Category: Sustainable Gardening

Birds / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Holiday Plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Poisonous Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Holly, King of the Winter Forest

  Williamsburg area woods light up with evergreen holly trees as the hardwoods lose their leaves In late autumn.  It is their time to sparkle in the winter sunshine.  Their broad, prickly leaves are waxy on top, reflecting what light reaches them through the forest canopy.  Unobtrusive throughout the summer, hollies are among the few forest trees, along with wax myrtle, pines, cedars, and magnolias, which remain bright green and covered in leaves throughout the year. Holly King Legends and...

Birds / Carbon Garden / Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Diospyrus virginiana, the Divine Fruit

  A sadly spindly ‘mystery tree’ grows on a steep slope in our back fern garden.  I first noticed it six or seven years ago.  Its top was broken off in a winter snowstorm a while ago, and its odd growth pattern, plain looking leaves and immature bark left me clueless about its identify.  My best guess was that perhaps it was a paw paw tree, since the leaves are similar, and we have a stand of those nearby. But...

Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Sustainable Gardening

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Foraging for Autumn Harvests

  Have you ever noticed how the strawberries you pick yourself on a warm May afternoon taste much better than the huge red berries you buy at the grocery store?  Everyone who has grown their own tomatoes, lettuce, or apples knows how much better homegrown food can taste.  You still need to be selective about what seeds you buy because some varieties of carrots and squash taste better than others, and some prove more resistant to disease. Putting in a...

Evergreen Perennials / Ferns / Garden Design / Native Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Evergreen Ferns Brighten Winter Gardens

  Brighten Your Winter Garden with Evergreen Ferns Falling leaves and cooler mornings turn a gardener’s thoughts to the winter months ahead.  While we are still buying flats of bright pansies, pots of chrysanthemums, and a pumpkin or two, let’s take the opportunity to also seek out evergreen ferns at local garden centers and online nurseries.  Evergreen ferns brighten the winter landscape as the ‘main event’ in winter container plantings, as ground cover under trees, and in borders and foundation...

Community Gardening / Fall / Sustainable Gardening / Teaching Garden / Water Wise / Watering

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The JCC Community Wellness Fair

The Water Wise Team was busy preparing and hosting a tour of our Water Wise garden at the JCC Human Services Center (5249 Olde Towne Rd.) for the JCC Community Wellness Fair on September 10, 2022. The Fair was a great success with approximately 300 people visiting our Water Wise garden. Master Gardeners Kay Clapp and Linda Neilson had 57 adult visits to the JCCW Master Gardener booth and delighted over 35 children in a garden lesson on butterflies. Project...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Deer / Edible Plants / Evergreen Perennials / Evergreen Shrubs / Fall / Ferns / Flowering Shrubs / Food Forest / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Keystone Species / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Native Trees / Ornamental Shrubs / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Making the Choice: Native v. Imported Plants

  What do you consider when choosing plants for your home and yard?  We all have a checklist of criteria in the back of our minds.  Our criteria are very personal to our own needs and situation.  You may not purchase and plant as many plants as I do each year, but I’m sure that you enjoy the choosing and the planting just as much.     We gardeners have been encouraged to plant more native plants for quite a...

Container Gardens / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Summer Color Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Water Wise

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Water-wise Design for Hanging Baskets

Do you have a hanging basket that is struggling in summer’s heat?  Do you have plants under-performing because you can’t keep their container sufficiently watered? The Hydration Equation Keeping plants supplied with water and nutrients is an ongoing challenge with any container planting, especially with baskets and window boxes.  Plants require water and nutrients for strong growth an abundant flowers.  A hanging basket is an extreme environment for many plants.  Baskets will dry out quickly on a scorching, sunny summer...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Flowering Shrubs / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Lepidoptera / Pollinators / Sustainable Gardening / Watering

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Water-Wisely, Choose Drought Resistant, Pollinator-Friendly, Plants

Planting and maintaining lovely gardens, while restricting the use of water, is made possible by using a few watering techniques and a choice of plants. The VCE created a brochure, in 2004 entitled Creating a Water-Wise Landscape and twenty years later it still contains some great advice.

Beneficial Insects / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Pollinators / Summer Color Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Summer Flowering Trees and Shrubs for Pollinators

  Have you ever watched a bumblebee explore a Hibiscus flower?  Each flower is large enough for the bee to crawl around the depths of its funnel shaped petals to collect as much pollen as possible.  Short, powdery stamens grow like bristles on a bottle brush from a long, tubular pistil. The bee emerges white with pollen and satisfied by the flower’s nectar. Hibiscus shrubs, commonly known as Rose of Sharon, bloom from June through November in our area.  Each...

Beneficial Insects / Evergreen Perennials / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Invasive Plants / Native Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

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Top Picks for Living Ground Covers (Part 3)

  How do you deal with a patch of bare ground in your yard?  That is the existential challenge of gardening, isn’t it?  The first, most logical choice for many is to plant a lawn.  We see lawns everywhere in our neighborhoods and public spaces.  Grasses may be the default ground cover for many people. But a grassy lawn gets expensive.  It costs time to maintain.  It requires ongoing investments in grass seed, fertilizers and other chemicals to feed it...