

Bee Watching A male European Wool Carder bee (Anthidium manicatum). Photo by Jeni Sidwell, USDA-ARS.

By Carol Allen I found a new (to me) publication, the Bees of Maryland: A Field Guide (https://bit.ly/3hrUZfw), which was put together by the North American Native Bee Collaborative. Published in the “public domain” in 2017, it was intended to be not only a field guide, but also a document for an individual to annotate and add to as needed. It struck a chord with me because it introduces the concept of bee watching. Well, why not? I watch birds. I seek out butterflies. An unfamiliar dragonfly makes my heart beat faster. So, why not bees?

The field guide is a lovely thing, with some of the exquisite photographs taken by Sam Droege and others, and amazing line drawings of bee anatomy

by Rebecca Nelson.

And then I realized, I’m already a bee watcher. I used to spend some weekend days at the now sadly gone Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD. The perennial department was a wonderful place to bee- and butterfly-watch. It was there that I identified a European Wool Carder Bee several years ago. Research turned up the little-known fact that this alien bee was introduced into North America in the 1960s and can be found throughout central and northern Maryland and is spreading. Its bullying behavior makes it a threat to native bee species.

It may be difficult to believe that there can be invasive alien bees, like the European Wool Carder Bee, but there is now a new website for just the purpose of identifying alien bees (https://idtools.

org/id/bees/exotic/). It has keys, and a 43-page gallery of up-close-and-personal images of alien bee parts. This is a serious tool for state departments of agriculture and university extension services. Although complex, it is easy for the serious bee-watcher to use.

Alien bees threaten our native bees’ survival and are one more stress to these important pollinators. Work is being done in the Sierra Nevada region in California to identify flower-bumble bee associations. Environmental stresses can threaten not only the bumble bee populations, but also the flower species upon which they depend. When naturalists work to restore habitats, knowing which species of plants associate with which species of bumble bee will make the efforts more successful.

That is a lesson we can take home to our gardens in the Mid-Atlantic. As we add plants and gardens to our landscapes, we should keep in mind that the addition of pollinator-dependent plants can assure the continuance of an important species. Most insects are not generalists like the European honeybee, but co-evolved with a small group of often-related plants.

The group of plants that I allow to proliferate in my landscape are violets.

They fill in empty spaces that might otherwise be taken over by Japanese stilt grass or wavyleaf basket grass.

Although they are the bane of turf-purists, my collection of five species supports fritillary butterflies.

To support native bees, plant a wide range of native, flowering plants. Many trees and shrubs add to that biodiversity. Plan to have flowers in bloom from early spring to late fall. Right now, goldenrods and asters are providing good bee forage. Here is a valuable guide from U. S. Fish and Wildlife: “Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping Chesapeake Bay Watershed” (https://bit.ly/3bTpY2E).

Provide an area where they can get water—perhaps a flat rock placed in the center of a bird bath, half in the water, will provide a place for them to drink and will assist in your bee-watching.

Do not use pesticides, especially cover sprays like those promoted by mosquito control companies. If their sprays kill mosquitoes (and often, they are not very effective), they will kill bees and other important beneficial insects. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources provides a guide to “Bee-Friendly Backyards” (https://bit. ly/2FhY5FW).

Many of our native bees’ nest in existing cavities (bumble bees) or in the ground (digger bees and sweat bees), and some nest in holes found in wood (mason bees). For most of us, that means leaving our garden just a little bit “untidy.” Leave that dead snag in the woods; allow some litter from last year’s perennials; and if you find an area with nesting bees, cordon it off while they complete their life cycle. They are unlikely to hurt you. I have inadvertently walked through nesting sites and have not been stung.

Considering a nesting box? Be sure to site it facing the morning sun and ensure that it is sturdy and not easily shaken by the wind. It will have to be cleaned out or recycled at least every two years to prevent the buildup of bee parasites. The Xerces Society provides tips in their guide, “Nests for Native Bees” (https://bit.ly/32runqL).

Happy Bee Watching! o Carol Allen describes herself as a committable plant-a-holic. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the horticulture industry, with a special interest in plant pests and diseases; is a Licensed Pesticide Applicator in the state of Maryland; and is an ISACertified Arborist. She can be contacted at carolallen@erols.com.

