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.
Crape Myrtles Don’t Have to Look this Way!
You see them in shopping center parking lots, medians in the road and all through the neighborhood—the ugly little stubs of crape myrtle left after their annual ‘pruning.’ There is a better way! Crape myrtles do fantastic with little to no pruning. It may be hard to believe, but it’s true!
The most beautiful crape myrtles are pruned very little or not at all, save for the removal of water sprouts and the occasional crossed branch. If you need to cut back your crape myrtle (like the one pictured here) because it gets too big for its allotted space, you may want to consider replacing it with another variety—one that is in the size range you are looking for. Crapes myrtles come in a wide variety of sizes from as small as 2 feet tall at maturity to over 20 feet. One to fit any size garden!
Take a look at the Virginia Tech publication “Pruning Crapemyrtles” for details and recommended pruning techniques.
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.
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, click here. Weed control recommendations start on page 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, click here. Weed control recommendations start on page 9.
For other cool season turfgrass (i.e. fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass) care tips: click here.
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.
From the
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Click the link above to
choose your month
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 edwardssu@chesterfield.gov.
