Hill City Master
Gardeners
Association
GARDEN PLOTS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AT DAVIS INSTRUCTIONAL GARDEN (D.I.G.).
SEASON RENTALS FROM $40. Have you wanted a garden but don’t have room in your yard or apartment? Hill City Master Gardener Association (HCMGA) and Humankind are pleased to invite members of the community to lease a garden plot in the Davis Instructional Garden (D.I.G.) on the Humankind campus at 150 Linden Avenue. Download the full press release here.
Contact Frank Tiller at frank.davtill@gmail.com for more information.
Gardening Tips for February
Perennials – Cut old growth from liriope (mow it) and ornamental grasses (cut with a chain saw or gasoline powered weed trimmer with a blade) in late winter before new growth. Be careful not to cut into any new growth that might be present.
Annuals – Perk up your Pansies in February by removing spent blossoms, trimming any leggy foliage and fertilizing.
Bulbs – Apply fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus to your daffodils and crocus when leaves are pushing up through the soil. This works for other bulbs as they emerge.
Prune – Winter months are good for pruning many evergreens, i.e. abelia, arborvitae, boxwood, cedar, holly, juniper, Leyland cypress, nandina, photinia, privet, Southern magnolia and yew. Deciduous trees and shrubs should be pruned before bud break or after leaves are fully formed (refer to VCE Pruning Schedules at https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/trees-shrubs-groundcovers.html)
Focus on Natives
With Punxatawny Phil predicting six more weeks of winter, you might be wondering what gardening tasks you can accomplish now. If you’ve decided you’d like to incorporate more native plants in your garden, there’s still time to start some from seed.
Many natives require a period of cold stratification, just as they would if they’d dropped their seeds in the wild at the end of summer. In their natural habitat, the seeds would sit there in the soil– some to be eaten by birds and other animals, some washed away in the rain — until warmer temperatures and longer days signal a favorable time for germination. A period of dormancy ensures that the seed won’t germinate too early — say in a warm spell — only to be killed when winter temperatures resume. Compounds in the seed that inhibit germination are broken down by enzymes that are activated as temperatures drop. In addition, hormonal changes increase the activity of enzymes that begin to metabolize the stored starches in the seed to provide it with energy. Moisture is needed for these processes and the seed coat softens to allow in more moisture and oxygen. Once environmental conditions are favorable, the seed can germinate.
Welcome to our Newest Master Gardeners.
New Master Gardeners from the Class of 2023
Applications for the 2025 Class
are now closed. If you have questions about future training classes, please contact us here.
Important dates:
January 17 (5 pm) –Application Due
January 31 — Payment Due
February 6 — Class Orientation
February 10 — First day of classes
It’s possible to replicate this process by keeping seeds in moist peat moss, vermiculite, or similar material in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. Using a moist medium ensures the seeds won’t dry out. Seeds can be stored this way for 10 to 12 weeks, and then planted in the spring. They may even start to germinate so they need to be handled carefully.
An even easier method of starting seeds that require cold stratification is winter sowing. With this method, seeds can be planted in a container, placed outdoors where they are exposed to the cold temperatures provided by nature, and allowed to germinate naturally when the time is right. One method often used is the “milk jug method.” Plastic milk containers are cut part way through the middle, leaving a small hinge attachment. Drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage. The containers are filled with a few inches of sterile, moistened potting medium and the seeds are sown on the surface. Make sure the surface is moist, and then seal up the containers with duct tape. The milk jug acts like a min-greenhouse to retain moisture. Place the containers outside and check on them periodically to make sure they are still moist. Once the seeds germinate, allow the plants to grow until they fill the space in the jug and then remove the top. If a really warm spell happens during the winter, open the top so it doesn’t get too hot inside.
The photos here demonstrate the winter sowing method. Photos courtesy of Master Gardener Sheri Hollingsworth.
Recent Media
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Ready to get a head start on your garden? The Hill City Master Gardeners are here with step-by-step instructions to make winter sowing easy, so you can plant an
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FESTIVAL OF GARDENING
The 2025 Festival of Gardening, our annual plant sale and celebration of all things gardening, will be here before we know it. We’ll be setting up again on the lawn of E.C. Glass High School with thousands of plants for sale, from heirloom tomato varieties to sought-after perennials to fragrant herbs. There will also be vegetables, annuals, native plants, trees and shrubs, vines and groundcovers as well as container gardens and garden décor items. All plants are grown from seed, divisions, or cuttings by our Master Gardeners. This sale is our annual fund-raising event that supports our training programs, and various community projects. Keep watching this site for a map of the sale layout so you can plan your plant-shopping adventure!
SAVE THE DATE!
FOG 2025
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Virginia Master Gardeners are volunteer educators who work within their communities to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management education and training. As an educational program of Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Master Gardeners bring the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, to the people of the commonwealth. All information we disseminate must be research-based by VT/VSU.
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/hillcitymastergardeners/
Look for our latest HCMGA postcards.
Available at HCMGA events and project sites, and at the Community Market Information Booth.
Winter’s chill has arrived. As Fall wanes there is still a lot to do in the garden: annual maintenance and preparation for winter crops or spring plantings. Want to learn more? Registration for the 2025 Master Gardener Training Class is closed but you can contact us about the 2026 class here. Applications for the 2026 Training Class will be available in the Fall.
More information is available on our Become a Master Gardener page.
In the Garden This Month
FEBRUARY
Gardening Tips for February
Perennials - Cut old growth from liriope (mow it) and ornamental grasses (cut with a chain saw or gasoline powered weed trimmer with a blade) in late winter before new growth. Be careful not to cut into any new growth that might be present.
Annuals - Perk up your Pansies in February by removing spent blossoms, trimming any leggy foliage and fertilizing.
Bulbs - Apply fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus to your daffodils and crocus when leaves are pushing up through the soil. This works for other bulbs as they emerge.
Prune - Winter months are good for pruning many evergreens, i.e. abelia, arborvitae, boxwood, cedar, holly, juniper, Leyland cypress, nandina, photinia, privet, Southern magnolia and yew. Deciduous trees and shrubs should be pruned before bud break or after leaves are fully formed (refer to VCE Pruning Schedules at https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/trees-shrubs-groundcovers.html)
Record Keeping - Start taking pictures as the garden wakes up and during each season for use in planning your next year's garden.
Pest Patrol - Horticulture oil is applied to many fruiting and ornamental plants in February. These insecticides smother many pests like scales, mites, aphids and others that are difficult to control later in their life cycles.
Weed Control - Remove winter annuals. Pull them up, smother them with bark mulch or spray with selective weed killers. These winter annuals are really best controlled in the fall.
Propagation - Start seeds for herbs requiring a long germination and growth period prior to setting out in the garden.
A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. – Doug Larson.
