Master Gardener – Answers
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Native landscaping
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Date Posted: Fri, Dec 06 - 4:13 pm
- Hello! I'm interested in making my property more sustainable by adding wildflower meadows and native plantings to support the wildlife. I am located in Manakin Sabot. If there are any book resources or other websites you would recommend I would greatly appreciate it. I am an architect by training and have considered getting more of an education in landscape design and horticulture to help make the biggest impact on our community through my projects, both at home and for others. Thanks so much!
- Hello! We love your passion for bringing more wildflowers and natives to your yard. A few resources for you to look into: Homegrown National Park: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/ and any books by Doug Tallamy. There is a guide for Native Virginia plants that you can reference: https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/plant-rva-natives. Lewis Ginter often offers classes about landscaping and natives and they currently have some spring classes available for sign up on their website. Moulton Hot Natives is also a very knowledgeable resource and a great place to get plants and seeds: https://moultonhotnatives.square.site/ Whenever you are in the city, I suggest driving by Amelia Street School. Behind the school are several different beautiful native beds that may give you some inspiration! I hope these resources will help get you started and you will have fun and learn a lot along the way!
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Becoming a Master Gardener
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Date Posted: Tue, Nov 26 - 1:25 am
- Hello! I am interested in becoming a master gardener! Can you point me in the direction for signing up for courses and what certification entails?
- Hi Susan! Thanks so much for your interest in becoming a Master Gardener! I will send you an email with some information.
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Becoming a Master Gardener
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Date Posted: Wed, Nov 20 - 12:49 am
- I am very interested in becoming a Master gardener. Is the program available in Richmond, Virginia? If it is not is there a different location I can attend? Thank you so much. Have a lovely day, Cynthia
- Hello Cynthia! Thank you so much for your interest in becoming a master gardener! There are several units throughout the central Richmond area offering classes soon, and we are lucky to have some space in one of those programs. I will send you an email to follow up with more information.
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Master Gardener Class
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Date Posted: Tue, Nov 12 - 2:49 am
- Interested in taking a master Gardner class.
- Hi Dee! Great timing! Our applications for our upcoming 2025 program are currently open. It has been several years since we have been ableto host new master gardeners, but this year we are excited to host two students and our application is now live: https://bttr.im/70gik Applications are due by November 15th. Information about the upcoming class: The class will be run through the Chesterfield County Extension office and will meet January 9, 2025- March 27, 2025 on Tuesdays 9am-12p (virtually) and Thursdays 4p-7p (in person). Cost to participate is $225 (and includes all educational materials) Requirements for Master Gardener interns: Complete 50 educational hours and 50 volunteer hours Ongoing requirement for Master Gardeners: Complete 8 educational hours and 20 volunteer hours per year The Richmond Master Gardeners are a small, but fun unit! We have not had an extension agent since 2021 and operate mostly independently. We typically meet every other month on the first Monday of the month at 6pm at the West End Branch library and will often have speakers come to our meetings. Currently, our volunteer efforts are primarily focused at the Richmond Public Libraries and Richmond area Schools. If you have any questions about the application process or being a Master Gardener, please e-mail them to rvamastergardeners@gmail.com
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Fall/Winter Vegetables for the home garden
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Date Posted: Sun, Nov 03 - 8:07 pm
- Hello,i would like to know what type of vegetables in this time of year i can have in home conditions like a small garden? Thank you so much for respond and please if there is any useful resource that i can get some innovative idea please let me know i would really appreciate that,have a wonderful day. Thank you and have a flower day:)
- One of my favorite resources for vegetable gardening in Virginia is the Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia book by Ira Wallace and the Virginia Extension Home Garden Vegetable Planting guide is also an excellent resource: https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-331/SPES-170.pdf Many people are still harvesting beans, broccoli, carrots, greens, etc from their fall gardens although it is a little late in the year to try to get these planted now. The thing to plant right now is garlic for a June harvest. (I always plant garlic around Halloween to harvest around Father's day) Because we have been having a very warm fall, you could still try to plant carrots, beets, winter radishes, spinach or kale and see if the weather cooperates for you. This is also a great time of year to start planning what you will plant as spring approaches! You can then think about what seeds you may want to purchase and if you have space to start seeds inside and if so gathering the supplies. I also recommend keeping an eye on our local garden nurseries (Sneeds, Great Big Greenhouse, Strange's) after the new year as many will have classes for vegetable gardening available. Lewis Ginter also offers great classes. Good luck and happy gardening!
