Winter Offerings from Ag and Natural Resources - ANR

Welcome to winter!  Around here, we do not really have much cold weather until
January and February and some of our heaviest snows have come in March. With
reports of active insects as late as the middle of January to corroborate, we really
do not consider our landscape to be dormant until January. This information is
important to keep in mind as we look at the natural cycle of insect and disease pests
and contemplate the dormant woody plant pruning that is a regular winter
chore.

Our Master Gardener intern training that completed its classroom portion
will resume this month as we do our end of the month Pruning Practicum.

In January, the Master Gardener led public education outreach is conducting a 6-week
“Making Your Yard Sustainable” training.  The curriculum utilizes the adapted
Landscape for Life materials developed by the U.S. Botanical Garden.  They will
offer a small group of people a chance to do an in-depth analysis of the features and
processes of their home landscape with an eye to reducing the impact of
development and maximizing benefits to the environment.

Extension is proud to sponsor a joint Master Gardener/Master Naturalist volunteer led effort to provide home visits as part of the Audubon At Home program that seeks to educate residents
about ways to use their landscaped garden areas to enhance
and support our native insect and bird populations.


This training will be followed soon with the offering of a yearlong series of Sustainable Urban 
Agriculture Classes that start with January’s ‘Grasses for the Masses’ on January 12.

This is all a warm up for public education pruning classes that are available to the public in February.  Look for our calendar of pruning classes on our website that are
arranged in partnership with Tree Stewards of Arlington/Alexandria volunteers.
Tree Stewards work with county staff and city of Alexandria urban forestry programs to promote increased tree canopy, proper tree selection for planting, and beneficial maintenance practices.

Go to Tree Stewards website: www.treestewards.org to learn about the 2013 volunteer training class that will begin in February.