| Good Dirt: David Yost Blogs His Gardening Adventures |
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I earn much of my living by delivering bad news. This is nothing I ever aspired to or enjoyed doing, it just goes with the territory of being a plant doctor. I’m frequently looking at plants that are beyond help and explaining the limited options that are available to their concerned owners. Some days I feel like the garden curmudgeon.
Complete Story >>
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 Take Your Cooking
To A New Level With Wine
Cooking with wine is a great way to add flavor to your dishes without adding a lot of fat and calories.
You can use red wine to marinate beef or pork. You can add it to spaghetti sauce or stew. Or use it to braise short ribs or chicken.
There are many options for white wine, too. You can create a delightful beurre blanc sauce, poach fish or add it to your rice or risotto.
Complete Story >>
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Winter Storm Damage: We've received many calls from our customers who have trees and shrubs that have been damaged from our record snowfall. Some tall, screening evergreens and hedges are leaning precariously or lying flat on the ground. And some weeping Japanese maples have been split by the weight of the snow. Don’t worry - our tree specialists can take care of the repair.
Merrifield Garden Center is ready to help with advice and hands-on assistance. Our expert staff can come to your home or business to determine the condition of your plants and find out what needs to be done. For some trees, pruning may be all that’s necessary. Some leaning trees may be able to be straightened and staked. Broken branches should be repaired or removed as soon as possible.
From towering elms and oaks to stylish Japanese maples and boxwood, our tree pruning professionals can remove any damaged or unwanted limbs. Our plant specialists are now pruning, staking and in some cases removing plants for many of our customers.
In addition, our professional snow removal and asphalt crews can take away large piles of snow or fix potholes in your driveway or parking lot. If you need help with any of these projects, please call us at 703-560-6222.
Complete Story >>
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Gardening tips and recommendations are intended for use in the Washington Metropolitan Region
(USDA Hardiness Zones 6a-7a). Recommendations and schedules may vary in other locations. Always
read and follow label directions when applying pesticides.
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| Good Dirt: David Yost Blogs His Gardening Adventures |
 Our Curmudgeon Likes Snow
I earn much of my living by delivering bad news. This is nothing I ever aspired to or enjoyed doing, it just goes with the territory of being a plant doctor. I’m frequently looking at plants that are beyond help and explaining the limited options that are available to their concerned owners. Some days I feel like the garden curmudgeon.
For the past few weeks, it seems like almost every phone call I receive or person I meet is asking about broken branches, toppled trees, winter injury, etc. Some people would be discouraged by this, but not me. I’m enjoying this opportunity to step out of my garden curmudgeon role and deliver some good news. Contrary to popular opinion, I think this has been a great winter! In fact, I was so excited by the knee deep snow I bundled up and went for a five-mile hike just to experience the blizzard.
Here’s the way I see things. First of all, snow is an excellent insulator. All your cherished little plants that are trapped under the snow are just as snug and cozy as when you’re wrapped up in your favorite blanket. The ice and snow maintains a stable 32-degree temperature around the plants and protects them from drying winds.
We had a great growing season last year with above average rainfall. So most plants were in good condition going into winter. All the leaf and flower buds are well protected under the ice and snow, just waiting to explode into new growth this spring.
I hear concerns about broken branches or uprooted trees. Both of these can be problematic, but the good news is that plants are very resilient. Broken branches can be repaired or pruned (see gardening tips for details) and most plants will eventually fill in any bare spots. Now there’s not much good news with an uprooted tree. Unless the tree is very young, I don’t have much confidence in being able to re-establish toppled trees. These situations usually require removal and replacement - and the only good thing about this is a visit to Merrifield Garden Center to pick out your new tree.
I love experiencing all four seasons. The long, drawn-out winter will give us an even greater appreciation for spring. And you’ll know when spring arrives. The crocus, daffodils and hyacinths will be blooming. Cherry trees are going to be covered with flowers. You’ll have “Snowmageddon” stories to share. And I can get back to my business of explaining why there are so many weeds showing up in your yard. BTW - did I mention that as your gardens flourish, so do the weeds. Sorry, it’s the curmudgeon side of me speaking now.
