Grass Roots Registration is Now Open!
Interested in having a
Master Gardener volunteer evaluate your lawn? Would you like to have personalized lawn care
recommendations for your turf? Grass
Roots may be for you! Registration is
now open. Visit our Grass
Roots page for more information and registration materials.
Crabgrass
& Weed Control
Crabgrass preemergent products
are more effective when applied at the correct time of year. Ideally, application would be made when you
see forsythia blooming prolifically (photo of
forsythia shown here to the right) in your neighborhood, which is usually March
– early April for most of the county. Remember to use a straight weed control product, not a weed and
feed. For Virginia Tech’s recommendation
on chemical controls for crabgrass, see page 5-9.
April
and May are ideal times to apply postemergent herbicides to control those pesky
summer annual weeds, such as carpetweed, lespedeza, and spurge. A chemical application at this time will also
help control persistent perennial weeds such as violet, black medic, and
Virginia
buttonweed. Typically a weed control
product which contains the 3 active ingredients 2,4-D,
mecoprop, and dicamba will control most weeds. Use a liquid formulation (those with hose-end sprayers work very well) and treat the entire lawn – you want to control those small
weeds that are just starting to grow, as well as those you can already see in
your lawn. For chemical recommendations
for specific weeds, start on page -5-15.
Additional cool
season turfgrass (i.e. fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass)
care tips
Vegetable
Gardens for Small Spaces
Did you know that in just one spring season you can harvest:
· One head cabbage
· One head broccoli
· One head cauliflower
· Four heads romaine lettuce
· Four heads red lettuce
· Four heads leaf lettuce, then 16 scallions
· Four heads salad lettuce
· Five pounds sugar snap peas
· Eight bunches of Swiss chard
· Nine bunches of spinach, then nine turnips
· 16 small ball carrots
· 16 beets plus four bunches beet greens
· 16 long carrots and
· 32 radishes
in just
a 4-foot by 4-foot area in your landscape? Think of all the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers that will follow in the
summer!
Stop by our office to see examples of how you can grow
vegetables in small raised beds and containers. We also have several informational handouts to get your garden
started.
Information
online:
Intensive
Vegetable Gardening
Vegetable
Gardening in Containers
Indoor Plant
Culture
Never fertilize a wilted plant. Remove the top layer of soil when repotting
if salts have accumulated. If you keep
houseplants outdoors in the summer, bring them back in before temperatures dip
below 50 degrees. Learn about these tips
and more by following the above link to Virginia Tech’s online
publication.
Great
Lawn Care Information
http://www.weblogs.cals.vt.edu/lawn_garden/ Listen to short audio files on the latest
information from Virginia Tech on turfgrass care. Current information includes how to manage
leaves in your lawn, the correct fertilizer for your lawn, information on
establishing cool season lawns.
Average Last Frost Date
The average last frost date for
the greater
Richmond
area is April 27th. We still
have a while to go before setting out any tender annuals. You can use this time to plan your flower border or vegetable
garden.
Got Moles?
When we have warm breaks in the weather, you may see more
tunnels in your yard. There are plenty
of products on the market which claim to rid your lawn of moles, but
unfortunately there is no guaranteed control measure. Even if you have tons of mole tunnels all
over your yard, you probably only have one or two moles present! And you don’t necessarily have a grub problem
just because moles have moved into your yard. How can that be? Moles eat many
other insects in addition to earthworms, snails, and slugs. Take a look at the
Virginia Tech publication “Managing Wildlife
Damage…Moles” for details and recommended control measures.
Starting
Seed Indoors
Starting seeds too early can result in weak, leggy
transplants. Learn about the factors to
consider before starting your seed indoors and how to make the transition
outdoors a successful one.
Care of
Specialty Potted Plants
Learn how to correctly care for numerous house plants,
including specialty holiday plants such as amaryllis, Christmas cactus,
azaleas, and more.
Is It
Time to Prune?
That depends on the plant. Fall is the right time to prune
some trees and shrubs, while others benefit from a mid-winter or spring
pruning. To find out the right time for your particular plants follow the links
below to three pruning calendars from Tech. Check out the links to pruning tips
as well.
Is your tree
to large for you to prune? Not sure if it needs pruning? Consult a Certified
Arborist.
Additional information can be found at the ISA Consumer
Tree Care Website: www.treesaregood.com
Virginia’s
Finest Trees
Do you know of an outstanding tree in
Chesterfield
County?
The
College of
Natural Resources at Virginia Tech is compiling a
list of remarkable trees in the state of
Virginia
and they need your help!
Anyone is welcome to nominate a tree or organize a search.
We are looking for trees that are remarkable for their beauty, size, historic
significance, importance to the community, or for any other reason known to the
nominator. The
College
of
Natural Resources at
Virginia Tech intends to include all nominated trees and the name of the
nominator on a Remarkable Tree Website, and to select a smaller number of trees
to photograph for a book. The purpose of this project is to increase awareness
of the value of trees in our communities.
To nominate a truly remarkable tree, follow this link!
Do you
have questions or comments? Contact us at suedward@vt.edu .
