Pick Up Location: 17509 Beauvoir Blvd, Derwood, MD 20855
The Mill Creek Towne Garden Club is pleased to offer FREE native trees and shrubs provided to us by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
We are giving away 100 native trees and shrubs starting at 5PM and ending at 6PM on Monday, March 27th. First come, first serve.
Trees/Shrubs: White Oak, Cherrybark Oak, PawPaw, American Hazelnut, and American Plum
The trees and shrubs will be available for pick up at 17509 Beauvoir Blvd, Derwood, MD 20855. Please limit your selection to two plants per household. If you want more than two, please provide your name and contact information so we can contact you. The trees come bareroot – they need to be planted as soon as possible and you will need to provide deer protection unless they are inside a fenced area that the deer do not frequent. Please bring damp newspaper to wrap the roots up until they are ready for planting.
These plants are free to the public, but we do welcome donations to the Club to help us continue to beautify our neighborhood and provide quality programming. To donate please visit https://www.mctgardenclub.org/donations/ and consider joining the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club!
For questions, please use the contact form below. Thank you!
White Oak (Quercus alba)
The majestic white oak is Maryland’s official state tree. It prefersmoist to dry woodland areas. The white oak is a large tree that grows to a height of 60 to 100 feet, with a spread of 50 to 80 feet. The trunk is typically 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Grown trees in open areas have widely spreading, rigid, horizontal branches which form a broad, round-topped crown.
White oak grows in moist as well as dry soils, but prefers rich, well-drained uplands, slopes, and terraces. Mature trees occur in full sun to shade, but young white oaks thrive only in full sun. They cannot tolerate shade and therefore do not regenerate in densely shaded forests.
Cherrybark Oak (Quercus pagoda)
The cherrybark oak is one of the most highly valued red oaks in the southern United States. Cherrybark oak is a medium to large tree that grows up to 100 feet tall. It is larger and better formed than southern red oak and commonly grows on more moist sites. It grows best in moist, well-drained bottomland sites, but is adaptable to drier sites in full sun to partial shade. Useful as a shade tree in large areas, street tree or naturalized spaces.
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
A shrub or small tree that tolerates shade, pawpaw produces a fruit that is readily eaten by wildlife and humans. It grows to a height 15 to 30 feet, with a spread of 15 to 30 feet, and prefers full sun to part shade and moist fertile soils. Often spreads by root suckers to form colonies or thickets.
American Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
The American Filbert is a multi-stemmed shrub with a rounded top and an open, often wide-spreading base. The American hazelnut grows to a height of 15–18 feet and a spread of 10–12 feet at maturity. Full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of 4 hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. Because of its size, it adapts well to naturalizing and other nonformal areas. It bears annual, abundant crops of small, sweet tasting nuts. It will bear in 2-3 years after planting. The nuts are easy to crack and drop free of the husk when mature. (Plant multiple trees with the same flowering time to ensure pollination) (zone 4-9).
American Plum (Prunus americana)
The American plum is a small tree that is native throughout much of the central United States. It grows to the height of 10 – 20 feet, with a spread of 15 – 25 feet. It prefers full to partial sun/shade and clay, loamy, moist, well drained, slightly acidic soil. It produces 1”, reddish-purple plums that are best suited for jams or jellies. Though it does grow fruit, this tree is typically planted for ornamental and wildlife value.
Happy Spring! The peak bloom projection for the Yoshino Cherry blossoms is March 22 – 25, 2023! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for March. This includes some events from U.S. Botanic Garden, Master Gardeners of Montgomery County, and Maryland Gardens. A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook and we share them on our Facebook page as well as on our mctgardenclub.org website. Some upcoming events include Backyard Gardening Zoom Sessions, the Smithsonian’s Let’s Talk Gardens series, The Great Grow Along, Spring Gardening Conference, Spring Online Garden Classes at Montgomery College, Mill Creek Garden Club events including our Mill Creek Spring Cleanup on April 15th! These events will be hosted as online or live events.
Take photos and update your garden journal.
Buy seeds and order plants from the new garden catalogs.
Mark beds outside where new plants are to go.
