Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
The best way to get in touch with what is greening is to take a walk outside. The six demonstration gardens maintained by the MGNV in Arlington and Alexandria are open to the public, so visitors can go and observe the varying stages of new spring growth. Throughout our area, trees are budding, birds are returning or passing in migration, opossums and salamanders are reviving from their winter’s sleep, even though spring doesn't come officially until mid-March.
Enjoy another entry in our series of short form thoughts on gardening and gardeners.
Learn how you can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count–all you have to do is watch birds for at least 15 minutes, at least once, from February 12 through February 15, 2021...Also, learn how to improve the habitat on your own property to make it more inviting for birds and butterflies.
Second in our series on Climate-Conscious Gardening, this article has suggestions for science-based techniques individuals can implement to directly reduce the sources of greenhouse gas emissions and slow the pace of further climate change.
Enjoy this lovely essay by Wendy Mills on winter dormancy.
Your young, newly planted trees are very attractive to our healthy white-tailed deer population. Not only are the leaves and tender young growth within easy height for feeding, deer will utilize young trees for rubbing their antlers and do serious damage to the bark and trunk of even newly planted trees.
Protection from wildlife is important for guarding the initial investment of planting. Overall, wildlife protection should be adaptive and based on need, cost, desired effectiveness, installation effort, and ease of maintenance.