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BOOKreviews

The Big Book of Blooms Author: Yuval Zommer Publisher: Thames and Hudson List Price: $19.95 Order link: https://amzn.to/32ufDXZ Reviewer: Nicole Noechel The Big Book of Blooms is the latest installment in author and illustrator Yuval Zommer’s “Big Book” series, following other nature-themed children’s books like The Big Book of Bugs and The Big Book of Birds.

The book details everything a young reader would need to know about flowers: different species and families, anatomy, pollination, seeds and dispersal, how to grow your own flowers, and even the importance of environmental conservation. Don’t worry—each bit of information is only one or two sentences long, so it’s not a tedious read. At the back of the book, there is a small glossary of words used throughout that children may not know, as well as an index for easy searching.

Botanical experts Elisa Bondi and Scott Taylor, both from the research and education institution Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, contributed to the book, as did blooms and wildlife expert Barbara Taylor. The result is a read so chock-full of bite-sized pieces of information that anyone, even a college student like me, would feel like a professional botanist after finishing it.

Make no mistake: Although the book’s primary purpose is education, it could never be boring. The colorful, intricate artwork that dominates each page, from cover to cover, both illustrates the topics being discussed and 18

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grabs the reader’s attention, enticing them as they turn the page to every new section.

There is also a game to keep kids from getting distracted—on the title page, readers are challenged to find the 15 golden bulbs hidden throughout the book. There is an answer key in the back to ensure no one gets too frustrated.

The book is big—in a child’s hands, it would be comically large, but in my mind, it’s the perfect size for a parent to read to their child before bed. I imagine a pajama-clad kid, tucked in and desperately trying to stay awake to hear the last pages before drifting off to vibrant floral fantasies and daffodil dreams.

In an age where kids are often removed from the outside world and tuned into iPhone and computer screens, this book is the perfect way to get them excited about tangible, nature-based activities like gardening and flower picking. You might even be surprised to find a fresh bouquet waiting for you on your kitchen table, courtesy of your new little florist.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something to entertain their curious child, especially parents who are gardeners or plant lovers themselves. At only $19.95 for a fantastically illustrated and informational hardcover that can be read over and over, your kid will be begging you for storytime every night. o Nicole Noechel is a senior multiplatform journalism major and history minor at the University of Maryland. She is interning this fall semester with Washington Gardener.

Houseplant Party: Fun Projects & Growing Tips for Epic Indoor Plants Author: Lisa Eldred Steinkopf Publisher: Cool Springs Press List Price: $19.99 Order link: https://amzn.to/3mkPpz8 Reviewer: Lindsay Garbacik Written by the author and blogger Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, known as “The Houseplant Guru,” Houseplant Party is the ultimate guide to growing, caring for, and decorating with a variety of easy-to-care-for houseplants. Eldred herself has more than 1,000 houseplants in her own home, so she knows a thing or two about proper plant care.

This book is surely aimed at those of us who cannot keep a plant alive to save their life, but it is presented in an upbeat, occasionally humorous,

and—most importantly— stress-free approach to houseplant care. What could be better for those who love the look of houseplants but have no clue how to care for them?

The book is divided into three sections dedicated to indoor plant cultivation: “The Best Plants for Your Living Space,” “Taking Care of Your Houseplants,” and “15 Houseplant Projects and Crafts.”

The first section provides readers with a one-page synopsis of different houseplants, and also details why they are beneficial and how to take care of them. Steinkopf profiles about 16 plants in this section, ranging from the rather-common spider plant to the lesser-known ponytail palm. Each page also has its own large, colorful, aesthetically pleasing image of the plant.

Perhaps the best part of this section is when Steinkopf predicts the common problems people have when growing these plants and then offers signs to look for and easy fixes to keep each plant healthy. Overall, this is the perfect, easily understandable guide to choosing the right houseplant for your space, and it accurately prepares you with tips you’ll need to care for them.

In the next section, Steinkopf covers how to take care of your houseplants.

First, she goes into great detail about how much light each type of plant will need. She goes on to explain how to tell which direction light shines through your window and which plants prefer certain directions of light. Who knew?!

This section also delves into the tricky balance between overwatering and underwatering your plants.

Steinkopf offers a variety of tips in this area as well. She explains how to use

BOOKreviews fertilizer sparingly, raise the humidity indoors, improve your natural light, groom plants, and improve a pot’s drainage. I’ve personally had a houseplant or two through the years, but after reading this section, I now understand why they have all died under my care.

