LOOSELEAF · 6—Decorating Belmont, Naturally 7—Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life...

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The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression. LOOSELEAF A publication of the University of Maryland Extension Howard County Master Gardeners. 3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 240 ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043 (410)313-2707 FAX (410)313-2712 http://www.extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/howard-county-master-gardener December 2017/January 2018 INSIDE — 2—Take a Winter Hike 2—Food Hosts Needed 2—Annual Holiday Party 3—Baywise Certification Earned 3—Latin for Gardeners 6—Decorating Belmont, Naturally 7—Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life 8—Reduce Reuse Recycle During the Holidays October provided two opportunities for MGs to participate in community events, beginning with the Central Maryland Research and Education Center Open House on October 14. We had three tables set up with exhibits relating to Bay-Wise, composting, vermiculture and an AAMG area to answer questions. We gave away 18 of the 30 compost bins supplied by the County! On October 18 we participated in the Howard Community College Sustainability Day. Thanks to Sylvia Huestis, who created a questionnaire regarding individual environmental practices, we were able to initiate conversations with attendees regarding their actions. The survey was a great way to open the conversation. Since this is our final Looseleaf for 2017, be reminded that hours/contacts must be entered on the online tracking system by December 15, 2017. The system "goes dark" December 23 - January 5, 2018, so no data can be entered during this time. MGs in the news! The 2016-2017 Educational Partnerships Annual Report of the Howard County Public School System includes a photo and description of fourth grade students working with MGs to learn about the history of farming in Howard County during the field experience at the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. The event also included information about how using local food products can reinforce healthy eating habits. Dates to remember: MG Recognition Event at Miller LIbrary, Sunday, January 14, 2:00 PM -4:00 PM. This is an opportunity to acknowledge newly certified MGs, years of service, and those who provided over 100 hours of volunteer time. The 2018 MG training dates are January 22- March 27, Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM at the UME office. Best wishes for enjoyable holidays -- some time for relaxation and respite from all your volunteer obligations. Remember your contributions of community service are significant and appreciated. I add my personal thanks for being part of the MG program! Georgia Georgia Eacker MG Coordinator WSA Liaison Program Update from Georgia — View the MG electronic calendar in your preferred format: Month, Week or Agenda. Click here for the calendar. You’ll find times, locations, and contact info for events. Please note: Many of our programs are taking a winter break. Check the calendar in 2018 for updates. December 12, 12—2 : MG Holiday Party December 13, 7:30 pm: “Decorating for the Holidays with Natural Materials” by Peggy Hannon @ Clarksville Commons January 14, 2—4: MG Recognition Event @ Miller Library January 22—March 7, Mondays and Wednesdays 9—12: MG Training days Mark Your Calendar Wishing you and your family a safe and happy holiday season! From University of Maryland Howard County Office

Transcript of LOOSELEAF · 6—Decorating Belmont, Naturally 7—Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life...

Page 1: LOOSELEAF · 6—Decorating Belmont, Naturally 7—Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life 8—Reduce Reuse Recycle During the Holidays October provided two opportunities for MGs to

The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation,

physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression.

LOOSELEAF

A publication of the University of Maryland Extension

Howard County Master Gardeners.

3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 240 ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043

(410)313-2707 FAX (410)313-2712

http://www.extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/howard-county-master-gardener December 2017/January 2018