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Landscape design and Horticultural classes
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Date Posted: Thu, Oct 31 - 11:19 am
- Hello. I've been cutting grass and pulling weeds for some time. I currently work as a grounds keeper. Id like former training to help me learn more and progress. Where can I go to get formal landscape landscape design and horticultural classes. thanks
- Thanks for reaching out to the Master Gardeners about educational opportunities! We are actually currently accepting applications for our upcoming internship program which provides 20 hours of education on a variety of topics including landscaping and turf management. Here is a quick synopsis about becoming a Master Gardener: Information about the upcoming class: The class will be run through the Chesterfield County Extension office and will meet January 9, 2025- March 27, 2025 on Tuesdays 9am-12p (virtually) and Thursdays 4p-7p (in person). Cost to participate is $225 (and includes all educational materials) Requirements for Master Gardener interns: Complete 20 educational hours and 50 volunteer hours Ongoing requirement for Master Gardeners: Complete 8 educational hours and 20 volunteer hours per year The Richmond Master Gardeners are a small, but fun unit! We have not had an extension agent since 2021 and operate mostly independently. We typically meet every other month on the first Monday of the month at 6pm at the West End Branch library and will often have speakers come to our meetings. Currently, our volunteer efforts are primarily focused at the Richmond Public Libraries and Richmond Public Schools. To apply, follow this link: https://bttr.im/70gik Another option to keep an eye out for is the Landscape design class offered through Lewis Ginter. Looking at their website, it seems like they just wrapped up a course, but this should be one they offer again in the future: https://www.lewisginter.org/event/basic-residential-landscape-design/ You could also consider the certificate program that is available through the Univeristy of Richmond: https://news.richmond.edu/features/article/-/10441/horticulture-professional-certificate-new-landscape-program-focuses-on-sustainable-landscape-practices.html And I always keep an eye on our amazing local nurseries and garden shops for the variety of classes that they offer: Sneeds Nursery, Great Big Greenhouse, Strange's, etc. Hope this list of opportunities and options will help you connect with what you are looking for!
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Speaker request
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Date Posted: Thu, Oct 24 - 12:16 am
- Hello! My name is Korey Ruhnow, I am a work-study student with the Highland Support Project in downtown Richmond. We are reaching out to request a speaker from your esteemed organization for our informal virtual gatherings on Wednesday nights. This event is organized by an informal group comprising students, teachers, Rotarians, and members of faith-based communities who have participated with the Highland Support Project in service learning trips to Guatemala and Arizona. Our group is dedicated to supporting projects which maintain the local ecosystem through the growing of native plants. Your organization's insights would be an incredible addition to our discussions. We would be thrilled to host you at a Zoom meeting on a Wednesday evening that suits your schedule. Please let us know your availability and any requirements you might have. Thank you very much for considering our request. We eagerly await the possibility of collaborating with you. Best regards, Korey
- Hello Korey! Thank you for reaching out to the Richmond Master Gardeners with an invitation to speak to your organization. I will connect with you directly via e-mail to follow up on this request.
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Is my new maple tree healthy?
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Date Posted: Sun, Oct 20 - 1:26 pm
- Good morning! I am reaching out in regard to a maple tree I recently ordered. I am concerned that we may have been sent an unhealthy tree. It arrived with a lot of dead leaves, including many of the "baby" leaves at the top of the tree, and spots on many of the larger leaves. There is also a wound on the bark where the stake rubbed it, and the trunk is not straight. Since I don't have much experience with trees, I am unsure whether the tree will bounce back, or whether this is indicative of larger issues, and we should refrain from planting. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I can only upload one photo through this form, but am happy to email more if needed. Thank you so much!
- Hello! Thank you so much for reaching out to the Richmond Master Gardeners for help with your new tree. From what I have read, the trunk will likely correct itself as it grows so it shouldn't be too worrisome that it isn't straight right now. Reaching out to the grower you purchased fromm is always a good idea to see what information they are able to share about their trees. From the picture you sent, I think your new tree may have some maple spider mites. These can be common in trees coming from a nursery setting and can often be easily controlled when planted in a healthy environment. Here is a helpful site with more information about spider mites: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/maple-spider-mite-oligonychus-aceris-shimer-acariformes-tetranychidae I've also reached out to the Richmond Tree stewards to see if they have any other helpful information to pass along about your new tree and I will reach out to you via e-mail if I get anything new from them!
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Tree Girdling
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Date Posted: Tue, Oct 08 - 11:35 pm
- I have what appears to be a very intense girdling root situation happening with my ruby red falls (red bud cultivar). The top of the tree died off entirely this year so I cut the dead part off (about 1 ft) earlier in the spring and just now decided to check the roots. It did produce a lot of leaves and appears to be in just ok health, but is not thriving by any means. Is this tree salvageable? Any suggestions?
- Thanks for reaching out to the master gardeners for help with your tree. I've sent your photo to a handful of other master gardeners in our group so that we can have a few opinions to share with you. Overall, we do not see serious concern for girdling in the photo that you sent. If you are seeing girdling that we can not see (maybe on the other side of the tree) you could always cut those roots away taking care to not cut into the stem/trunk of the tree. Your heavy pruning of the tree earlier this year could certainly be a cause of the abnormal growth you saw this year. From your photo, it does appear that your tree may have been planted too deep. You could pull a lot of the soil back from the tree in order to create a more shallow planting and see if this helps to improve the health of your plant. If ultimately the tree does not survive and you are looking to replace it, we would recommend going with a straight species like Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud)
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Becoming a Master Gardener
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Date Posted: Mon, Oct 07 - 11:58 pm
- Recently moved to the RVA. Interested in becoming a MG. What're next steps? M
- Micah, welcome to Richmond! We are so glad you are here and hope you will truly enjoy your new hometown - Richmond has so much to offer! And we are excited to hear about your interest in becoming a master gardener. The city of Richmond has been with out an extension agent for the last several years and our group of master gardeners has been operating without direct city leadership. Because of this, we have not been able to offer the program to bring new master gardeners on. This year, however, we have been able to partner with one of the other localities in the area and will have the opportunity to have two people go through the master gardener training on behalf of Richmond. We are very excited and will have more information coming out soon about this! I will send you an email so that we can stay in touch and I can be sure to get these details over to you when they are available. Thanks for reaching out!