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Take Your Cooking To A New Level With Wine
Cooking with wine is a great way to add flavor to your dishes without adding a lot of fat and calories.
You can use red wine to marinate beef or pork. You can add it to spaghetti sauce or stew. Or use it to braise short ribs or chicken.
There are many options for white wine, too. You can create a delightful beurre blanc sauce, poach fish or add it to your rice or risotto.
“I love cooking with leftover wine,” says Lilienne Conklin, the chef at Merrifield Garden Center. “It’s often my dinner inspiration. Martha Stewart likes to freeze leftover wine in ice cube trays. That way, it’s handy whenever she needs it for a dish. I think it’s a terrific idea. But we never seem to have that much wine left over!”
When selecting wine, should you pick a pricey bottle, a bargain bottle or something in the middle?
“This may be controversial, but I believe it’s perfectly OK to use a bottle of wine that’s not of the grandest quality,” Chef Lilienne says. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money on wine to cook with. You’re not going to spoil the dish. That’s not to say that I condone cooking with ‘cooking wine,’ which is nothing but a salty solution and has little to do with wine. Please – don’t use it!”
Wine should be reduced slowly over low heat in order to preserve the flavor. Heating wine evaporates the alcohol and diminishes the unique nuance of the wine, leaving you with just the flavor. The process is a little time consuming, but your effort will be rewarded with a savory dish.
Reducing wine intensifies the flavor. Chef Lilienne urges caution, especially if you’re reducing a sweet white wine, so that it doesn’t become too sweet.
Here are two of Lilienne’s favorite recipes for cooking with wine:
- Bolognese Sauce, a classic meat sauce from Bologna, Italy with white wine that is perfect for cold, weekend nights.
- Red Wine Sauce, a tasty sauce that’s quick and easy to make. It adds another layer of texture and flavor to what might otherwise be an ordinary meal.
Fortified wines, such as port, sherry, marcela and madeira, pack a stronger flavor. Either sweet or savory, these wines have been infused with herbs, brandy, roots, peels or spices.
“I like to have fortified wines in the pantry because they last about one year without any loss of flavor or integrity, even when opened,” Chef Lilienne says. “That’s a lot longer than uncorked bottles of red or white wine.”
You can add fortified wines at the end of your cooking. Try stirring some dry sherry into a shrimp bisque or pea soup, adding a sprinkle of madeira or marsala over caramelized onions or putting a drizzle of port over ripe strawberries.
Have fun cooking and experimenting with these recipes!
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Tips For Growing Plants From Seeds
Take a break from the harsh, cold winter with a trip to Merrifield Garden Center. As you browse through our vast selection of flower, vegetable and herb seeds, you’ll start thinking about spring.
Just looking at all the pretty pictures of colorful blooms, ripe veggies and aromatic herbs will help you forget about all the snow … at least for the moment.
Growing some of your own annuals, vegetables and herbs from seed offers some advantages to purchasing transplants later in the season. One is in selection. Merrifield Garden Center offers a huge and exciting selection of garden seeds, including new hybrids, heirloom varieties and organically produced seeds. This gives you the opportunity to try some plants that may not be otherwise available.
Another is cost. For just a few dollars, you can purchase lots of seed. So growing from seed can save you money. All you need to do is invest a little time and effort in growing the plants to transplant size.
And perhaps the biggest reason to grow plants from seed isn’t tangible. It’s simply the amazing experience of watching small, barely visible seeds mature into plants that can be used to feed your family or brighten your life with showy flowers.
Growing from seed is easy and available to anyone of any age. Here are some tips to get started and some common mistakes to avoid:
Common Mistake Number One: Planting too early. The seedlings may outgrow their indoor containers while the weather is still too cold to move them into the garden.
Many seeds can be started indoors to get an early start for this spring. Generally speaking, planting time is six to eight weeks before the last spring frost. So gardeners in our region will start planting in late February through March. Read the seed package for specific instructions on when to start planting.
Fill starting trays or pots with moist Jiffy Seed Starting Mixture and gently press the seed into the starter mix - and then lightly cover with more starter mix.
