HGIC Fall Newsletter: October gardening, growing figs, design with native plants

Fall 2023

Tips & Tasks in the Garden This Fall

We hope your garden has been enjoyable and productive this summer! As the growing season winds down, now is a great time to:

Plant trees and shrubs and herbaceous perennials before the ground freezes.
Bring houseplants back indoors before nighttime temperatures dip below 50F.
Use fallen leaves for mulch or compost.
Leave old flower stems standing for nesting pollinators.
Plant spring-flowering bulbs like deer-resistant daffodils and Alliums.

October Tips & Tasks

Food Gardening

Growing Figs in the DMV

What are the best varieties of figs to grow? How can you propagate the plants easily? Grow them in containers? When and how should you harvest them? Jon Traunfeld, Director of the Home & Garden Information Center, answered all of these questions, and more, in his recent interview with Kathy Jentz on The GardenDC Podcast.

Listen to the Podcast

Garden Design

Need some garden design inspiration? In this brief video, horticulturist Miri Talabac walks through a beautiful example of a multi-layered garden using regionally native plants.

Watch More Videos

Ask Extension

What is this strange flying insect?

Q: We found several of these in the house. What are they?

A: This looks like a Sunflower Seed Maggot fly, a common and widespread fly whose larvae feed in the developing seed heads of aster-family plants.

Read the Answer

Do you have a gardening question? Our Certified Professional Horticulturists, faculty, and Master Gardener Volunteers are ready to answer - year-round!

Ask Extension

Pest Alert

Beech Leaf Disease

The Maryland Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of Beech Leaf Disease for the first time in Maryland. This disease is transmitted by nematodes (microscopic worms) and it can affect all types of beech trees (Fagus spp.), including native and non-native. Understory trees can be killed in two years and mature trees in six to ten years.

About Beech Leaf Disease

Composting

Is Composting a Climate Change Solution?

Composting is seen by most people as good for gardens and the environment. But doesn’t the composting process generate carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal climate-warming gas? Can composting also mitigate climate change and make our yards and landscapes more climate-resilient? The answer to both questions is YES.

Maryland Grows Blog

In weekly posts on our blog, learn about pollinator conservation, growing native plants and food, and how to solve plant pest and disease problems.

Late Bloomers for the Garden

There are lots of late-flowering native plants that provide beauty and food for pollinators. Many of them, such as Eupatorium (pictured here) are in the Aster family.

Other Timely Topics

Subscribe to the Blog

Classes

Kokedama Workshop

Friday, October 13 | 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm | Cockeysville, MD

Join Kokedama expert Young Choe to create your own moss ball masterpiece! Kokedama is a ball of soil covered with moss on which an ornamental plant grows. The idea has its origins in Japan where Kokedama are very popular.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Stephanie Pully at pully@umd.edu or (410) 531-1754 on or before September 29.

Native Tree ID Hike

Wednesday, November 1 | 10:00 - 11:30 am | Accokeek, MD

Join us for a walk through the forest to learn about the plants important to the Piscataway People and how to identify indigenous plants. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Stephanie Pully at pully@umd.edu or (410) 531-1754 by October 18.

MORE EVENTS

University of Maryland Extension

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Find Master Gardener classes and activities in your county or Baltimore City

GARDEN TIPS & TASKS

October

November

December

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