Yard & Garden

The 2025 Maryland State Fair is back for three weekends of fun! The dates are August 21-24, August 28- September 1, and September 4-7. 

The 2025 Maryland State Fair is back for three weekends of fun! The dates are August 21-24, August 28- September 1, and September 4-7. 

The 2025 Maryland State Fair is back for three weekends of fun! The dates are August 21-24, August 28- September 1, and September 4-7. 

Note: One Zoom link will cover all four sessions.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any event or activity, please contact the educator, Dr. Henley, on or before May 8th, 2025, at shenley@umd.edu

Herbs are easy to grow for beginning gardeners and they taste delicious. Join Harford County Master Gardeners to discover best practices on adding herbs to your garden. Each person attending must register prior to the program.

Get ready to dive into the fascinating world of Maryland’s native bees! Join Madeline Potter, UME Faculty Specialist for Entomology & IPM, for this interactive webinar where we will explore the critical role native bees play in sustaining native plants and resilient landscapes, while spotlighting the diversity and unique stories of our local pollinators. Learn how to support a variety of native bee species by creating bee-friendly habitats—from planting diverse natives to leaving bare ground and stems, minimizing pesticides, and offering clean water sources. Along the way, we will share train-the-trainer tips to help educators inspire others to take action for native bees. Whether you’re a pollinator advocate or just bee-curious, this session will leave you buzzing with ideas to make a meaningful impact in your greenspace and community!

Get ready to celebrate National Pollinator Week (June 16-22, 2025)! Join Madeline Potter, UME Faculty Specialist for Entomology & IPM, for an interactive session to equip you with tools, resources, and creative outreach strategies to support pollinator-themed education during National Pollinator Week. We’ll explore ideas for engaging community events and activities, walk through planning tips, and collaborate in a brainstorming session to spark inspiration. Bring your ideas and let’s build impactful, pollinator-friendly programming together!

Have you noticed something odd about crape myrtles in your area? Have you heard of the invasive crapemyrtle bark scale? Join Madeline Potter, UME Faculty Specialist for Entomology & IPM, to learn about a spreading invasive insect that is impacting many crape myrtles throughout Maryland. During this engaging, science-based session we will bust common myths, learn how to spot crapemyrtle bark scale in the landscape, and talk through sustainable management strategies. We will also explore how this pest ties into the bigger picture of biodiversity and building healthier, more resilient landscapes. Bring your questions—this will be an interactive webinar with Q&A and a hands-on brainstorming activity to help you create outreach tools and strategies for effectively informing your communities about invasive insect pests.

You’ll learn which crops to select, where to get seeds, when to time your planting and techniques to help you produce bountiful and healthy seedlings. Both indoor and outdoor seed starting techniques are explained. You’ll learn about common problems with seed starting and how to avoid them.

This lecture will help you decide what to grow and how to get started, either by starting your plants from seeds or acquiring established plants. It also will discuss caring for your garden, yourself, and the critters that you may encounter.