Check on your seeds daily to see that the starter mix is moist. It should feel like a damp sponge. Gently water whenever it begins to dry. Keeping the seeds covered with a humidity dome can reduce the frequency of watering.
Common Mistake Number Two: Insufficient light. Seedlings need very bright light to grow into healthy transplants. If you don’t have sufficient sunlight, invest in a fluorescent lamp with plant lights. This can be placed within a few inches of the seedlings and left on for 12 to 14 hours each day.
As the new seeds begin to sprout and the first true leaves begin to appear, remove the humidity dome and continue to keep them moist. You can also begin fertilizing with a dilute mix of liquid kelp. It’s important that the seedlings have very bright light to keep them compact and sturdy.
Common Mistake Number Three: Moving plants outdoors too soon. You must allow some time for young transplants to acclimate to the outdoor environment. Otherwise, sunburn and windburn may injure or kill the plants.
When the seedlings are 2” to 4” tall, they’re ready to move outdoors. The seedlings are tender and must be gradually introduced to life outdoors. Place them in a sheltered location away from direct sun or windy conditions at first. As they “harden off” and adapt to outdoor life, they can be planted in their permanent home in your garden.
Make this the year to involve the entire family with gardening. There’s no better opportunity than right now to plant some seeds and there’s no place better than Merrifield Garden Center to help you get started
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Winter Storm Damage: We've received many calls from our customers who have trees and shrubs that have been damaged from our record snowfall. Some tall, screening evergreens and hedges are leaning precariously or lying flat on the ground. And some weeping Japanese maples have been split by the weight of the snow. Don’t worry - our tree specialists can take care of the repair.
Merrifield Garden Center is ready to help with advice and hands-on assistance. Our expert staff can come to your home or business to determine the condition of your plants and find out what needs to be done. For some trees, pruning may be all that’s necessary. Some leaning trees may be able to be straightened and staked. Broken branches should be repaired or removed as soon as possible.
From towering elms and oaks to stylish Japanese maples and boxwood, our tree pruning professionals can remove any damaged or unwanted limbs. Our plant specialists are now pruning, staking and in some cases removing plants for many of our customers.
In addition, our professional snow removal and asphalt crews can take away large piles of snow or fix potholes in your driveway or parking lot. If you need help with any of these projects, please call us at 703-560-6222.
Orchids: The cool temperatures of winter bring many of our favorite orchids into full bloom. Depending on the type of orchid, you can expect color to last four to 12 weeks. When flowering has stopped, reduce watering and fertilizing for about four to six weeks to allow for a rest period. Then resume normal watering and fertilize every one to two weeks with Jacks Classic Orchid 7-5-6.
Splash of Color: Even though it’s not quite spring, you can still add a little color to your landscape with hellebores, witchhazel, winterhazel, heather and primrose.
Plan Your Garden: Whether you work with one of our award-winning designers or handle the design yourself, now is a great time to start planning your garden so you’re ready when the spring planting season arrives. To learn about the different ways we can help, please call 703-560-6222 or visit us at MerrifieldGardenCenter.com.
Houseplants: It’s time to start feeding houseplants again with indoor plant food, such as Jack’s Classic (water-soluble powder), Osmocote (slow-release granular) or Bayer Advanced 2-in-1 Insect Control Plus Fertilizer, which protects your potted plants as well as feeds them.
Birds: Make sure to continue feeding the birds in your landscape as natural food sources can be scarce at this time of year. Water is also important for birds. If you have a birdbath, be sure to use a de-icer to prevent the water from freezing.
Preventative Spraying: Now is a great time to spray fruit trees, roses and other trees and shrubs with a dormant spray. A dormant spray should be applied when the temperature is above 40 degrees and there is no rain for the next 12 hours. Dormant sprays are recommended if your plants had a problem the previous year. Since some dormant sprays are for insects, such as Dormant Oil; others are for diseases, such as Lime Sulfur; and others combine the two; we suggest that you speak with one of our Plant Specialists about the appropriate control for your particular plants.
Keep Bambi at Bay: Hungry deer can be a problem in some areas, but there are ways to prevent them from damaging your plants. Visit Merrifield Garden Center and speak with one of our Plant Specialists to learn about various control strategies that can work for you.
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