Author:Annette

Be Proactive to Prevent Vegetable Diseases

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When it comes to vegetable diseases, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Many diseases can be stopped before they start with smart garden practices.

Spring rains cause spots, dots, and fuzzy blots to pop up in everyone’s vegetable patch. That’s fungi having fun. But whether our weather is wet or dry, fungi, bacteria and viruses stand ready to harm plants. 

So, how do you keep them at bay? Be informed and watchful. Look at your plants often to spot small problems before they get big and use the following tips to prevent disease problems.

If you have repeat offenders – diseases that show up year after year – look for disease-resistant varieties. For example, there are varieties of tomatoes labeled as resistant to both verticillium and fusarium wilt. 

Early blight is a common disease of tomatoes. Photo:  J. Traunfeld, UME

Some plants are available in certified, disease-free starts. Choose potato tubers, garlic bulbs, and asparagus and rhubarb crowns that are certified and disease-free. 

Vegetables hate soggy soil. If your garden area is wet, consider creating a raised bed to improve drainage. Or, grow in containers or move the garden to an area that drains well.

You’ve heard me preach the gospel of compost time and again. But did you know that compost actually discourages some plant diseases? Garden smart by adding compost every year. 

Help prevent disease by spacing your plants properly to encourage good air circulation. Plant labels often give spacing tips as do garden books and websites.

Warm, humid weather invites powdery mildew on squash. 
Photo: UME Home & Garden Information Center

Rain can spread soil-borne diseases, splashing infected soil up on plants’ leaves. So keep your soil covered with an organic mulch such as untreated grass clippings or newspaper covered with straw.

Fungi love wet leaves, so water wisely. Water at the base of the plant using soaker hoses or drip irrigation. And water in the morning, not the evening, so leaves dry before nightfall. 

Practice tough love. Remove infected leaves or pull entire plants if they become badly infected. It’s better to lose one bad plant than the whole row. Don’t compost sick plants: bag and trash them.

Overripe vegetables invite disease organisms. So, harvest your vegetables before they get mushy. 

A thorough cleaning of your vegetable bed at the end of the season is crucial since many diseases can overwinter in the soil. Again, if anything had a serious disease issue, bag and trash it.

If you spot a problem, e-mail your local Extension horticulturist a photo or bring them a sample to identify. Here’s a list of our county offices. We can usually get back to you in a day or two with advice.

For other growing tips and diagnostic help, visit our Home & Garden Information Center website. It has photos, management tools, and a wealth of resources. There’s even an Ask Extension link to submit gardening questions to certified horticulturists.

Enjoy your vegetable garden this year. A few seeds and transplants, some rain, sun, and a watchful eye will have you enjoying fresh, healthy homegrown food all season long.

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media.

Native Plants Add Beauty and Support Wildlife 

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wild bergamot flowers are lavender color
Native wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) attracts pollinators from butterflies to hummingbird moths and is both deer and rabbit-proof. Photo: Elmer Verhasselt, Bugwood.org

I love native plants. I garden for beauty and wildlife and nothing supports healthy habitats better than native plants. 

So what are native plants? They are beautiful, resilient plants that naturally occur in an area.

Having evolved over millennia with native wildlife, they naturally support them best. A native white oak supports 557 species of butterflies and moths while a non-native gingko tree supports just five.  

So if you want to support bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects that help control pests, native plants are the way to go. 

They also support larger wildlife such as birds with their seeds, fruit, shelter, and places to raise young. Again, native plants evolved with them, so they naturally provide what they need.  

According to conservationist, author, and entomologist Doug Tallamy who penned the bestsellers “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” native plants support 29 times more wildlife diversity than non-native plants.  

Well adapted to our soil and climate, native plants are resilient with a capital “R.” They’ve persisted through many hot, dry, wet, and cold years, surviving all previous climate change that has occurred, positioning them well to adapt to future changes. 

Adapting over eons makes you tough. Native plants have fewer pest and disease issues and some have deep roots which make them drought resistant. That means less watering, fewer chemicals, and a healthier landscape. 

Did I mention how beautiful they are? There is a nasty rumor out there that native plants are weedy. Bosh and balderdash.   

Native coral honeysuckle trumpets red/yellow/orange flowers that welcome hummingbirds. Threadleaf coreopsis wafts a riot of petite yellow daisies in a drift of lacy foliage.  

Wild blue indigo sports 4-foot stems of deep blue sweet-pea-like blooms. Cardinal flower flashes brilliant red and is a magnet for hummingbirds and butterflies.  

