Category: Soil Conservation

Brickyard / Conservation / Garden Design / Grasses / Native Plants / Plant Literacy / Restoration / Soil Conservation / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Landscape Grasses Every Master Gardener Should Know

  Perennial Grasses have many uses in the landscape, including helping to control erosion and adding structural interest to the landscape.   They tend to be very drought tolerant, tough, and seldom will be grazed by deer.  Most grasses are left standing through the winter and cut back in early spring, making room for new growth to emerge.  Some grasses, like river oats, self-seed freely.  Clumps of grasses expand as the plants mature.   Perennial Landscape Grasses Andropogon spp., Bluestem,  Beardgrass,...

Conifers Every Master Gardener Should Know

Evergreen trees / Garden Design / Native Trees / Plant Literacy / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Trees / Trees in Winter

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Conifers Every Master Gardener Should Know

Conifers Pinus taeda, Loblolly Pine Pinus virginiana, Virginia Pine Pinus palustris, Longleaf Pine Picea abies, Common Spruce Abies fraseri, Frasier Fir Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress Juniperus virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar x Hesperotropsis leylandii, Leyland Cypress The Beauty and Promise of Trees in Winter Planting Trees and Other Hacks to Manage Wet Soils Identifying Local Trees in Winter Native Trees Back to Plant Literacy Main Page  

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Compost / Fall / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Moss Gardening / Native Trees / Phenology / Poisonous Plants / Resource Protection / Soil Conservation / Tree Care / Trees / Water Wise / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Options for Autumn Leaf Clean-up

  Leaves float on every strong breeze, covering our walks and driveway just hours after we last cleaned them.  The many different species of trees in our community almost guarantee that we will have a long season of managing fallen leaves and pine tags. Leaves may begin to fall in August or September, particularly when the weather is dry.  And some trees hold onto their leaves until the following spring.  So cleaning up fallen leaves is more of an ongoing...

Carbon Garden / Climate Change / Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Deer / Farm-To-Table / Farming / Food Forest / Foraging / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Soil Conservation / Tree Identification / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Secrets in the Pawpaw Patch, Quick Notes Version

  Pawpaw  Flowers Pollination Challenges Pawpaw flowers are a dull red to purple color which resembles rotting meat, and they have a putrid odor to attract the flies and beetles that pollinate them , much like native  skunk cabbage and jack-in-the pulpit. Pawpaw’s small flowers have six petals and are rarely larger than a half-dollar.  These are ‘perfect’ flowers, having both male, pollen bearing stamens and a female pistil, whose base will develop into the fruit after about five to...

Carbon Garden / Citizen Science / climate change / Climate Change / Conservation / Evergreen Shrubs / Evergreen trees / Ferns / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Invasive Plants / Jamestown Island / Mycorrhizal Fungi / Native Plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Protecting the Chesapeake / Shoreline Erosion / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Weather / Wildlife Gardening / Williamsburg Botanical Garden

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Managing Rain and Run-Off with the Right Plantings

The Elements of Life Water, light, and air fuel our lives.  We depend on them, as does every plant and animal.  Light energy powers the chemistry of photosynthesis to transform elements like carbon and hydrogen into sugars, food.  Oxygen fuels the production of life energy in every living cell.  And water fills every cell of every living creature; gives us sap and blood; powers every process of life.  There is no life, not even the tiniest microbe, without water.  ...

Conservation / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Mycorrhiza / Mycorrhizal Fungi / Soil Conservation / Water Wise / Weather / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Quick Notes: Mysteries of the Micorrhizae

What is a mycorrhiza? (my-kor-rise’-uh) A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic relationship between a plant and a network of mycelium in the soil.  Over 90% of plant species depend on mycorrhizal fungi to assist their roots in accessing water and minerals from the environment.  Mycelium extend the reach of a plants’ roots.   Why are mycorrhizae important? Fungi share in the abundance of sugars and other carbon-based phytochemicals produced by a growing plant each day.  They use carbohydrates absorbed from a...

Carbon Garden / Citizen Science / Compost / Conservation / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Mycorrhiza / Mycorrhizal Fungi / Permaculture / Restoration / Soil Conservation / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Mysteries of the Mycorrhizae

  “To use the world well, To be able to stop wasting it and our time in it, we need to relearn our being in it.” Ursula Le Guin   A friend and I were chatting about recipes one afternoon.  She is a talented cook and loves to feed her friends and loved ones.  I asked for the recipe for something delicious she had served, and she avoided disclosing the details.  Finally, she gently explained that among her family, no...

Deer / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Perennial Care / Resource Protection / Soil Conservation / Summer / Water Wise / Weather / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Summer in the Garden: To Do, To Do Less, and To Avoid

  Summer at last!  Tomatoes are ripening, flowers blooming, and we are enjoying prime time in the garden.  July and August can be our most productive season in the garden.  But these months challenge our ingenuity and dedication when the weather turns hot and dry.  All our garden dreams can wither under the summer sun or topple over in a summer storm if we neglect the basic maintenance routines that help our gardens thrive.  Here are a few tips to...

Beneficial Insects / Bulb Gardening / Carbon Garden / climate change / Conservation / Ferns / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Geophytes / Propagation / Resource Protection / Soil Conservation / Spring / Sustainable Gardening / Water Wise / Weather / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Early Summer: To Do, To Do Less, and To Avoid

What To Do in May and June Avid gardeners find lots to do during May and June as spring melts into summer.  The enjoyment of spending time outside watching things grow and listening to the birds can distract us from our spring to-do list.  But taking care of business early in the season will result in a more attractive garden and more success through the summer months ahead. The days are getting noticeably longer and warmer as the first flush...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Climate Change / climate change / Conservation / Edible Plants / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Invasive Plants / Larval Host Plants / Nuisance Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Resource Protection / Soil Conservation / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

A History of Our War With Plants

  “I use only native plants, native to the planet Earth.  I am using indigenous plants; they are indigenous to this part of the universe.” Bill Mollison, Founder and Director of The Permaculture Institute     In the Beginning… Let’s begin with the obvious:  we live within an ever-changing ecosystem.  Europeans came to North America more than four centuries ago, cutting trees, planting fields, building homes and roads.  Native Americans also cut trees, built homes, planted fields, hunted, and lived...