The final section is the ultimate Pinterest board collection of DIY houseplant crafts and projects. Each craft has step-by-step instructions with accompanying pictures to guide readers seamlessly through the projects.

Some crafts are certainly more difficult than others, like the homemade macramé plant hanger, but others are very easy and use materials you probably already have lying around your house, like the recycled table knives converted into cute plant stakes. These crafts are the perfect way to cure some quarantine-induced boredom while also filling your house with tons of plants that all come with their own set of health benefits.

I enjoyed reading this book, and as a beginner plant owner, felt comforted by Steinkopf’s humor and the ease with which she approaches plants. The book is full of colorful photos and is very organized. I would recommend this book to any houseplant lover, regardless of skill level or plant-owning experience. o Lindsay Garbacik is a junior journalism major, with a minor in art history, at the University of Maryland. She is interning this fall semester with Washington Gardener.

Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon Authors: Linda Jane Holden, Thomas Lloyd, and Bryan Huffman Publisher: Gibbs Smith List price: $32.00 Order link: https://amzn.to/3ivmiXn Reviewer: Beth Py-Lieberman Let me tell you a secret about Bunny Mellon: She pruned her trees in a rigid, ongoing fashion, employing a legion of master arborists, as if she was the creator of the universe, but she hardly minded at all if—and in fact, encouraged—her flowers and herbs to roam with abandon across borders and walkways.

Such was the magnificent life of the late, great horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, and art connoisseur Rachel Lambert Mellon. For the uninitiated few who don’t know Bunny (her mother’s nickname), she was born to money and married more of it. Her

father was the merchant and advertiser Gerard Lambert, who made a fortune famously teaching Americans to rinse their mouths with his company’s product: Listerine. Her second husband was Paul Mellon, whose family’s fortunes and art collections endowed Washington, DC, with its glorious National Gallery of Art. Bunny’s name also came up recently in DC after the current residents of the White House redesigned the Rose Garden that President John F. Kennedy asked her to design and build between the Oval Office and Executive Office Building in 1961. The very private Mellons kept multiple estates, cottages, and apartments in locations from the Virginia countryside, to the beaches of Cape Cod and Nantucket, in Paris, and in Antigua in the West Indies. And it was Bunny’s great pleasure to craft magnificent gardens and vistas for all of her homes. Trees being her first anchor in design—the “focal points from which flower, vegetable, and herb bed evolve.”

Bunny Mellon’s passion for trees—in allées, as focal points, to frame vistas, to provide shade and shelter, bent and trained in espalier, growing in cordons with colorful blooms at their feet or trimmed neatly into tiny topiaries—is just one of the intimate details to be found in the delightful Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon by Linda Jane Holden, Thomas Lloyd, and Bryan Huffman. The authors each have a deeply committed relationship to the great heiress and the secrets they divulge are pulled from her correspondences and writings, in notes, in journals, and in interviews.

Lloyd is her grandson, Holden is a gardening confidant, and Huffman is a design collaborator. The book provides entree into this marvelous life of a 20th-century tastemaker with stories that begin with a little girl, who at just age six, inspired by the illustrations in Beatrix Potter’s stories, asked her father for a place to garden at their family estate in Princeton, NJ. She had the “most original mind of anyone I knew,” he would say of his daughter’s budding talent that would always be defined as “amateur.” Although selftaught, Mellon would achieve mastery and eventually conspire with some of the century’s most-gifted landscape designers. She was honored with requests for gardening help and renovations from friends who included Lady Bird Johnson and Jackie Kennedy.

Along with Hubert de Givenchy, she

would help to restore Louis XIV’s le Potager du Roi at Versailles. In fact, at Givenchy’s own estate, Manoir du Jonchet, Bunny created a delightful springtime display beneath a 100year-old oak. In the summer, the pair marked out the exact area where the great tree cast its magnificent shadow and then planted a sea of hundreds of lapis-blue Scillas “like a memory of that great shadow.”

The secrets promised in the title do not disappoint. There is much to be found here for gardeners of all levels.

Tips flourish at every turn of the page, where a generous offering of colorful and previously unpublished photographs highlight important aspects of Bunny’s nuanced instructions. These read sometimes like aphorisms— “Beware of nurseryman”; “Every garden has its own way of being”; “To become a good gardener.…spend time every day in the garden;” “Like bad habits in other ways, one can start bad garden habits”; and “Plant as the wind blows.”

