The Piedmont Master Gardeners Association provides science-based gardening information to the community of Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville. Here you will find our calendar of gardening events, resources to answer your gardening questions, a lively and topical monthly newsletter (The Garden Shed), a list of our projects and community partners, and information on how to become a Piedmont Master Gardener.
Running from January into April, the 2025 class will be presented in a hybrid format, combining online sessions every Tuesday evening with in-person workshops every other Saturday. The 2026 class will be an entirely in-person format.
The 70 hours of instruction will cover topics ranging from vegetable gardening, ornamental gardening, and fruit growing to soil health, wise water use, and disease and pest management. Find further details here.
For more on what it means to be a Master Gardener, view this presentation. Applications are due December 1, 2024. For more information, contact Nick Saylor, Master Gardener Coordinator for our area, at 434-872-4581 or nickjs23@vt.edu.
Protecting and Preserving Topsoil During New Home Construction
Question: I’ve contracted to have a new home built and groundbreaking starts soon. What measures should be taken prior to and during construction to preserve and protect the topsoil and native plants on my site? By Carla Throckmorton, Piedmont Master…
PMG Speakers Bureau: Permaculture
Permaculture: What is it? Learn about this fascinating approach to land use that can be applied whether designing a small garden plot or embarking on a large agricultural undertaking. Permaculture works in concert with your ecosystem by allowing design, soil,...
Garden Basics: Indoor Gardening—You Don’t Need a Green Thumb!
Indoor gardening has been “growing” in popularity over the last several years. Join us to learn how to grow plants indoors to beautify your surroundings. By taking into account environmental factors, you will be well on your way to long-term...
Garden Basics: Tool Talk—The Right Tools for the Right Gardening Tasks
Choosing the best tool for your gardening chores will save time, energy, and your back. We will demonstrate the safe use of basic tools so that all your garden tasks go smoothly. Power tools will not be discussed in this...
Garden Basics: Pollinators for Four Seasons
Pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and birds are responsible for much of the food we eat. Unfortunately, their populations are declining because of habitat loss and dwindling food supplies. The good news is that you can support pollinators and enjoy...
For more information on any of our events, visit our Events page.
Vascular Streak Dieback: Threat to Redbuds and Dogwoods
You may wonder why you haven’t seen many flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) or Eastern Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) in local nurseries lately. This is likely due to concern about Vascular Streak Dieback, a fungal infection attacking these and other trees. It has been observed in nurseries in Virginia and other U.S. states (especially Tennessee), and state inspectors have found it in
Albemarle County. Nurseries around the country have had to destroy infected inventory.
Virginia Cooperative Extension has issued this fact sheet on the emerging problem (VCE Publication SPES-483P) with photos of symptomatic plants.
Symptoms include leaf yellowing, leaf scorching, wilting and branch death, typically starting at branch ends and progressing toward the trunk. Streaking can be seen in the vascular tissue of infected branches, but this discoloration is often not visible in dogwoods. Researchers report that the disease is evident in seedlings, grafted plants, older nursery stock produced in container or field production settings, and landscape plants. Consumers should not buy trees that show these symptoms or that are grouped with any trees that are symptomatic.
Because the disease appears to affect the vascular tissue (xylem) that draws water and nutrients through the tree, it may spread through grafting, pruning, and budding. Stress factors such as poor site conditions, over-fertilization, drought, pest damage and herbicide exposure have been associated with the disease, so following best practices for planting and caring for trees may reduce their vulnerability. These include maintaining rigorous sanitation standards when grafting and pruning. Clean tools between each cut with 70 percent alcohol or a mixture of one part bleach to nine parts water. Also, follow proper planting procedures to give new trees a healthy start. 
If you suspect Vascular Streak Dieback in a tree on your property, bring a sample to the Virginia Cooperative Extension office at 460 Stagecoach Road in Charlottesville for testing by Virginia Tech’s plant disease clinic. It is imperative that you follow these steps for preparing the sample and that you bring it in on a Monday or Tuesday to ensure it reaches the clinic before the weekend. The charge for in-state residents is $35. If you have questions about submitting a sample, call the VCE office at (434) 872-4580, or write directly to the clinic at clinic@vt.edu.
Photos courtesy of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
