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Starting an organic garden
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Date Posted: Tue, Mar 28 - 8:55 pm
- Hi, I am interested in growing my own vegetable and herb garden. Ive done it before but am not skilled on the ins and outs of organic gardening. I have researched classes in the area but am not really finding anything. Do you have good resources to help me? I have started growing seeds this year with quite a few hiccups so far, and am doing raised beds to attempt to keep the weeds at bay. I've got a lot to learn!
- Hello there, glad you'll be working on an organic garden. As with everything, it just takes practice. Starting plants from seed isn't as easy as one might think. After all, nature does it all the time. But you're not really working like nature when you start seeds inside. So you just have to mimic as best you can. Some folks that start seeds indoors will have a set up in a basement (or other free space) using an old table or two with shop lights above. The lights might be attached to the ceiling by chains and adjusted as the plants grow. And timers can provide the correct amount of light. Records should be kept so that you know which seed is which, the day it was planted, the maturity date, light and heat requirements, etc. So it can get complicated. But these days there are lots of varieties that are readily available as seedlings so you don't always have to do it yourself. That's a nice change. I usually recommend a book on permaculture--Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway. It may be more information than you want right now but if you could find it at the library the chapters on soils and building beds would probably be helpful. You'll want to test your soil first so you know where you stand. I highly recommend checking in with the library branch you like and seeing when a Master Gardener will be on duty at the help desk. They will have soil test kits and can explain the process and will be happy to answer any and all questions you may have. They love sharing information! if you go to the Main branch you may be able to pick up some free seed at the Seed Bank. Best of luck with your project. Happy gardening!
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Starting a new garden
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Date Posted: Sat, Mar 25 - 4:25 pm
- Hi! I live off of N 18th St. and my apartment building has a very large bed that has been empty for a while and that I would like to start growing in (herbs and vegetables). I plan to come pick up a soil kit to test the current soil in the bed. Is that a first step you'd recommend? After testing the soil, are there specific veggies and herbs you'd recommend for the climate/area we're in? Are there any recommended local places that I could get starters and/or transplants? I also have read that I'll likely need to turn the soil to loosen it up. Welcome suggestions. Thanks! - Marg
- Hello Marg, Nice to hear you're interested in growing food. My first question/concern is if you have cleared this project with the owners or property manager of the apartment you're living in. That would be the first item on the check list. After that, testing the soil is a necessary step. Then, depending on the results, you would add any needed amendments. You can never go wrong by adding compost to the bed. Compost is a good addition because it can lighten heavy soils and enrich sandy soils. As far as what to plant, that would really depend on what you want to plant. I would make a list of desired vegetables and herbs and then see what zone they are appropriate for. Your basic tomatoes, zucchini, basil and parsley will do fine here. The important thing is to check the zone and maturity dates for whatever you are planting. If you want to plant spinach or lettuce or similar greens be aware that they like cool temperatures so they'll need a head start. When it gets too hot they will "bolt" or go to seed and be done for the summer planting season. You can pull them and replace them with a heat-loving vegetable. They can also be planted again as a fall crop when the weather starts to cool a bit. You can find seedlings at most garden centers. I think that Lowe's, Home Depot and similar stores offer some organic seedlings. I would check about both types of stores to see if they offer what you want to plant. Please check out the Master Gardeners who man the help desks at your local library. Check in with the library to see what days and times the gardeners are available. They will give you a wealth of information and advice. Also, if you go to the Main Library there is a seed bank (in an old card catalog) near the indoor entrance. The availability of seeds waxes and wanes but it's worth a try! Good luck with your project. Happy gardening!
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Building soil
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Date Posted: Sun, Feb 26 - 5:45 pm
- We are making new raised beds for flowers and veggies. We are designing them with a wooden frame and then approaching the layers as a lasagne garden. My partner is thinking he can use only mushroom compost and cardboard to fill these beds but from what I read we need about 75% soil and 25% mushroom compost. Is this accurate for Richmond soils? Thanks for your insights on how to best lay the ground materials for thriving flower & veggie beds. Much appreciated, Jāna
- Hello Jana, My go-to resource for soil building is the permaculture guide--Gaia's Garden. The recommendation for building soil through compost is to use half green matter and half brown (to attain a good ratio of nitrogen to carbon). Green matter would be leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps (but also manure) and the brown would be dried leaves, hay (includes weeds), straw, pruning trimmings, and wood shavings or similar. The book discusses all issues such temperature of pile, size, turning, etc. The mushroom compost is great but I think the combination of materials will lead to a longer stretch of fertility in the beds. With different materials leaching their nutrients at different times. The beds will consume a lot of mulching material. One way to deal with this is to use any brush you may have collected and build hugelkultur beds. They are basically a mound of brush (tamped down), well watered and covered with organic materials, compost and soil. So you may want to use a combination of hugelkultur and organic matter with a good topping of mushroom compost. I recommend reading Gaia's Garden's chapter 4-Bringing the Soil to Life. The author's favorite method for doing so is sheet mulching (lasange gardening). Happy gardening!