But believe it or not, the masterful Bunny began just like any of us would: with graph paper, a ruler, measuring table, colored pencils, and a good eraser.

Helpful hints abound. When you pick gladiolas, leave the part of the stem with the thick covering, so they’ll flower again. Add ashes when you plant dahlias to help the blooms. In one of those years when the iris and peonies bloom at the same time, sow more annual seeds than usual to carry the blooming season into June.

But expertise born of her many years making observation in the garden is there to be found, as well. The book provides advice in learning to understand a space, observe its atmosphere, SEPTEMBER 2020

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BOOKreviews and take in the color of the bark in the trees and the shrubs and view how they appear against other sight lines. How to soften sharp edges with boxwoods and rambling herbs and fleabane daisies. How to think about light and anticipate all of its sources, following the path of the sun. How to value and control shadows through careful pruning. How to think about the available space of a garden in all of its dimensions. How important it is not to over-plant. How to control for pests.

The venerable Bunny Mellon lived to 103, dying in March of 2014. The home where she and Paul lived in Virginia’s Fauquier County is called Oak Spring and overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains. The estate lives on now without her; she endowed it with funds to assure its longevity. Not open to the public except by appointment, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation organization’s mission is to “support and inspire fresh thinking and bold action on the history and future of plants, including the art and culture of plants, gardens and landscapes.” I signed up for its newsletter and hope to make an appointment to visit someday to search out more of her secrets.

Perhaps Bunny said it best about a garden and its mysteries: “Too much should not be explained about a garden. Its greatest reality is not reality, for a garden, hovering always in a state of becoming, sums its own past and its future.” o Beth Py-Lieberman is Smithsonian magazine’s museums editor. She gardens at home with visiting deer in Silver Spring, MD, and is the volunteer liaison for the Fenton Street Community Garden.

The Gardener’s Botanical: An Encyclopedia of Latin Plant Names Author: Ross Bayton Publisher: Princeton University Press List price: $29.95 Order link: https://amzn.to/2Rrw4y8 Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg Looking at the title, you would think, “Oh, a dictionary,” and you wouldn’t be wrong. But this is much more than that. Understand, some of us are more enamored of the use of Latin than others; your Humble Reviewer had three years of it in high school (and did well).

To me, Latin words are friends. To most of the gardening reading public, though, Latin is a foreign language.

This book walks you through the Latin 20

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naming system for plants and animals, showing how it evolved and how it works. Then it gives you the tools you need to understand what, a lot of the time, a plant’s name is trying to tell you.

You know that a plant’s name is (Genus, species). The genus (plural is genera) is like a “surname” or last name and is always a noun. A species is like a “given name” or first name and is a descriptive word—think of Jane, Mary, John, and Walter Smith.

They have the same surname, but the given name says that although they are related, these are four distinct individuals. Now people’s names are given at birth, but a plant’s name is given differently. Suppose Jane lives in MD. She could be “Maryland’s Smith.” John is a redhead, so he could be “Rusty Smith.” Just so, a species name can be an adjective (small, white, looks-likesomething-else; “of (from) a certain place”)—you get the idea. The only bitter pill to swallow is that for the most part, a species adjective has to agree with the gender—yes, folks, Latin nouns have genders—of the genus name.

This doesn’t apply in all cases; for instance, if it is Lilium brownii or ‘Brown’s lily,” then the gender ending has to agree with whether it was named for or by Mr. or Ms. Brown.

Don’t worry about it. You’ve memorized the names of your favorites already.

This just gives you the why, which is important when you learn something new. And here’s the whole point: When you see a plant’s Latin name, more often than not, the words may be trying to tell you something, where it grows, where it came from, that it has nasty thorns. Knowing the words, or looking them up, can save you a world of grief.

One more thing. Be aware that lots of English words are compound—that is, they are made up of two or more words that could stand alone. Houseboat.

Keyboard. And Latin is the same, so the book breaks words down and gives you what each part of it means.

And this encyclopedia gives you some prefix meanings—“a” at the start of a Latin word means the same thing as in English, for example: “not, no, none.”

Example: political and apolitical or not political. Several of these prefixes, once you learn to look for them, will do you a world of good.

The main body is an alphabetical listing of prefixes, adjectives, and genera.

