It’s that time again when we are looking forward to the new year and making our annual resolutions. It is likely that eating healthier and getting more exercise are amongst our resolutions, and the good news is that, as a…
Blooming plants are often given as holiday gifts. Thanks to Bloomakers from Waynesboro, who donated amaryllis bulb “seconds,” to the Piedmont Master Gardeners Therapeutic Horticulture program, our Master Gardener volunteers had a wonderful afternoon with the JABA clients and staff,…
Healthy soil is essential to a healthy garden. But what does soil health really mean, and how can we improve and maintain it? The term soil health refers to the biological, chemical, and physical properties that enable soil to perform…
These days home gardeners are increasingly turning to more eco-friendly practices. Designed to benefit the environment, conservation landscaping is becoming more popular among those who want their home landscape to be in balance with its natural surroundings. It requires only…
Once you have harvested the last of your veggies, it’s time to put the garden to bed for the winter. You may have heard of “the two C’s,” an easy way to remember the general fall tasks necessary to prepare…
Creating a backyard forest is a fast-growing movement, inspired in part by the desire to mitigate the effects of global warming. No doubt, another motivating factor is author Douglas Tallamy’s vision of an immense homegrown national park, consisting of interconnected…
Piedmont Master Gardener volunteers are reaching out to garden centers, nurseries and other retailers in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area to promote the native plants they carry and to increase the supply and variety of native plants they make available to…
As Extension Master Gardeners, we help educate our local communities about the benefits of growing our own tasty, nutritious vegetables, herbs, and fruits. There are almost as many reasons for gardening as there are gardeners: flavor, freshness, pesticide-free produce, control…
We gardeners don’t need a weatherman to know it’s been an abnormally dry year in the Charlottesville area. Federal weather data confirms what we’re seeing in our yards: total precipitation for our locality is around four inches below what we…
The Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Therapeutic Horticulture team won a recent shout-out from the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, which praised the volunteers’ work at JABA’s Adult Care Center in Charlottesville. The center provides daycare for older adults and for adults…