Sharpen and replace tools as needed.
Clean out pots; store non-frost proof containers in garage or basement.
Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase. There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens. The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round. Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):
Master Gardeners receive training from the University of Maryland Extension and then educate residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices that build healthy gardens, landscapes, and communities. Spring 203 Basic Training starts soon. Find all the details here:
See our December list with 10 recently published books. This cumulative list for 2023 has more than 120 titles and serves as a great resource for holiday gift ideas. Visit our Gardening Books Resources page for gardening ideas.
Online Gardening Resources
Here are some online gardening resources focused on the MD/DC area:
There are many resources for recipes to make from your garden crops including seed companies, local farms, and online recipe cookbook catalogs. If you grow vegetables, these are very useful resources as the recipes feature the very plant you are growing. Here are few links to recipes you can make from your garden crops
Local Farms
We are so thankful for our local farms each and every day. During this challenging time, consider supporting your local farms, whether they farm produce, flowers, animals, or specialty. Our food supply is safe and secure, and many farms are continuing to offer delivery or curbside pickup. #LocalIsTheNewNormal#BuyLocal
The 2023 MoCo Food & Beverage Guide is here! The Guide from the Montgomery County Food Council is available online – delicious baked goods, prepared foods, condiments and more. The craft beverage list grows each year and find two dozen local and amazing farms:
Download vegetable planting calendars from University of Maryland Extension, in English and Spanish. This page also has a link to a frost/freeze date calculator.
To control crabgrass, apply pre-emergent herbicide to lawn (when forsythia blooms drop).
Cut perennials and over-wintering ornamental grasses to 2 inches above the ground.
Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging the crowns.
Some alternatives to de-icing salts include sand, beet juice sugars, light gravel (grit), or non-clumping kitty litter. Using de-icing salts around driveways and sidewalks can harm your garden plants and turf.
CSAs can take many forms, but essentially they are community supported farms in which members contribute to farming projects, usually by way of membership fees, in exchange for fresh, local produce. The concept came to the United States from Europe in the 1980s. They are a great way to take advantage of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, and more while supporting nearby farms. Each one is different, some offer pickup locations in urban areas, some offer only farm-based pickups.
There are multiple CSAs located around the County offering a wide variety of products. CSAs begin taking sign-ups for spring and summer seasons in the early part of the year, and they tend to fill up FAST! Know of another CSA not on our list? Let us know! Montgomery Countryside Alliance also maintains a list:
Brookside Gardens is hosting a variety of landscape design courses in March that will be held online with interactive Q&A. The first offering is a two-part course that will help homeowners create their own landscape designs. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your existing garden or develop an entirely new area, you’ll learn how to create functional and beautiful outdoor spaces. The second series of lectures is focused on rain gardens and stormwater management (free native plants given out!).
Information about the programs and links to register online are listed below. If you need help with registration, please call Maia Eskin at 301-962-1407. Lectures will also be recorded and made available for online viewing to participants.
Learn practical steps to approach the design process, including site analysis, creating a concept design, and determining the functional goals for your space. You’ll understand why the environmental conditions of your yard are key to a successful design that keeps your plants healthy, minimizes garden maintenance, and reduces costs.
Learn to implement core design elements like color, texture, form, line, and scale to create a beautiful and functional landscape. Design concepts like seasonality and layering will be explored through real-world case studies. Plant combinations and lists will also be examined that address site-specific challenges like sun vs. shade and dry vs. wet conditions.
Evaluating Stormwater Solutions for Home Landscapes
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection offers a rebate program for approved RainScape projects for homeowners. RainScape projects to be eligible for rebate, participants must apply and be approved for installation based on a submitted plan before projects are installed. These two sessions are intended to help homeowners create a RainScape design plan. Classes are open to anyone regardless if applying for a RainScape rebate or not.
Session I: Learn how environmentally friendly landscapes, such as conservation sites and rain gardens, can help manage stormwater issues on residential properties. We’ll review steps to planning a RainScape including site evaluation and determining the type and scale of project that best suit your needs.
