Category: Trees

Help Wanted / Invasive Plants / Native Plants / Native Trees / Nuisance Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Soil Conservation / Summer Color Plants / Tree Identification / Trees / Vegetable Gardening / Watering

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Master Gardeners’ Homeowner Outreach Programs 2026

Transform Your Garden with Expert Advice from Certified Master Gardeners Do you dream of a flourishing garden but aren’t sure where to start? Or perhaps you’ve encountered some gardening issues that require expert intervention. The James City County Williamsburg Master Gardener Association has just what you need! We offer free, environmentally sound, research-based recommendations for your home’s trees, lawn, landscape, and water-saving practices.  Our teams of 2-3 certified Extension Master Gardeners are ready to visit your home, discuss your gardening...

Bulb Gardening / Carbon Garden / Container Gardens / Edible Plants / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Geophytes / Herbs / Holiday Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Propagation / Seeds / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

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The Secret Lives of Roots

  A display of striking, contemporary glass vases waited on the counter where I paid for my bulbs in the Heath family’s Bulb Shop in Gloucester last week.  A Hyacinth bulb nestled in the curves of one of them; with thick white roots emerging from its base reaching into the water below.  These were tall, crystal clear vases designed for forcing bulbs indoors during the winter.  Their height allowed room for the bulb’s roots to grow freely, as they do...

Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Evergreen trees / Forest Bathing / Fragrant Plants / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Healing Garden / Trees / Trees in Winter / Wildlife Gardening / Williamsburg Botanical Garden

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How Do You Bathe in a Forest?

What is Forest Bathing? Have you ever wondered about the practice of forest bathing?  It is one of several recent eco-prescriptions to help us heal what ails us and adapt to the stresses of contemporary life.  Many therapists and physicians are sending their patients outdoors to enjoy the benefits of unplugged time in nature, away from screens, pings, and climate-controlled spaces lit with fluorescent tubes and LEDs.  Ecotherapy has proven highly successful for millions of people.   Biophilia Medical professionals...

Young tree in hand

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

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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

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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...

Conservation / Deer / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Hedgerow / Ornamental Shrubs / Poisonous Plants / Resource Protection / Sustainable Gardening / Tree Care / Trees / Wildlife Gardening / Winter Gardening

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Oh Deer!

  Fallen leaves carpet the ravine behind our home, broken only by thick green stems of bamboo, taller than most of our trees; a few young pawpaw and scarlet buckeye trees; and the thick trunks of century old beech trees.  There are also a few fallen, decaying trunks of trees lost to storms, but none of the undergrowth you might expect to find in a wild ravine bordering a small lake.  The soil is rich and deep.  Dappled sunlight illuminates...

Citizen Science / Conservation / Evergreen Shrubs / Garden Maintenance / Master Gardener Home Visits / Native Trees / Pruning Clinic / Sustainable Gardening / Tree Care / Trees / Trees in Winter

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The Annual Pruning Clinic

The 2026 Pruning Home Visits Application Request window is OPEN through mid-March, 2026.  APPLY NOW to get personalized pruning instructions from our Extension Master Gardeners.  Click below to apply.   Woody plants remain healthier, more productive, and more beautiful with strategic, well-timed pruning.  Pruning young plants guides their growth into a strong and balanced structure.  Pruning older plants opens them up to sunlight and airflow, limiting the opportunities for disease to infect them.  Proper pruning can also rejuvenate them with...

Conifers Every Master Gardener Should Know

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

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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  

Carbon Garden / Flowering Shrubs / Food Forest / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Plant Literacy / Tree Identification / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

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Deciduous Trees and Shrubs Every Master Gardener Should Know

Deciduous Shade Trees Quercus spp., Oak Acer spp., Maple Betula spp., Birch Corylus americana, American Hazelnut Fagus grandifolia, American Beach Juglans nigra, Black Walnut Platanus occidentalis, American Sycamore Liquidambar styraciflua, American Sweetgum Carya illinoinensis, Pecan Carya spp., Hickory Salix spp., Willows   Flowering Deciduous Trees   Aesculus pavia, Scarlet Buckeye Amelanchier laevis, Allegheny Serviceberry Cercis canadensis, Redbud Cornus spp. Other Dogwood species Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood Lagerstroemia indica, Crape Myrtle Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplar Magnolia virginiana, Sweetbay Magnolia Magnolia spp....

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

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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...