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Volunteer Opportunity
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Date Posted: Fri, Feb 03 - 8:56 pm
- I am a volunteer with the Patrick Henry School of Science and the Arts Garden Committee. We would like to have a field day with soil testing in our raised beds and our rain garden. Would any Master Gardeners be available to assist with this field day on Thursday, March 2 and Friday, March 3?
- Hello there, thank you for your question. We love working on school gardens. I would like to get some more information regarding this project. If you email me at -- jrreilly2323@gmail.com we can sort out the details. Thanks for thinking of us!
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Native shrubs
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Date Posted: Mon, Jan 09 - 5:37 pm
- Hello, I am looking for a shrub to plant as a privacy screen. I will be planting along the south fence line of my property; however, the fence line itself is already planted with Chinese privet trees (ugh) that can't be removed, so anything I plant may get some shade from these trees. I'm looking for something 5-6 feet tall that will provide a sight barrier without getting too bushy (I don't want it to intrude too far into my yard). Native and/or pollinator-friendly would be a big plus! Any thoughts?
- Hello there, too bad about the privet but your planting will help to bring some pollinators and wildlife into your garden. The first shrub that comes to mind is inkberry (Ilex glabra). There are many varieties of this plant out there with different mature heights. So when shopping be very careful to read the tag and ask questions about the ultimate height and width of the plant you are choosing. The plant is evergreen and has small white flowers (not terribly noticeable) in spring that develop into small dark blue to black berries. Other native choices are mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and evergreen bayberry (Morella caroliniensis). Mountain laurel can grow to 12 feet or more but can also be pruned to control height and create a bushier shrub. It has beautiful blooms in spring and is evergreen. It does like some shade so maybe the privet will help with that. It does not like clay soil. Bayberry is also evergreen and can mature around 7-10 feet. It's not too particular about soils and can take shade. It has small flowers that develop into those waxy gray blue berries most people are familiar with. All these choices are native and will attract pollinators and wildlife. Best of luck with your project!
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Peonies
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Date Posted: Mon, Dec 05 - 4:49 pm
- I planted two peony bushes late spring and they looked good until now. They appear to be sickly. What should I do? Are they blighted and must be destroyed? Thx
- Hello there, What you are seeing is perfectly natural. Peonies are herbaceous perennials, meaning they die back every year in fall, re-grow in spring and produce those gorgeous blooms. So simply cut the stems back and rake up any debris around the plants and they will bloom for you once again in spring. They are one of the longest lasting perennials you can plant and pretty much carefree once their soil preference is met (fertile. humusy soil). Please do not destroy them. They will reward you with blooms for years to come. Enjoy!
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Native plants
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Date Posted: Thu, Sep 15 - 9:44 pm
- I have an east-facing front yard in the Museum District and have approximately 12X 6 feet of space to work with. We recently got a retaining wall put in, and so it is a fresh canvas. The space gets full sun at least half the day. I love native plants, and particularly those that would remain evergreen in the winter. Any suggestions?
- Hello there, so nice to start fresh! I'm glad to hear you are interested in using native plants. I'm assuming the space is 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep. You'll probably want to start by creating some structure with shrubs. For evergreen green shrubs you could use inkberry (ilex glabra). There are many varieties of this plant, some have a loose form whiele others have a tighter globe shape and there are large and smaller sizes as well. So there's an inkberry to fit most spaces and styles. Mountain laurel is also another lovely evergreen plant with beautiful blooms in spring. Dog hobble or more commonly just Leucothoe (axillaris) is another nice evergreen. There is a variegated variety if you want to brighten up a space. You may also want to try evergreen bayberry (morella caroliniensis). In addition to these evergreens, there is virginia sweetspire (itea virginica) which has a nice drape to its shape, panicles of white flowers and beautiful fall color. Another good shrub is pepperbush (clethra alnifolia) with white to pink flowers (depending on variety) which is wonderfully fragrant. There is a smaller-sized variety that would fit in most gardens. Many of the plants in the blueberry family - early lowbush and deerberry (vaccinum pallida+vaccinum stamineum) have gorgeous fall color and colored bare stems in winter. Their spring flowers are delicate and beautiful and their fruits add to their appeal. I know you have a small space but I wanted to give a good number of options so you can pick and choose. Once you have a plan, you can decide what you want to place where. After placing the shrubs, you can then think about adding some lovely native ferns, perennials and/or ground cover, whatever space will allow. Before deciding on plants and placement, you should have a soil test done if you haven't already. You can amend if necessary and as an annual ritual, add compost to nourish you plantings. You can get a soil test kit at your local library when the Master Gardener Help Desk is in operation. Call your local library to find out the day and time. For additional information I suggest checking out this website and using the plant guides for the Capital region and NOVA-- https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/plant-rva-natives. Best of luck with the new garden!