Plants & Landscape Design for RainScape Gardens
Saturday, April 8 / 10am – 12pm
Cost: $25 / FOBG: $22 (Workshop held in-person at Brookside Gardens Visitor Center. Registrants will receive a selection of free native plants to take home.)
Session II: Explore strategies to properly size a garden project, estimate plant quantities, and create an effective planting plan. Study the range of native plant selections appropriate for managing water runoff while also supporting pollinators and wildlife. Learn the steps needed to develop and submit a plan that successfully qualifies for the RainScapes Rewards Rebate. Registrants will receive a selection of free native plants to take home.
Sustainable Food Systems
Tuesday, March 14 at 6:00pm EDT
Join us for our next Sustainable Food Systems virtual lecture on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:00pm with Denzel Mitchell, Co-Executive Director of Education and Operations at Farm Alliance of Baltimore. Denzel will discuss “Building An Urban Ag Food Hub in Baltimore City.” For more information & to register: http://bit.ly/SFSL23
Join UMD Extension for “Backyard Gardening Zoom Sessions” this spring! This 7-part series will be held on Tuesdays at noon.
Gardening 101 – Mar 7
Soil health for your garden – Mar 21
Interplanting your vegetables with pollinators for better ecosystems – Apr 4
Fruit talk – Apr 18
Herbs of the world – May 2
The garden pest game show – May 16
For details and registration visit: https://go.umd.edu/get_growing
The Great Grow Along
Join the Garden Nation
March 10-19, 2023
A free 10-day virtual festival connecting gardeners with the influencers, taste-makers and cutting edge content of today’s gardening world.
Over 40 workshops, virtual tours of inspiring public and botanic gardens nation-wide and Houseplant Happy Hours… join real time and connect with presenters plus other attendees or watch at your convenience for six-months.
This timely content will help you up your plant game or inspire you to try new ideas in 2023. A unique opportunity to be encouraged and educated by some of the biggest influencers, educators and taste-makers in today’s gardening world.
Wondering how to take advantage of the acidic soils prevalent in our region to create beautiful gardens? Join us on Wednesday, March 22 for a free, in-person lecture with horticulturist and author Todd Boland as he shares key insights from his book, “Gardening for Acidic Soils: Working with Nature to Create a Beautiful Landscape.” Register today at https://mocoparks.org/3KDQErT
*This conference is open to the public and is closed to Maryland Master Gardeners.
2023 Master Gardener Spring Gardening Conference Registration and Refreshments (8:30-9:00) Welcome & Opening Remarks (9:00 – 9:15) – multipurpose room Session I (9:25 – 10:30) – breakout rooms A. Less Lawn, More Life + Ten Years – Merikay Smith. Merikay is a longtime advocate for native plant landscapes. She will share some techniques for replacing lawn with native plants, along with what she’s learned about that process over the past ten years. Whether you’ve been a native plant enthusiast for years or are just starting the journey, come share ideas on ways to improve the habitat value of our gardens. B. Seed Starting for Veggie Gardeners – Meipo Martin. Join Meipo and learn some innovative methods to successfully start your own seeds at home! This comprehensive presentation covers the ins and outs of seed starting: equipment and supplies, timing and, most of all, important techniques to grow seeds and to prevent common problems. These principles and methods can be used in the cultivation of ornamental plants as well. Break (10:30 – 10:40) Session II (10:40 – 11:45) – breakout rooms C. Make a Spectacle in the Garden! – Marie Rojas. Learn about the best natives, newest nativars, and guilt-free non-natives for our region that will add spice and interest to your garden. Marie will also touch on basic plant healthcare to help you grow a garden that will thrive without a lot of ongoing maintenance from you D. Growing Edible Mushrooms in Your Home and Garden – Tom Mulczynski. This is a hands-on workshop designed to demonstrate and familiarize you with growing three kinds of edible mushrooms and help you get started. Participants will help assemble and take home a ready-to-fruit mushroom kit. Lunch (11:45 – 12:15) Session III (12:25 – 1:30) – breakout rooms E. All About Chiles: How to Choose, Grow, Preserve and Enjoy Hot Peppers – Betty Cichy. Betty will offer recommendations for more than a dozen different chile peppers to grow in the garden and use in the kitchen – from scorching hot to barely spicy. She’ll also provide tips on handling chiles safely, as well as suggestions and recipes for cooking with chiles. F. Organic Turf Care in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Myth or Magic? – Eric Wenger. What does “Organic” mean when managing turf and is it possible to have the lawn you’ve always wanted using organic methods? Eric brings years of professional turf care experience to this in-depth presentation. Closing Remarks/Door Prizes (1:40 – 1:50) – multipurpose
“Grow” your gardening know-how! Our free online gardening program, Let’s Talk Gardens, covers a wide range of topics presented by our own professional staff, as well as guest speakers. No matter your level of gardening knowledge, there’s always something new to learn! Join us on Thursdays at 12:00 PM EST for this popular webinar series.
