Thursday, December 26, 2013

FREE WALKING TOUR - PLANTS WITH WINTER INTEREST

Start your NEW YEAR with
nature and
the Master Gardeners
at the
PITT COUNTY ARBORETUM.
THURSDAY
January 2, 2014 starting at 10:00 AM

Meet under the Shelter in front of the Ag Center
at 403 Government Circle, Greenville.
MAP 

Master Gardeners will be highlighting plants with winter interest in their bark, berries, and blooms.  Tours last about 1 1/2 hours.
Call 902-1709 for more information.
Mahonia bealei

Friday, December 20, 2013

WINTER SOLSTICE and WINTER GARDEN CHORES



We're just hours away from the shortest day of the year.  Activity at the Arboretum has slowed, but that is because the Master Gardeners did a thorough job of fall gardening chores.  Just for fun, click here if you are interested in learning facts about the WINTER SOLSTICE.

Itching to get out and garden (especially on these warmer days)?  Click here to read about WINTER GARDENING CHORES to tackle.

Check back here in the following weeks.  We'll be announcing some of our upcoming gardening programs for you.  Also, be sure to purchase your Paul James tickets.  Scroll down the right side for more information on this event.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

BRINGING NATURE INDOORS FOR HOLIDAY DECORATING

Elaeagnus pungens

The silvery underside of the leaves make an attractive addition.  
Click HERE for more information on this plant.

On our recent tour we highlighted plants at the Arboretum that could be lightly pruned with the clippings to be used for holiday decorating.  When you examine the vast variety of trees, shrubs, and vines we have growing there, you find colors ranging from bright greens (Arborvitaes and boxwoods), blues (Cedrus deodara- Deodar cedar), red berries (various hollies),  and silvers (pictured above).

Next time you are selecting a plant to add to your garden, think about something that might add winter interest and provide free holiday decor.

Friday, December 6, 2013

MICROCLIMATES

Tucked in next to a brick wall in our Perennial Border you will find Fanny's Aster still in bloom.  While in most gardens this plant will have succumbed to frost, it is defying the odds.
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Fanny's Aster'
It is a late blooming aster, but the blooms now are more than likely protected by its placement in the garden.   Click here to learn more about MICROCLIMATES and how you can use them to your advantage in your own gardens.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

DECORATING FOR THE HOLIDAYS-Simple & Natural

Join the Master Gardeners for the next
FREE WALKING TOUR OF THE ARBORETUM

Thursday, December 5, 2013
Starting at 10:00 AM

Meet under the Shelter in front of the Ag Center

They will be showing how to gather all those forest-y elements from shrubs, trees, and vines to use in your holiday decorating.
The tours last about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours and are given rain or shine (or snow?)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read more at: http://cathy.snydle.com/thanksgiving-quotes.html | Cathy
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night, 
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read more at: http://cathy.snydle.com/thanksgiving-quotes.html | Cathy

Friday, November 22, 2013

FALL CHORES

This past week found our Master Gardeners busy at the Arboretum with final fall chores.  Much of the work done consisted of cutting back the perennials that were nipped by the frost, raking leaves, some light pruning, planting strawberries, and the ever constant weed pulling.  Here are some pictures where you may note that there are lots of smiles (because they are a happy bunch of volunteers)!
Want to do some clean up in your yard?  Here is a list to get you started:

Friday, November 15, 2013

COMPOSTING FALL LEAVES


As you might imagine, we have lots and lots of leaves to rake up at the Arboretum.  We turn this gift into compost.  The decomposed leaves along with other yard waste becomes a 'free' soil amendment or mulch.  We use a three-bin system and two self-contained plastic bins. 

Click on the link below to see how easy it is to start your own composting at home:

Friday, November 8, 2013

PLEACHING CREPE MYRTLES

In the beginning......
Yes, we mean pleaching.  You may find when you 'google' pleaching you get an autocorrect with a result of either preaching or bleaching.  But, no, we mean pleaching.  So what is pleaching?

According to our Pleaching Guru, Carol:
"One winter a few years ago we started a shade garden in a narrow strip next to a wall only to find out that in summer it was not shady! A lesson in planning right there. At the end of the May plant sale we had several crape myrtles unsold so we decided to create our own shade by planting the same. The trees had to be pruned back to prevent them interfering with trucks going to the adjacent utility room. We decided on the ancient method of pleaching. This can create tunnels, arbors or our design to have a "hedge in the air". This fall we pruned away most of the lower branches and excess trunks. The trees were topped below where we want the top edge to be allowing for new growth in the spring. As some branches were still flexible we tied these firmly together laterally  so the bark touches, this will create the opportunity for pleaching. That is the bark will degrade and the wood will fuse together. This is something we always try to avoid in caring for trees but this time we want this to happen. Crape Myrtles seem ideal for this sculpting  as they often pleach themselves naturally. Our experiment is just starting. Next summer we will tie more new flexible branches together and include some temporary support poles to shape our shade hedge. When we have sufficient lateral branches the structure will be pruned in summer to reduce vigor and keep it's shape. Hopefully this will be the shady garden we imagined a few years ago."
Here you see the shorter, thinned out branches with a pole inserted to train them along.  The vine growing on the wall is Ficus pumila (creeping fig) and it is a bit hard to distinguish it from the pruned crape myrtles.  You'll have to come out and see it up close!

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO ON PLEACHING

Saturday, November 2, 2013

FALL COLORS in GREENVILLE

 Featured here is Muhlenbergia capillaris (Pink Muhly Grass) and Gaillardia aristata (Blanketflower). These are always a showstopper in our fall Wildflower Garden. 

You don't need to drive to the mountains to enjoy such sights.  Join the Master Gardeners this Thursday, Novemeber 7th for a Free Walking Tour of the Arboretum highlighting trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials that make fall gardens glow.


The tour begins at 10:00 AM under the shelter in front of the Ag Center.  Bring your camera for some great Fall pictures!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

PAUL JAMES, The Garden Guy

HOSTED BY PITT COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS