Author: Mary Petres
Hello fellow gardeners, we are deep in the throes of summer in RVA and we wanted to take a second to cover some basics on watering! It sounds easy enough, you set the irrigation system or turn on the sprinkler and walk away, right? Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that, especially when working with young or newly transplanted plants.
Because there is no hard and fast watering rule that applies to all plants,
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Author: Anna Aquino, Co-chair Bee City USA Richmond
Capital Trees is doing better by bugs! Together with community members and partners (Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities, and the four Richmond clubs of the Garden Club of Virginia), we are co-sponsoring Bee City USA Richmond, an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.(1) Bee Cities commit to implement the following principles and practices
Author: Anna Aquino
The ecological functions of dead and decaying trees are beyond compare.
Great news! There is life after death. That dead tree in the backyard supports more life than the living one next to it, lots more. It is probably the most underappreciated feature in the natural world. Birds, mammals, reptiles, bats, tree frogs, native bees, depend on dead and decaying trees. They raise their families in them, store food in them,
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Author: Lisa Trapp
For many of us, the first insect that caught our attention and was easily identifiable was the butterfly. They’re commonly spotted as they float from flower to flower, or meander through the air down a forest path or nature trail. Night owls might be more fascinated with their evening counterparts, moths. There are at least 125,000 species of Lepidoptera (the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths) worldwide and 12,000 species just in North America.
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Written by: Anna Aquino
How many monarch butterflies did you see last summer? When you turn on your porch light do moths flutter to and fro? Is night time illuminated with yellow lightning bug squiggles to the delight of children, and the child in all of us? When was the last time a bug splattered on your windshield (this one has a name it’s called the “windshield phenomenon”).(1) If you’re of a certain age you will have noticed these missing little creatures,
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Author: Lisa Trapp
Spring is officially here in Richmond and it seems like most of the chilly weather is behind us. The flowers are blooming and pollinators can be seen floating from plant to plant and humming through early garden blooms. With the gardens slowly waking up, there is also the undeniable pull and peer pressure from neighbors to get out the lawn mower and cut back the grass. For pollinator lovers though,
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Author: Lisa Trapp
Let’s talk a little bit about the history of Capital Trees! Beyond being a woman founded organization, Capital Trees has deep roots in the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV). Each of our original founders came from four area garden clubs, Boxwood, James River, Three Chopt, and Tuckahoe, all affiliated clubs of the GCV. Last week was Historic Garden Week and it always feels fitting to reflect on our foundation during this time.
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Author: Lisa Trapp
We have highlighted a number of showy native plants on our website, Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata), Aromatic Aster (Symphotrichum oblongifolium), and Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) just to name a few. But there are some wonderful species that do not have the immediate “wow factor” and are still well worth admiring.
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Author: Anna Aquino
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you are a bee, a messy mixed species lawn is your Mona Lisa.
Who doesn’t like the look of a finely trimmed lawn? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you are a bee, a messy mixed species lawn is your Mona Lisa. Lawn, whether a manicured monoculture or a “natural” one,
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Author: Shelly Barrick Parsons, Executive Director
Capital Trees is committed to the best practices in sustainable management of public landscapes. To strengthen our knowledge and practice, Lisa Trapp (Program and Outreach Manager) and I are seeking certification as Level 1 Chesapeake Bay Professional Landscape Professionals through the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Council (1)(2). This certification is for anyone working in conservation landscaping including private and public landscapes. The certification process includes two days of virtual classes,
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