INSIDE — 2—Take a Winter Hike

2—Food Hosts Needed

2—Annual Holiday Party

3—Baywise Certification Earned

3—Latin for Gardeners

6—Decorating Belmont, Naturally

7—Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life

8—Reduce Reuse Recycle During the Holidays

October provided two opportunities for MGs to participate in community events,

beginning with the Central Maryland Research and Education Center Open House on October 14. We had three tables set up with exhibits relating to Bay-Wise, composting, vermiculture and an AAMG area to answer questions. We gave away 18 of the 30 compost bins supplied by the County! On October 18 we participated in the Howard Community College Sustainability Day. Thanks to Sylvia Huestis, who created a questionnaire regarding individual environmental practices, we were able to initiate conversations with attendees regarding their actions. The survey was a great way to open the conversation. Since this is our final Looseleaf for 2017, be reminded that hours/contacts must be entered on the online tracking system by December 15, 2017. The system "goes dark" December 23 - January 5, 2018, so no data can be entered during this time. MGs in the news! The 2016-2017 Educational Partnerships Annual Report of the Howard County Public School System includes a photo and description of fourth grade students working with MGs to learn about the history of farming in Howard County during the field experience at the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. The event also included information about how using local food products can reinforce healthy eating habits. Dates to remember: MG Recognition Event at Miller LIbrary, Sunday, January 14, 2:00 PM -4:00 PM. This is an opportunity to acknowledge newly certified MGs, years of service, and those who provided over 100 hours of volunteer time. The 2018 MG training dates are January 22- March 27, Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM at the UME office. Best wishes for enjoyable holidays -- some time for relaxation and respite from all your volunteer obligations. Remember your contributions of community service are significant and appreciated. I add my personal thanks for being part of the MG program!

Georgia

Georgia Eacker MG Coordinator WSA Liaison

Program Update from Georgia —

View the MG electronic calendar in your preferred format: Month, Week or Agenda. Click here for the calendar. You’ll find times, locations, and contact info for events. Please note: Many of our programs are taking a winter break. Check the calendar in 2018 for updates.

December 12, 12—2 : MG Holiday Party

December 13, 7:30 pm: “Decorating for the Holidays with Natural Materials” by Peggy Hannon @ Clarksville Commons

January 14, 2—4: MG Recognition Event @ Miller Library

January 22—March 7, Mondays and Wednesdays 9—12: MG Training days

Mark Your Calendar

Wishing you and your family a safe

and happy holiday season!

From University of Maryland

Howard County Office

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LooseLeaf December 2017/January 2018 Page 2

Take a Winter Hike to Find Colorful Invasive Plants 2018 Food Hosts Needed

Now that most deciduous leaves have fallen and daytime temperatures are still comfortable, this is a great time of the year to venture into the woods near your neighborhood to seek out (and dig out) invasive plants. Two specific plants come to mind this time of year, Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii).

These two invasives have a lot in common. They are both native to eastern Asia and were introduced to the eastern United States in the 1860s for ornamental purposes. Both prefer sunny spots in open woodlands, fields, and roadsides but easily tolerate shade. Most relevant, they both produce bright red berries (that are eaten and distributed by birds), making them easy to spot this time of year.

Besides competing with native plants, these two invasives have specifically ‘bad’ traits: Japanese barberry develops dense, thorny foliage to create an inviting habitat for mice and ticks, and Oriental bittersweet is an aggressive vine that girdles tree trunks and smothers plants, often uprooting them with its weight. If you head outdoors to look for these invasive plants, also keep a lookout for garlic mustard (Alliaria petoilata) seedlings -- an evergreen plant that stands out this time of year as dark green clumps of leaves on the forest floor.

Darcy Bellido de Luna, Class of 2013, [email protected]

Please celebrate the holidays at our Annual Master Gardener Holiday Party! This year, Pat Greenwald opens her fabulous home to us on Tuesday, December 12, from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. In addition to the fabulous food (watch for an e-vite after Thanksgiving with a sign-up), Pat has arranged for an instrumentalist to play the dulcimer during the party! Come and enjoy the companionship of your MG friends in a beautiful setting while having a fantastic lunch. Not only are MGs good gardeners, we also tend to be good cooks. And then, of course, there’s the wine! Beth Blum Spiker, Class of 2010, [email protected]

2018 will soon be here and with that the 2018 Master Gardener training class. Anne Cottle and I will be coordinating the scheduling of Food Hosts. We are hoping to have online signups, so please look for an announcement in December explaining the signup process and seeking volunteers.

Kathy Rosendale, Class of

2010, [email protected]

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Latin for Gardeners

Fellow MG Earns Bay-Wise Certification

December’s Native Maryland Plant: All of them!

Hello Master Gardeners!

It’s been an amazing gardening year for me and I hope for you too. My garden has been extremely productive and entertaining this year. It has been a nursery for an assortment of beautiful butterflies, and has fed many birds, bees and other insects. At this time it’s still producing many seeds and berries for the birds so I leave the “tidying up” until early spring.

It’s time to test your knowledge of the scientific name of all of the native plants we’ve discussed over the past year. It’s always best to use the Latin name of the plants when you recommend them to friends and the public – there’s only one Latin name for a plant so it avoids confusion and ensures people select the right plant when shopping at nurseries. The photos I’m showing were all taken in mid-November – can you still recognize the plants? I’ve given you a few hints but don’t feel bad if you can’t place them all – Latin is not an easy lan-guage. Good luck, or as they say in Latin, “Fortuna!”