Genera are capitalized, other things are not. So, if the listings run “a- , abbre-

viatus, Abelia,…” you know Abelia is a genus. A genus name is explained, adjectives are given all their forms (masculine, feminine, neuter) so you will recognize them, and then the definition, and then an example.

The examples were your reviewer’s downfall. I tried to read this front to back like a textbook or novel, but I kept finding examples that made me say, “What is that?” and jumping back and forth to find out what “that” was.

An added attraction was that each page in the listings has one or two botanical illustrations of item(s) on that page. Beautiful work, and all labeled.

(There is a very short history of botanical illustration in the front of the book.)

In the back, as a start for those who have no Latin nor desire to learn it, is an index of common names of some plants and their Latin names. This is a trap. When you see the Latin name of your favorite plant and the listing explains what it means and why it is named the way it is, you will be amused… and before you know it, you will be hooked.

Everyone who gardens seriously should have something like this book.

Granted, you can’t carry it with you every time you go to a garden center or box store; but if you have this and look at it occasionally, you will sooner or later have an “oh, wow, I remember that” moment that will help you. o Jim Dronenburg is a retired accountant and now gardens full-time in Knoxville, MD. Note: These book reviews include links to Amazon.com for ordering them. Washington Gardener Magazine may receive a few cents from each order placed from these links.

KNOWitall

Ask the Expert

By Debra Ricigliano

Droopy Dogwood Tree

Q: My white dogwood tree has not looked good at all this year. It bloomed okay in the spring, but then the leaves got droopy with a whitish coating and some leaves had small dark spots on them. I have space to plant another dogwood in my backyard and was wondering if I should select another kind.

A: In general, dogwoods did not have a great season. Many became infected with powdery mildew. From your description, that sounds like one of the issues your tree experienced. Powdery mildew can infect dogwoods early in the season and persist throughout the fall. This has become a serious issue for dogwoods. Not only does it disfigure the leaves, but it can potentially weaken the tree. A few leaf spot diseases, like spot anthracnose (not the same as dogwood anthracnose, which devastated dogwoods in the past), septoria, and phyllosticta also plague dogwood trees and are worse in wet years. But they do not typically cause serious problems.

Dogwoods are still a favorite tree of many, despite their problems. When selecting a new tree, make sure it is one of the disease-resistant cultivars.

Some resistant to powdery mildew are Appalachian Joy’, ‘Jean’s Appalachian Snow’, and ‘Karen’s Appalachian Blush’. ‘Cherokee Brave’ is resistant to both powdery mildew and spot anthracnose. For a complete list, search the HGIC website under “dogwood.”

Cicadas Coming

Q: Earlier in the spring, I was reading a news article about the cicadas coming this year. I kept waiting to no avail. Have we been spared from the onslaught of noisy, clumsy insects that fly into people and other objects as they travel around from tree to tree? If they are going to come again, should I be worried about my trees?

A: Believe it or not, there are folks who find periodical cicadas fascinating and are amazed at how they spend 17 years underground and emerge in large numbers to overwhelm predators

Powdery mildew on flowering dogwood.

Photo: John Hartman, University of Kentucky, Bugwood.org

ensuring their chances of reproduction and survival. But, to many, cicadas can be an annoyance. Earlier this year, southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia, and northern North Carolina experienced an emergence of periodical cicadas with a few stragglers that appeared further north, causing confusion about when periodical cicadas are to emerge here. Brood X, which emerged last in 2004 up and down the East Coast, is set to emerge sometime in May of 2021.

Periodical cicadas do not feed on trees, but females make slits in small twigs and branches to lay their eggs.

Some tip dieback can occur, but is not a problem for older, mature trees.

Newly planted deciduous ornamental trees, some shrubs, and young fruit trees can be protected by covering them with mesh with less than halfinch openings (sold in garden supply centers). You also can use tulle, found in fabric stores. Secure the netting around the base or trunk of the plants.

Protection should be removed as soon as the adult cicada activity has ended.

to put my garden to bed for the winter?

A: Good for you that you used your extra time in a positive way! Vegetable gardening can be challenging. Weather, diseases, pests, and wildlife can be discouraging, but there is nothing better than eating a fresh, homegrown tomato. The fall is a good time to look ahead to next spring to give you a headstart on next year’s garden.

When you are done harvesting, remove and clear out all of the plant debris.

