NC State Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Cleveland County

Today, we extend our heartfelt thanks to our Founding Friends of the Dotty Leatherwood Botanical Gardens.

Your generosity, encouragement, and belief in this project are helping create a place that will inspire, educate, and bring joy for generations to come.

View the incredible list of Founding Friends here: https://leatherwoodgardens.org/rooted-in-support

NC State Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Cleveland County will be at Kings Mountain Farmers' Market this Saturday! Make sure you stop by and learn more about our Pollinators!

Did you know that June is National Pollinator Month? Join us this Saturday to celebrate the important role of pollinators in our local ecology and food systems!

The NC State Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Cleveland County will be with us to share their expertise and educational resources. Pictured here are two beloved Master Gardeners - Judy & Joe - during our season opening butterfly release!

See you this Saturday, 8am - 12pm, at 313 S. Battleground Ave. Kings Mtn, NC! 🧡❤️💚

Thinking with all the tomato plants we sold at our Plant Sale, someone needs to know this! 🍅🍅🍅

𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐞𝐬 – 𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞?

Pruning helps maintain a balance between vegetative (leaves and stems) and reproductive (flowers and fruits) growth and improves airflow. Removing the lower leaves (6 – 12”) helps prevent soil-borne diseases from splashing up when raindrops splatter. Pruning early damaged or diseased leaves or branches is also essential for the health of the plant. Remove tomato clippings and do not allow them to drop at the base of the plant which could. contribute to further disease.

Beyond removing lower leaves, determinate, or bush varieties, require little pruning. They grow to about 3-4 feet and then set large numbers of fruit in a relatively short time on clusters between leaves and the end of stems. Branches that form between the main stem and leaves can be removed to improve airflow but this is less important in determinate varieties than indeterminate.

Indeterminate tomatoes will continue to grow as long as the plant is healthy and may reach eight or more feet long and produce fruit until the first frost.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐞𝐬?

• 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 – if the plants outgrow their support, the main stems may break. Pruning suckers will prevent the plant from becoming too heavy.
• 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 – Pruning to maintain one or two main stems allows closer spacing so more plants can be grown.
• 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 – Plants that grow into a dense, crowded cluster will be at risk for disease.
• 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 (except cherry) – Limiting the number of fruits allows the remaining fruit to grow larger.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞?

• 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 – these are the stems growing at a 45-degree angle between the main stem and the leaf stem. Suckers should be removed when they are small, no more than two to four inches in length. Allowing them to grow larger wastes plant resources.
• 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥. Clean and disinfect pruning shears between plants with a dilute 10% solution of bleach.
• 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 to achieve your objective – suckers become new main stems, and flower clusters grow off the main stems. Removing too many suckers will reduce production.

Dotty Leatherwood Botanical Gardens continues to grow! Thanks to everyone who has been involved in this endeavor from the inception and will continue to support as the garden continues to transpire.

Please join us on July 6th at 11:00 to hear our Guest Speaker, Preston Montague. This part of our meeting will be open to the General Public. Make plans to join us!

Wild Herb Weekend early registration is open!

Wild Herb Weekend is right around the corner! 😍🌿 Have you registered yet?!

We have some amazing classes this year. ✨Let’s talk about one of the first classes on Friday: ⬇️

Pressing plants for fun and Creating a Plant Voucher by Craig Mauney.

This workshop will be lecture and hands on for pressing plants and flowers for creating art pieces, book marks, cards and requirements to make a plant voucher for your herb sales. We will cover how to harvest, layer, and dry flowers/foliage to retain color and shape as well as materials needed, and how to complete a botanical print/voucher.

We are excited to hang with you and the plants! Register below for a relaxing weekend⬇️⬇️⬇️

https://www.ncherbassociation.org/earlybirdregistration

Mosquitoes love me. How about you? Interesting article. Let’s go outside and make sure there’s no standing water for them to breed in! 🦟🦟🦟

Mosquito Management: A Great Neighborhood Project - Gardening | NC State Extension Image from Pixabay, COO Few things can spoil time in the garden faster than mosquitoes. Beyond being a nuisance, these biting insects can also spread disease, making their management an important…