JANUARY IS A GOOD MONTH TO SPEND TIME REFLECTING AND PLANNING YOUR GARDENING STRATEGY FOR THE UPCOMING SPRING SEASON First, Happy New Year to all you gardeners. Secondly, this time of year more than most I wish I had a crystal ball to see what winter has in store for us. Will we be colder … Read more
THAT CHRISTMAS TREE ISN’T DONE WORKING FOR YOU YET Now that the Christmas Holiday has passed, many of you, like me, are taking decorations down including removing the Christmas tree from inside the house. Here is where this cut Christmas tree still has value. Before you toss it onto the curb, here are a few … Read more
POTTED EVERGREENS IS A POPULAR TREND RIGHT NOW Winter is officially here. For the past month, I have been fielding questions about potted evergreens in outdoor containers. People are asking about the care of their plants through the cold, winter months. Also, some people, more recently, are asking about using a potted evergreen for use … Read more
LET’S KEEP IT REAL!! We are in the second week of December with Christmas 10 days away. People are buying Christmas trees fast and furious right now. It is fun to learn some background facts when it comes to the fresh trees and greenery that we use for holiday decorating. The traditional use of an … Read more
PINE TAGS OR IS IT PINE STRAW? BOTH ARE GOOD TERMS IN DESCRIBING WHAT IS FALLING OUT OF OUR PINE TREES RIGHT NOW. We are now into the second week of December and the pine tags are really falling fast out of our pine trees. FREE MULCH, BABY!!! The other day as I was driving … Read more
LAST MONTH FOR 2021 – CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!! “Time flies by quickly when you get old.” I am there and this “old” saying is so true. But, life is good. And, gardening in December is good. We had some rain in November, although we could have used more as we go into the colder … Read more
IT’S THANKSGIVING WEEK AND I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME INTERESTING TIDBITS ABOUT TURKEYS Virginia is the original turkey production state. Virginia is ranked sixth nationally in turkey production in 2019 = $258m. According to the 2019 Census of Agriculture, turkeys are commercially raised on 448 Virginia farms, most of which are in the Shenandoah … Read more
TIS THE SEASON We are now into the third week of November. It seems that everyone has the holidays on their minds. With that mindset, many people are looking at all the beautiful and popular holiday plants. Here is a brief rundown of some of the most popular holiday plants along with some care tips. … Read more
BIRDING IS THE COUNTRY’S SECOND-MOST POPULAR PASTIME (AFTER GARDENING) BIRD FEEDING IS OKAY AGAIN IN VIRGINIA Some of you may be asking yourself “was there an issue with bird feeding last year?” The quick answer is yes. But, for us here in Central Virginia we were not affected as badly as in the mountains and … Read more
GOODBYE OCTOBER / HELL-O NOVEMBER! YES, IT IS NOVEMBER BUT IT IS STILL FALL AND A GREAT TIME TO PLANT! October was a warm month and a little dry, unfortunately. Thank goodness for the rain that we got the last week of October. A lot of planting was done in October. So, the key to … Read more