This reduces overwintering pests and diseases. Take the opportunity to test your soil to get baseline information about soil pH, nutrients, organic matter, and lead. Soil amendments like compost can be added now or in the spring. Uncomposted manure should be spread and worked into the soil this fall to reduce food safety risks. Lastly, cover the bare soil. Shredded leaves or mulch protects the soil from eroding and reduces winter weeds. Planting a cover crop is something else to consider. Maybe next year, you can look into growing cool-season crops like spinach, arugula, broccoli, and garlic. o

Vegetable Garden Prep

Debra Ricigliano is a Certified Professional Horticulturist, who has worked as a horticulture consultant for the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center since 1997. She is a graduate of the Institute of Applied Agriculture at UMCP. To ask a gardening or pest question, go to http://extension.umd. edu/hgic and click on “Get Help.” Digital photos can be attached.

Q: After many years of wanting to start a vegetable garden, I took advantage of my extra time at home to build some raised beds and plant a garden. I had many successes and some disappointments, since my squash plants were devastated by squash vine borer. But I decided that I am going to try again next year. What should I do in the fall

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GOINGnative

Create Your Own Woodland Fernery

By Barry Glick I guess I’d have to attribute my love of woodland gardening to Errol Flynn, swashbuckling Hollywood heartthrob of the golden era. My mother had a serious crush on the daring star and whenever one of his movies was on television, my brother and I were permitted—almost forced—to stay up late and watch. But it was one movie in particular that caught my attention: “The Adventures of Robin Hood”(1938)! Even though we were watching a fuzzy picture on a tiny blackand-white set, complete with a “rabbit ears” antenna festooned with aluminum foil, there was something enchanting about the onscreen Sherwood Forest that called out to me. As soon as I discovered how to use my thumb, my quest to find my own Sherwood Forest began.

Flash ahead and here I am in my own Sherwood Forest in Greenbrier County WV, an area acclaimed as one of the most botanically rich areas on Planet Earth.

Even if you’re a “townie” on a small city lot or suburban parcel and don’t have acres to play with, you can still create an “island” of forest to enjoy. All you need is a little shade or dappled sunlight. Now, you don’t have to be like me, immediately biting off more than you can chew. Start slow and small, and see how easy it is.

The first thing you have to evaluate is the quality of your soil. Is it rich with organic matter? Is it rocky and dry?

Is it clay? Is it a struggling lawn in the shade? No matter what it is, it’s pretty 22

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easy to amend. If there’s not much organic matter in the soil, you can get bales of peat moss, coconut coir, or bags of leaf compost to mix in. If it’s clay, you can use a gypsum-based product like “Turface” (brand name), which is only a few dollars a bag and eats that clay up. Then you can add dehydrated cow manure for organic matter. If it’s a lawn where you’ve been trying to grow grass in the shade, tear it up.

If all this sounds like too much work already, fear not; it’s really pretty quick and easy. If you have a small rototiller, that will make your job even easier. I like the Honda FG-110, it’s small, lightweight, and very easy to use. Not to worry: If you don’t have a rototiller, you can cultivate the soil with a digging fork.

Once you’ve prepared your soil, you’ll want to think about your plant palette.

Probably the easiest plants to grow in a woodland shade garden are ferns. In this part of the country, we have many, many species of native ferns. Chances are, if you’re a city dweller, you might have friends who are more rural than you are. They most likely have acres of ferns in the woods on their farms and surely would be happy to share some with you.

Ferns transplant super-easily and are perfect for the backbone of your new woodland garden. There is also a plethora of mail-order nurseries that have an incredible palette of ferns to choose from, both native and non-native.

Should you embrace this undertaking on a grand scale, I suggest you consider

an inexpensive auger, which will fit perfectly on your DE Walt 20V, cordless ½” drill. In good soil, you can drill more than 400 holes in an hour. Be careful to hold the drill with both hands: should you encounter a big rock or tree root, it could twist your wrist like a pretzel.

Rocky soil? No problem! You don’t have to be a stone mason to dry-lay rocks, whether rounded creek rocks or flat, shale-like rocks. Just stack them up.

If you’re on sloping land, stack them on the lower side of your beds—that is, the upper side of your pathway.