Bees love to rummage among the pure white blossoms of native foxglove. And goldenrods carousing with purple asters are the very definition of fall beauty.

Don’t get me started on native trees and shrubs. I love ninebark’s white pompoms, the red dangling fruit of chokeberry, the deep maroon flowers of Carolina allspice (native from our South), skinny willow oak leaves, and the giant leaves of pawpaws. 

red flower of Carolina allspice
Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus). Photo: Miri Talabac

How can you find out what native plants might work in your landscape?  

Discover many resources – including recommended native plants for Maryland on our website and on the Maryland Native Plant Society website.

My favorite native plant reference, “Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping,” has color photos and plant profiles. Download it for free.

Where do you find native plants? Visit your favorite garden center. Native plants are becoming more common. If they’re not there, ask. Nurseries grow and buy based on client interest.  

The Maryland Native Plant Society website also lists native plant sales and nurseries on their website.

Many Master Gardener groups – including ours – hold spring plant sales that include native plants. Contact your county/city coordinator to learn if one is scheduled near you.

I hope I’ve encouraged you to include some native plants in your landscape to add beauty, invite wildlife and support a healthy ecosystem.  

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media.

How to grow a healthy garden

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It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of gardening advice in books and websites. So I thought I’d simplify things by sharing my top 10 tips for keeping a garden healthy. 

Start with your soil. Healthy soil grows healthy plants. So get a soil test to know what you have and need.  

Add compost or other organic matter regularly to enliven the soil and keep the soil community happy. This intricate web of beneficial microbes, fungi, bacteria, worms, and more is crucial to healthy plants. 

Well-adapted native plants such as this white penstemon naturally resist pests and disease. Photo: Kathy Vesely

Minimize soil disturbance. Every time you turn the soil, you bring up weed seeds and wreak havoc on the soil community. So dig and till minimally.

Keep the soil covered with plants, an organic mulch, or cover crops. Bare soil invites weeds, encourages soil-borne disease, and promotes erosion. 

Put the right plant in the right place. Choose plants that suit the site whether it’s sunny or shady, wet or dry. This matchmaking helps plants not only survive but thrive.

Use native plants. These tough, well-adapted plants need less water and fertilizer. Since they co-evolved with native wildlife, they support pollinators and other native species best. 

Encourage beneficial insects. These are the good bugs that help control bad bugs. Nine out of ten insects are beneficial, naturally controlling the few true pests. Put them to work for you. 

How? Reduce or eliminate chemical pesticides which kill both good and bad bugs. Use organic products instead and try other controls like hand-picking or floating row covers.

Further, encourage beneficial insects by planting a wide variety of plants to provide food and shelter. Add a rock to a birdbath so insects can sip. 

Wait to cut back perennials and grasses until spring to give beneficial insects a safe place to overwinter. Many tuck into hollow stems or leaf litter.

Check your plants often. When you’re strolling, be patrolling. Look for spots, yellowing, or other changes that might be clues to a problem. Early detection makes fixes easier.

If you live in Washington County, Maryland, e-mail or call me if you need help identifying an insect or disease. Just send me a photo or bring me a sample. If you live in another area of Maryland, contact your county or city Extension office, or send your questions to Ask Extension.

Many problems are preventable. Honest. About 80% have cultural or environmental causes and aren’t due to pests or diseases. So there’s much we can do to prevent problems.

Water wisely. Water in the morning and avoid overhead watering. Leaves that are wet overnight tend to have fungal problems.

Removed diseased plants. Add compost which naturally suppresses some diseases. Space plants so air circulates. Cover bare soil so rain doesn’t splash fungal spores up onto plants.

At the end of the growing season, thoroughly clean up vegetable plant debris which can harbor harmful overwintering insects and disease.

There you have it, my top 10 tips for a healthy garden. When you work with nature, not against it, you naturally limit pests and diseases, grow more resilient plants, and build a healthier garden and community.

That’s a very good feeling indeed.

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media.

Invite spring indoors with forced flowering branches

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Cherry branches are ideal for forcing into bloom indoors.  

If the muted greys and browns of winter have you down, beat the blues by forcing some cut branches into flower. 

It’s easy, gets you outside, decorates your home, and gives you the pleasure of watching buds open and flowers unfurl.

All you need is a sharp pair of hand pruners and some spring-flowering tree and shrub branches to cut and bring indoors.

Fortunately, this is a great time to prune most deciduous trees and shrubs, so this is a twofer. You’re pruning your plants and gathering branches to force into bloom.

