Category: Planting Trees

Young tree in hand

JCCW Master Gardener Association / Native Plants / Native Trees / Planting Trees / Trees

 by Webmaster

James City County Tree Seedling Giveaway

A Public Service Announcement James City County is launching a new initiative to provide residents with free tree seedlings. The seedlings are all native species and will be available in various sizes according to their mature height (small, medium, or large). If you want a few tree seedlings for your property, please sign up using the link below. They may be out of the small trees but have medium and large trees available.  They will go quickly, so if you...

Food Forest / Foraging / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Ornamental Shrubs / Planting Trees / Spring Flowering Trees / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Burst Into Spring with Eastern Redbud

  A Beacon of Spring A blooming redbud tree grabs my attention like no other spring flowering tree.  It just suddenly lights up like a neon beacon glowing brightly in the edge of the wintery forest; transforming from non-descript to gorgeous in the space of a day. Unlike other spring blooming trees which show visibly swelling buds for weeks, while they wait for winter’s cold to pass; clusters of redbud blossoms simply break directly out of its bark, anywhere and...

Compton Oak CW Arboretum

Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Conservation / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Keystone Species / Native Trees / Planting Trees / Tree Identification / Trees

 by Rick Brown

The Compton Oak

  The former Colonial Williamsburg Garden Historian, Wesley Greene, had a discussion with Scott Hemler, Colonial Williamsburg’s nurseryman this year in August, about the origin of our famous Compton Oak. In this exchange, Greene raised questions about the “legend” of this tree and how it came to be planted on Nicholson Street in historic Williamsburg. So, at Green’s suggestion, I began an investigation to see if the Archives at the Rockefeller Library could provide any additional information about the time...

Community Gardening / Edible Plants / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Keystone Species / Native Trees / Permaculture / Planting Trees / Propagation / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Growing Indigenous Trees from Seeds

  What Are Indigenous Trees? Indigenous trees are those native species that have grown in our area since before European colonization.  They are uniquely suited to our climate.  They support our indigenous wildlife and make our landscape unique.  Trees produced from long generations of the same species, that have all grown in our immediate area, are considered indigenous.  A tree ordered from a mail-order nursery, even of the same species, was likely grown from seed, or a cutting, indigenous to...

Farming / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Planting Trees

 by Marion Guthrie

Apples Remind Us

Apples are a reminder that it is back-to-school time. But how did they come to represent this academic kickoff? Perhaps it is because September is harvest time for many kinds of apples in the Northern Hemisphere. Or because of the practice from colonial times, when teachers were compensated by receiving food and housing directly from families and apples were an abundant crop. Then of course there may be clues from the Garden of Eden story, the legend of Johnny Appleseed,...

Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Jamestown Settlement / Native Trees / Planting Trees / Propagation / Spring

 by Judy Kinshaw-Ellis, Master Gardener, Class of 2015

Who Inspired You?

My dad was a gardener. He grew vegetables. He grafted fruit trees. He grew gladiolus for my grandmother (his mother-in-law) because they were her favorite. He grew lots of peonies, and I have at least one in my garden that was moved from Iowa to Maryland to Virginia. And he grew a walnut tree, but it died the year he died. I was twelve, but I still remember that little tree. I like to think that, when we lose a...