Match the letter of each plant to the number of each Latin binomial below.

1 Callicarpa americana 5 Chionanthus virginicus 9 Phlox divaricata

2 Phlox stolonifera 6 Eupatorium maculatum 10 Sanguinaria canadensis

3 Ilex verticillata 7 Acer rubrum 11 Campanulastrum americanum

4 Coreopsis verticillata 8 Helenium autumnale

Alison Milligan ~ Class of 2013

[email protected]

The Bay-Wise committee is pleased to announce that Carolyn Cradler has been awarded Bay-Wise certification for her home landscape. Certification involves knowledge and implementation of a range of practices including controlling storm water runoff, encouraging wildlife, protecting the waterfront, proper mowing, IPM, mulching and recycling, wise use of fertilizers and plant selection. Carolyn brings prior experience in the field of Biology and a passion for living things, to her selections of plants to support wildlife. Reviewers Linda Decker, Sharon Smith and Joan Oliver were captivated by her knowledge of monarch butterflies, which proved again that there is so much more to learn and share.

If you are interested in having your property Bay-Wise certified and are willing to become a community resource on Bay-Wise practices, see how you measure up by using the Bay-Wise Yardstick available at http://extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/bay-wise-landscape-management. For further information or to request certification contact Georgia Eacker or Linda Decker at [email protected].

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Decorating Belmont, Naturally

What happens when Master Gardeners are invited to decorate a room for the holidays? You get a lot

of ideas, natural materials, and a beautiful result. The Howard County Conservancy’s Belmont Manor

recently held a Colonial Holiday Celebration where each room was decorated by a local community

organization. Under the direction of MG Peggy Hannon, a group of MGs met to plan Colonial period

authentic decorations to fit the design elements included in our assigned room.

After an overwhelming response to a

request for greens and natural materials, we

gathered at Peggy’s home to assemble

wreaths, sprays, topiaries, and more.

The final step was to install the pre-made

decorations and complete onsite finishing

touches in preparation for the public

attending the celebration.

The end product certainly

reflected the talent, resources,

and dedication to nature that our

Master Gardeners have and all

agreed that we would love to

participate in this type of event

again. Thank you to Peggy and

her team for representing the

Howard County Master

Gardeners so well.

Kathy Hartley, Class of 2012, [email protected]

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LooseLeaf December 2017/January 2018 Page 7

Give your Christmas Tree a Second Life

Howard County provides an opportunity through their Merry Mulch program for residents to recycle their Christ-mas trees to be ground into mulch. There are a number of designated locations where you can drop off your tree from Christmas through January 20, 2018. Check the website, https://www.howardcountymd.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Bureau-Of-Environmental-Services/Recycling/Yard-Trim/Merry-Mulch, for locations. Residents with curbside pick-up may also use the service to dispose of their trees, but if you put your tree out with your trash for pick-up it’s headed to the landfill. Consider the following alternatives for recycling your Christ-mas tree this year:

Provide Shelter for Backyard Wildlife

Leave the undecorated tree in its stand or prop it up, and set it out in the yard for the rest of the winter. It can fill a bare spot in the winter landscape and provide winter shelter for birds. You can adorn it with treats for birds: suet mixed with peanut butter and birdseed and formed into balls is a good project for kids. Popcorn and cran-berry strings or orange halves will also attract birds.

Lay your tree down in a quiet spot or start a brush pile to provide shelter for small mammals such as rabbits.

Use the Branches to Mulch Perennials

Cut branches from your tree and lay them over perennials. This is especially useful for perennials susceptible to frost heaving, as well as those that are newly planted or marginally hardy.

The remaining tree trunk can edge a garden or be used to help “slow the flow” on slopes.

Start a Compost Pile

Use branches as the base for a new compost pile. This allows for airflow at the bottom of the pile, and the branches will break down over time.

Make It into Mulch

Give your pruners a workout and trim the tree branches into small pieces. Strew them in your garden beds or add them to mulched paths. The fragrance as you walk is a bonus.

Re-recycle

Once the greenery has dried, brush off the needles and use them to make potpourri. Mix with cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, dried flowers, and dried fruit for an aromatic winter blend.

Linda Decker, Class of 2006, [email protected]

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