If you’re working with a small space, you can create your “fernery” in just about any shape imaginable, check out the “wedge” of fern varieties pictured here. This bed prominently features Maiden Hair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), Interrupted Fern (Osmunda regalis), Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera), and Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis), among others. These fern species are all native to the East Coast and very easy to grow. With some recycled railroad ties to stabilize a crumbling slope, a little topsoil, and a good mulch, they naturalized themselves pretty quickly.

This image is a sort of before and after: The right-hand side of the road to the barn is about exactly what I started with on the left side, I just haven’t gotten around to that project yet. o Barry Glick, a transplanted Philadelphian, has been residing in Greenbrier County, WV, since 1972. His mountaintop garden and nursery is a mecca for gardeners from virtually every country in the world. He writes and lectures extensively about native plants and Hellebores, his two main specialties, and welcomes visitors with advance notice. He can be reached at barry@sunfarm.com, www. sunfarm.com, or 304.497.2208.

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MARCH/APRIL 2005 • Landscape DIY vs. Pro • Prevent Gardener’s Back • Ladew Topiary Gardens • Cherry Trees

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MARCH/APRIL 2008 • Patio, Balcony, Rooftop Container Gardens • Our Favorite Garden Tools • Coral Bells (Heuchera)

T!

U MAY/JUNE 2008 DO SOL • Growing Great Tomatoes UT! O • Glamorous Gladiolus LD ! SO • Seed-Starting OUT Basics D L •SFlavorful Fruiting Natives O

JULY/AUGUST 2008 • Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses • Edible Grasses to Graze On • Slug and Snail Control • Sage Advice: Sun-Loving Salvias SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 • Autumn Edibles — What to Plant Now • Beguiling Barrenworts (Epimediums) • Best Time to Plant Spring-blooming Bulbs • 14 Dry Shade Plants Too Good to Overlook NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 • Outdoor Lighting Essentials • How to Prune Fruiting Trees, Shrubs, Vines • 5 Top Tips for Overwintering Tender Bulbs • Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 • Compost Happens: Nature’s Free Fertilizer • Managing Stormwater with a Rain Garden • Visiting Virginia’s State Arboretum • Grow Winter Hazel for Winter Color

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OUT Tips D • 40+ Free and Low-cost Local Garden SOL !

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FALL 2009 • Apples • How to Save Tomato Seeds • Persimmons WINTER 2009 • Battling Garden Thugs • How to Start Seeds Indoors • Red Twig Dogwoods • Unusual Edibles to Grow in Our Region SPRING 2010 • Community Gardens • Building a Raised Bed • Dwarf Iris • Broccoli SUMMER 2010 • Fragrance Gardens • Watering Without Waste • Lavender • Potatoes FALL 2010 • Vines and Climbers • Battling Stink Bugs • Russian Sage • Garlic WINTER 2010 • Paths and Walkways • Edgeworthia • Kohlrabi SPRING 2011 • Cutting-Edge Gardens • Final Frost Dates and When to Plant • Bleeding Hearts • Onions SUMMER 2011 • Ornamental Edibles • Urban Foraging • Amsonia/Arkansas Blue Star • Growing Corn in the Mid-Atlantic FALL 2011 • Herb Gardens • Toad Lilies • Sweet Potatoes • Cool Weather Cover Crops WINTER 2011/EARLY SPRING 2012 • Green Roofs and Walls • Heaths and Heathers • Radishes SPRING 2012 • Pollinator Gardens • Brunnera: Perennial of the Year • Growing Yacon SUMMER 2012 • Tropical Gardens • Captivating Canna • Icebox Watermelons SPRING 2013 • Great Garden Soil • All About Asters • Squash Vine Borer SUMMER/FALL 2013 • Miniature/Faerie Gardens • Beguiling Abelias • Growing Great Carrots WINTER/EARLY SPRING 2014 • Ferns for the Mid-Atlantic • Chanticleer Gardens • Beet Growing Basics

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Antique Botanical Prints for the decorator, collector, connoisseur, and art lover.

Jentz Prints can be purchased on most Saturdays at the Eastern Market, and most Sundays at the Georgetown Flea Market.

Antique prints are affordable — most in the $10-$30 range — and they are the perfect gift idea for that plant lover in your life. And don’t forget to buy a few for yourself!

For more information, to make a private appointment, or to get a detailed show schedule, please contact Jentz Prints by email at UllrichJ@aol.com. You can also find Jentz Prints on eBay.com under the seller ID: printyman.

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WASHINGTON GARDENER

SEPTEMBER 2020