March 16: A World of Discovery: How Science and Heart Can Make You a More Ecological Gardener
Speaker: Nancy Lawson
March 30: Grasses & Sedges
Speaker: Shannon Currey, Education and Outreach, Izel Native Plants
Spring Online Garden/Landscape Classes at Montgomery College
Its Class time at Montgomery College. Janet Johnson will be teaching a great class on Annuals and Perennials for Your Garden and Terri A. Valenti will be teaching Introduction to Organic Vegetable Gardening this spring.
These classes are offered online, so you can take this class from the comfort of your living room. We focus on your questions and your needs. Montgomery College classes are open to everyone-so lets learn together! See the Spring schedule for garden classes at MC (upcoming classes listed below). Come and join these really fun classes!
Horticulture Classes | MC Lifelong Learning Spring 2023
Annuals and Perennials for Your Garden
Learn how to select plants, where to purchase annuals and perennials, and plan a blooming garden for this growing zone. Explore vines and climbers-where to use them and how to maintain them. Discuss deer resistant plants, repeat blooming options, and support/ structure in an annual and perennial garden. Identify
which garden items to avoid, what species make viable substitutions, and compatible plants. Determine how often to divide and how to maintain annual and perennial plants. Examine shade and sun loving plants as well as tropical species that can add special interest to a garden. Discuss which annuals are viable to winter over and how to integrate annuals and perennials into a full season of blooming color and design. TWA
Course: LLI579 8 Hours
$59 + $89 fee = $148; NMR add $120
Online: Structured Remote
CRN#: 34143 4 Sessions W
3/22-4/12 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Janet S. Johnson
Introduction to Organic Vegetable Gardening
Learn how to produce vegetables for the household while using sustainable gardening practices. Explore what, when, and how to plant vegetable crops that are well suited to Maryland. Discuss ways to organically control pest and diseases. Design a home vegetable garden.
TWA
Course: LLP001 5 Hours
$40 + $72 fee = $112; NMR add $120
Online: Structured Remote
CRN#: 34120 2 Sessions R
3/30-4/6 6:30-9 p.m.
Instructor: Terri A. Valenti
Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Please join Rock Creek Conservancy, Montgomery Parks, and the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club for our 2023 EXTREME CLEANUP of Mill Creek Stream on Saturday, April 15th! This annual event is a watershed-wide cleanup movement with the goal of total trash removal throughout Rock Creek, its tributaries, and surrounding neighborhoods and parklands. We hope you’ll join us!
Activity: Volunteers will participate in a socially-distant trash cleanup as part of Extreme Cleanup. This cleanup will be done individually or with members of the same “bubble.” Grab a trash bag and your mask (if needed), wear some boots or sturdy shoes, and help us pick up trash in Mill Creek Stream, or pick up litter around the creek.
Please follow all CDC and county guidelines regarding social distancing and public health precautions. Complete your cleanup anytime during Friday, April 22nd through Sunday, April 24th.
What to Wear: Please dress appropriately for the work and weather. We recommend wearing long sleeves and sturdy boots or sneakers.
What to Bring: Please bring a water bottle, face mask (if needed), and your own gloves if you can. We will provide trash bags.
Please do NOT attend this event if you are or have been experiencing symptoms of illness.
