Professional Horticulturist Ellen Nibali identifies garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and explains how to remove this invasive plant from your garden. This plant is popping up in Maryland right now, so be on the lookout!
Take a look at our Invasive Plants playlist on YouTube.
Q: I would like to plant a more natural garden but am worried about irritating the neighbors who might think it is sloppy or not a garden at all! Any advice?
A: Make a natural garden look intentional. Here are three major design tips to make a garden’s intent obvious:
1) Give it obvious edges. Edges can be botanical, such as a row of blue sedges (pictured) or can be hardscapes such as pavers, bricks, a path, low wall, or low fencing.
2) Give it an obvious shape. This can be geometrical lines and angles (circle, triangle, parallelogram, etc.) but also can be flowing lines made obvious with big or repeated curves.
3) Within the beds, make plant choices obvious. Use blocks or ribbons of plants, repetition of key species, or a predominant plant family (e.g. grasses) with a few other species mixed in. Of course, banish all invasive plants. Use at least 70 percent native plants.
By Ellen Nibali, Horticulturist, University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center. Ellen writes the Garden Q&A for The Baltimore Sun.
Do you have a gardening question? University of Maryland Extension experts have answers! Send your questions and photos to Ask an Expert.
Until last summer most people in Maryland weren’t aware of the new fungal disease infecting boxwood called boxwood blight. In 2011 professionals in the green (landscape and greenhouse) industry were informed of the disease but the outbreaks were scattered and insignificant. However, the rainy 2018 season greatly increased the spread of the disease. It has now become more noticeable in Maryland landscapes. In addition, on a few occasions, it has been observed on Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis) in Connecticut and on sweetbox (Sarcococca sp.) in Maryland and Virginia. Essentially, boxwood blight occurs up and down the east coast.
Boxwood blight will infect all boxwoods grown in landscapes. However, some cultivars, especially English and American, are more susceptible than others. See the following photos for symptoms of boxwood blight.
So the question is what to do if your shrubs are diagnosed with boxwood blight? The best information for homeowner action is located on the Virginia Boxwood Blight Task Force website: Best Management Practices for Boxwood Blight.
Here is a quick summary of what to do in the landscape:
By Dr. Dave Clement, Principal Agent, University of Maryland Extension, Home & Garden Information Center.
Spring appears to be on schedule for most of Maryland as temperatures are slowly creeping up into the 50’s and 60’s for highs. One of the temptations for homeowners is to fertilize the lawn “to get the grass going” in the spring. Keep in mind that “spring green-up” is largely related to soil temperatures and, to some degree, whether fertilizer was applied in the fall. Fertilizing with the goal of getting the grass to “wake up” sooner will have a minimal effect since soil temperature is the main driver for this.
Also, keep in mind that fertilizing in the spring favors more shoot and leaf growth at the expense of root growth. (Fertilizing in the fall tends to favor root growth. Most of the fertilizing for the year should be done in the fall.) Spring fertilization should consist of ~1 lb. nitrogen/1000 sq. ft. total in spring. Using a slow-release fertilizer or splitting applications into two 1/2 lb. rates spaced about one month apart should help to limit excessive growth that could add to the increased mowing frequency often necessary in the spring. Continue reading
As a non-soil scientist who loves to explore and learn about soil, I was quite shocked to read last year that humus, as it’s commonly understood, does not exist in nature.
What, no humus? How can that be? What is it then that makes up the bulk of soil organic matter? This fascinating story unfolded for me through an excellent 4-part soils podcast (“Priming for Production”) produced by Natalie Lounsbury in November 2017. The podcast can be found on Natalie’s notillveggies.org website which was funded with a Northeast SARE grant. (Hey, Master Gardeners, these podcasts count for Master Gardener continuing education hours!)
At the beginning of Episode 3 of the podcast (What is soil organic matter, really?) Natalie states “Our understanding of soil organic matter is undergoing something of a revolution right now.” I was about to have my mind blown. Continue reading
