Resources for Garden & Landscape Design

Title Available As Summary Date ID Author
Container and Raised-Bed Gardening Nov 5, 2018 426-020
Jardinería en macetas y camas elevadas (Container and Raised Bed Gardening) May 11, 2023 426-020s (SPES-428P)
Rain Garden Plants
A rain garden is a landscaped area specially designed to collect rainfall and storm-water runoff. The plants and soil in the rain garden clean pollutants from the water as it seeps into the ground and evaporates back into the atmosphere. For a rain garden to work, plants must be selected, installed, and maintained properly.
Dec 21, 2018 426-043 (SPES-57P)
Backyard Wildlife Habitats Oct 28, 2020 426-070 (SPES-247P)
The Effect of Landscape Plants on Perceived Home Value Nov 5, 2018 426-087
Patriotic Gardens: How to Plant a Red, White and Blue Garden Jul 9, 2020 426-210 (HORT-185)
America's Anniversary Garden: A Statewide Corridor and Entrance Enhancement Program Jul 9, 2020 426-211 (HORT-186P)
Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant Jan 21, 2020 426-331 (SPES-170P)
Guía para cultivar una huerta de hortalizas en Virginia: Fechas de cultivo y cantidades recomendadas para plantar (Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant) Jan 21, 2020 426-331 (SPES-170P)
Intensive Gardening Methods Nov 5, 2018 426-335
Métodos de huerta intensiva (Intensive Gardening Methods)
El objetivo de la jardinería intensiva es cosechar la mayor cantidad posible de productos en un espacio limitado. Las huertas más tradicionales constan de largas hileras de hortalizas muy separadas entre sí. Gran parte de la superficie de la huerta está ocupada por el espacio entre las hileras. Una huerta intensiva minimiza el espacio desperdiciado. La práctica de la huerta intensiva no es solo para los que tienen un espacio limitado en el jardín; más bien, una huerta intensiva concentra sus esfuerzos de trabajo para crear un entorno ideal para las plantas, lo que brinda mejores rendimientos.
Aug 1, 2023 426-335s (SPES-427P)
Vegetable Gardening in Containers
If you don’t have space for a vegetable garden or if your present site is too small, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers. A window sill, patio, balcony, or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden. Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes, or poor soil can also be overcome by switching to container gardening.
Sep 16, 2020 426-336 (SPES-255P)
Minimum Chemical Gardening
Home gardeners often use more pesticides per square foot in their gardens than farmers do in the fields, thinking that if a little is good, more will be better. This is a serious mistake and a serious misuse of pesticides. This publication will take the reader through different ways to manage home gardens using integrated pest management strategies, including using cultural and biological control methods for pests. It provides the reader with proven ways to manage pests responsibly by using the least amount of naturally derived or man-made pesticides possible.
Jun 12, 2023 426-366 (SPES-503P)
Selecting Landscape Plants: Rare and Unusual Trees
There are many tree species that can be successfully grown in Virginia, but are rarely seen in our landscapes. Although not ordinarily recommended or readily available, these trees may be useful to carry out a specific landscape theme, to substitute for an exotic type which is not locally adapted, or may be prized for unusual form, flowers, fruits, bark, or foliage.
May 19, 2021 426-604 (SPES-320P)
Selecting Landscape Plants: Flowering Trees May 19, 2021 426-611 (SPES-321P)
Creating a Water-Wise Landscape Feb 2, 2021 426-713 (HORT-200P)
The Value of Landscaping
Landscaping is an integral part of our culture and plays an essential role in the quality of our environment, affecting our economic well-being and our physical and psychological health. If we are to keep our communities strong and prosperous, we must take responsibility for our environment.
Sep 23, 2022 426-721 (SPES-404)
Small Fruit in the Home Garden
As a general rule, plant selection and production area in a home garden should be limited to what you can properly care for. It is better to have a small, welltended planting area rather than a large, neglected one. Small fruits offer certain advantages over fruit trees for home culture because small fruits require less space for the amount of fruit produced, and they bear fruit one or two years after planting. Success with small-fruit planting will depend on the attention given to all phases of production, including crop and variety selection, site selection, soil management, fertilization, pruning, and pest management.
May 5, 2022 426-840 (SPES-399P)
How to Plan for and Plant Streamside Conservation Buffers with Native Fruit and Nut Trees and Woody Floral Shrubs Aug 30, 2018 ANR-69P (CNRE-27P)
ENERGY SERIES: What about Landscaping and Energy Efficiency?
The design and management of a landscape can have a notable impact on household energy consumption. Throughout the history of civilization, people have altered their dwellings and landscapes to make them more comfortable and energy efficient.
Jul 1, 2020 BSE-145NP(BSE-334NP)
Woodland Health Practices Handbook Dec 13, 2022 CNRE-109NP
Woodland Health Practices - A Field Guide May 26, 2023 CNRE-164NP
Economic Pests of Turfgrass Dec 16, 2022 ENTO-237NP
Organic vs. Conventional (Synthetic) Pesticides: Advantages and Disadvantages Jun 24, 2020 ENTO-384NP
Food Safety For School and Community Gardens: A Handbook for Beginning and Veteran Garden Organizers
Creating and maintaining community and school gardens has been identified as an effective strategy to increase healthy food awareness and consumption. Unfortunately, fresh fruits and vegetables have been linked to more than 450 outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. since 1990. In commercial food production, employing a set of risk-reduction steps — known as good agricultural practices (GAPs) — has been pointed to by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the best prevention against foodborne, illness-causing pathogens.
May 29, 2013 FST-60P (FST-296)
Vertical Gardening Using Trellises, Stakes, and Cages Dec 12, 2022 HORT-189NP (SPES-450NP)
Care Sheet for Sabal minor or “Dwarf Palmetto” in Virginia Landscapes May 29, 2019 HORT-60NP (SPES-137NP)
Therapeutic Gardening Dec 12, 2022 HORT-66NP (SPES-432NP)
Selecting Plants for Virginia Landscapes: Showy Flowering Shrubs
This publication features small, medium, and large flowering shrubs (five of each category) with photos. All photos are by the author. There are at least eight shrubs from each category noted in a table (without photos) at the end of this publication. All shrubs — featured or in the table — are landscape worthy and are especially suited to landscapes in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic States.
Jul 30, 2020 HORT-84P
Kitchen Garden Presentation by Henrico Master Gardeners Jul 14, 2020 SPES-225NP
How To Plant A Tree Jul 14, 2020 SPES-226NP
Container Production of Herbaceous Peonies: Information for Greenhouse and Nursery Operators Oct 26, 2022 SPES-388P
Comparison of Raised Bed Methods, Materials, and Costs Sep 29, 2022 SPES-425NP
Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook Jun 8, 2023 SPES-504NP