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Soil, native plants
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Date Posted: Tue, Sep 13 - 6:36 pm
- I have got my front yard in great shape! not the back yard :( . It looks like a baseball field with lots of dirt and not much else. My back yard gets filtered sun,, some periods of direct sun in day. I have LOTS of trees. I want to turn my back yard into a natural wooded area with native wildlife. Do you think I need to buy soil or are there lots of native plants that can thrive in clay soil w/out that. Can you think of some native plants that would thrive in that kind of area. Thanks!
- Hello there, Well, the good news is you have lots of trees! We all should....Since that's the case you must have a lot of fallen leaves come winter. What do you do with those leaves? If you aren't already, I would suggest you start a compost pile or two. Or even simpler, you can just let the leaves remain where they have fallen and accumulate. Over time you'll have your woodland base. If you would rather rake them up and compost them, that's fine too. Then make an annual habit of applying that compost to keep feeding the soil. Having all those trees is a real advantage; you have a lot of raw material with which to work. You want to build a good base that will nourish the insects, plants and animals you want in your back yard. There's a good book on permaculture - Gaia's Garden, that has lots of useful information. You'll be especially interested in chapter 4 -Bringing Soil to Life. So rather than spending a lot of money and energy on purchasing soil and amendments, and if you give the project a little bit of time, you can save that money and use it for plants! There are some plants that are suited to clay but building your soil will bring you greater benefits-again, creating a balanced home for insects, plants and animals. There's a wonderful website you can use for finding out about native plants and the habitats they thrive within. I highly recommend--https://www.plantvirginianatives.org. It's easy to use and covers a lot of territory. It's always recommended to get your soil tested to see if the soil is lacking in any nutrients. You can have that done through the Chesterfield Master Gardener program. Here's the phone number: (804) 751-4401. You can also visit your local library and speak with a master gardener and pick up a soil testing kit at the same time. Check your local library for the day and time that the master gardener help desks are active. Best of luck with this project, I think you'll have some fun!
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Fall garden planting
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Date Posted: Tue, Sep 06 - 9:28 pm
- Hello! I just moved to RVA and Id like to plant a small flower garden in front of my house. The area receives sun most of the day. What plants could I plant that would adjust to being planted in September? Thank you so much! Taylor
- Hello Taylor! You've got two really good things going for you-sun and fall planting. Fall is a great time to plant here, though you may want to wait until it cools down just a little bit. This will give you some time to mull over your design. Your plant palette is pretty much wide open. Richmond is on the border of the piedmont and coastal plain regions, so you can use plants that are native to either of those areas. To get you started I have a few plant suggestions. They are: yellow coreopsis (tickseed), some purple echinacea (purple coneflower), liatris (liatris spicata)-also purple, orange butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa) not butterfly bush, one of the native low-growing phloxes-divaricata or stolonifera, maybe some little bluestem grass (schizachyrium scoparium) for a different texture, for some height-oxeye (heliopsis helianthoides) and some shrubby st. john's wort (hypericum prolificum) for its lovely pollen-laded flowers and attractive foliage. One of the best approaches is to find a nursery you like that sells native flowers and see what is for sale at the nursery as the months pass. Ask the staff for information, they love sharing their knowledge! I also suggest reading up on what is, and why plant, a native plant. This is a really useful website--https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58e25c41e6f2e17ea4cb7766/t/5ed00bfcb208c2251311ebc6/1590692887078/Native+Plants+for+Virginia%27s+Capital+Region+Guide+for+download.pdf. Check out the information for the capital region on this website when gardening in Richmond but remember you may be able to use some plants for the coastal plain as well. Before starting your garden it's a good idea to get your soil tested to find out if it's lacking in any nutrients. You can find out about cost and how to gather a good sample by calling to speak with a VCE-MG at our Chesterfield Master Gardener Help Desk weekdays during regular business hours, March through October or call (804) 751-4401 to speak with the Master Gardener on call. Also, the local branch libraries have MG help desks. Check your local branch for the day and time and speak to an MG. They are there to help! Best of luck with your new garden!
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Soil Test
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Date Posted: Fri, Aug 12 - 10:39 pm
- Hello! I got my soil test results back, but I don't understand them. Can you help? Best, Teresa
- Hello Teresa, Yes, I would be able to help you with the soil test results. You won't be able to upload them through this site. However, if you can send me the results through email that should do the trick. Please send the results to--jrreilly2323@gmail.com. I look forward to helping you sort this out.