Branches are ripe for harvest in February. Plants have had the six weeks of dormancy they need and are starting to plump their buds in anticipation of spring.

And no, you’re not harming these trees and shrubs by cutting them. You’re just nudging their branches into flower a few weeks earlier. 

Cut branches on a milder day when the buds are softer and better able to make the transition to warmer indoor temperatures.

Snip branches one- to two-feet long for forcing. Branches pencil-thick or thinner are best.

Look for branches loaded with flower buds. These are the fat, round ones. Leaf buds are smaller and pointed. When in doubt, slice a bud open. Do you see tiny leaves or flower parts?

Sorry, I couldn’t resist sneaking in a botany lesson.  

As you’re cutting, remember your pruning basics. Make sharp cuts at an angle so water runs away from the cut. Prune out crossed branches or ones that grow inward. 

Thin dense areas for air circulation. And step back often to make sure you’re creating a good shape and not cutting away more than a third of the plant.  

Gather the branches you’ve cut and bring them inside. Recut the stems and put them in a bucket of warm water in a cooler room. Let them drink overnight, then arrange them in vases.

Some experts cut stems underwater, add floral preservative, or put stems directly into vases. Regardless of your technique, change the water at least weekly to keep bacteria at bay. 

Place your finished design away from fireplaces and other heat sources. To mimic spring’s temperatures, display your branches in a cooler room out of direct sunlight.

But certainly, put some of your branches somewhere where you can have the pleasure of watching the buds pop open to reveal their spirit-lifting blooms.

Did I say blooms? You need not limit yourself to bold flowers. Pussy willows and other plants that form catkins – fuzzy or thin, dangling clusters of tiny flowers – look wonderful indoors. 

Cut branches of pussy willow. Photo: C. Carignan

Is it possible to walk by a vase of furry pussy willow catkins and not pet them? I think not. 

Some spring-blooming trees and shrubs that force well are cherry, forsythia, redbud, quince, serviceberry, red maple, witch hazel, magnolia, crabapple, pear, and plum.

For catkins, take cuttings from beech, birch, filbert, and willow. If you want a longer show, cut branches every few weeks.  

Make spring come early. Gather branches for forcing and enjoy the show. 

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media.

Pruning 101: The basics for success

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This is a great time of year to prune most deciduous trees and shrubs so let’s cover some tips and techniques.

What is pruning? Pure and simple, it’s removing the undesirable parts of plants.  

Good pruning improves plant health. It gets rid of dead and diseased parts and improves air circulation, shape, and appearance. It can also restrict growth, stimulate flowering and fruiting, and rejuvenate older plants.  

February to early March is the ideal time to prune many trees and shrubs because they are dormant. The cuts you make will add vigor without trauma. 

You need only a few tools. Start with hand pruners to clip small twigs and branches. Add a pair of loppers to cut larger branches. For tight spots, it’s hard to beat a folding pruning saw.

using hand pruners to prune a tree
Proper pruning improves plant health.
Tools such as this lopper can cut branches up to 3 inches thick.

No matter what tools you choose, keep them sharp and clean.

Leave to the pros – licensed tree experts or certified arborists – the pruning of large trees or work that involves climbing or cutting near power lines.   

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Holiday gift ideas for gardeners

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branch of a fir tree with holiday lights in the background

Can you hear them? Tiny little elves are softly singing carols. The holidays must be around the corner.

If you’re scratching your head for gift ideas for the gardeners in your life, the Master Gardeners and I can help. Here are a few suggestions to make smiles wider and green thumbs greener.

Tools are cool. Yes, we say we really don’t need yet another tool. We lie. Our eyes light up at the flash of steel and the smoothness of a wooden handle. 

A Hori Hori soil knife – a multipurpose tool with a serrated edge and slight curve that digs, plants, cuts, weeds, and more – is a perennial favorite.

hori hori sitting on garden soil next to planted garlic
Used here to plant garlic, a Hori Hori knife also digs, cuts, weeds, and more.

Folding saws are a marvel for pruning in tight spots. Garden kneelers let you work sitting or kneeling with grips to give you a boost in getting up. If you’re over 50, you get it.

We gardeners are always looking for our next favorite garden glove. I have two: a waterproof glove and a sturdy but breathable pair with cushioned fingertips and palms.  

red garden gloves
A good pair of gloves is an indispensable gardening tool and a fine holiday gift idea.  

Gardeners love books. Doug Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope and Bringing Nature Home top many Master Gardeners’ wish lists as do other conservation-minded books.

Magazine subscriptions make fine gifts, too. How about Horticulture, Fine Gardening or Birds & Blooms? 

I treasure handmade gifts, both to give and receive. Gifts from the garden – such as pesto, jam, and herbal liqueurs – are especially welcome.  

If you’re crafty, sew a garden apron, paint garden markers or make a hypertufa pot. If bigger is better, make a birdhouse, potting bench, or trellis. 

Good things also come in small packages. Seeds make great gifts.

Botanical Interests offers blends for butterflies, pollinators, and more in beautiful, informative seed packets. The Hudson Valley Seed Company sells heirloom seeds in incredibly artful packets. 

Bundle small gifts into a pot or gift basket. One Master Gardener fondly remembers an upcycled vintage bushel basket filled with bulbs, a bulb planter, and handmade plant markers.

Still stumped? How about a gardening calendar for year-round enjoyment or a garden-themed jigsaw puzzle that keeps twitchy gardening fingers busy in the winter months? 

You can’t go wrong with a gift card to a favorite garden center or online store. I used to disdain gift cards, but now embrace them because the recipient can get just what they want and need.

Always welcome is the gift of time. Why not give a busy gardener a coupon good for a few hours of planting, weeding, watering, or tending? For many of us that is the best gift of all.

Among my many gifts are my Master Gardeners. Thanks to Master Gardeners Lori, Ann, Will, Chanelle, Marcia, Dusty, Michelle, Susan, Catherine, Karen, Judy, and Sharon for their suggestions for this column. 

We hope we’ve given you some ideas to jump-start your holiday gift-giving. 

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

How to choose a real Christmas tree

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I love Christmas.  My favorite part is decorating a real tree, bringing all that woodsy freshness and fragrance into my home.  If you like real trees too, listen up for some shopping tips.  

Christmas tree with decorations

First, measure.  If you’ve ever had to lop off the top to make it fit you know that eyes can deceive.  So measure the space and get a tree that fits both the height and width.  Yes, I’ve had to rearrange the furniture. 

Next, visit a local tree farm or lot.  Bundling up and strolling through a Christmas tree farm is old-fashioned fun.  Cutting your own guarantees it’s fresh.  Plus it’s a good excuse for hot cocoa.   

But before you head out to a tree farm, toss some sturdy rope and a blanket or tarp in your car to secure and protect your tree and car.  Most farms have maps, saws and helpful folks.  

Local tree lots are a fine option, too.  Most benefit a local business or nonprofit group so you’re doing good while having a good time.  Raise your hand if you get overwhelmed looking at all those trees. 

Should you get a spruce, fir, pine or cedar? It’s a tough choice, but here are some fast facts to help you.  

The longest-lasting trees are Colorado and Norway spruce and Frasier fir.  Concolor fir also last well and have a handsome blue tinge as do some Colorado spruce.

Balsam fir is the most fragrant.  Pines have long, soft needles. And local tradition points to our native Eastern redcedar, often harvested on farms in days gone by. 

Eastern red cedar with berries
Eastern redcedar
Credit: Mira Talabac

Once you’ve settled on a type of tree, get up close and personal. Stroke a branch from trunk to tip.  Few needles should fall.  Gently bend a few needles.  They should bend, not break.  

If you’re buying a pre-cut tree, give it the gentle drop test.  Lift the tree off the ground a few inches and let it hit the ground softly.  Only a few needles should fall.  

Tree farms and lots will offer to wrap your tree in netting.  Spring for the extra few bucks if there is a charge.  It’s good protection.   If you have a short trip home, ask for a fresh cut on the trunk of a pre-cut tree to help it take up water.  Or cut a half-inch off the base when you get home.  

Your tree will travel best in the cargo area of your car if it’s roomy enough. Put down a tarp or blanket to catch any falling needles. If your tree is traveling in the back of a truck, wrap it and secure it with rope to minimize shifting and damage.  The quaint image of a Christmas tree atop a car is all well and good, but trees should only travel on car roofs with roof racks to avoid damage.

Load your wrapped tree with the base forward and secure it with sturdy rope to avoid the unpleasant “opening umbrella effect” en route.  Yes, trees can fly.

As soon as you get home, plunge the tree into a bucket or stand that holds at least a gallon of water.  Trees are heavy drinkers, so check and top off the water daily.  Check twice the first day.

The right Christmas tree tended well can give you a month or more of enjoyment. Make yours the centerpiece of your family’s holiday celebrations. 

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media.