Native plants are sometimes seen as "messy" and "wild" which can dissuade gardeners from adding more native plants to their garden. Utilizing just a pair of pruners, Chelsea Ruiz will teach you how horticulturalists garden in public and private gardens to maintain high standards of aesthetics while caring for and respecting native flora and fauna. We will be going over the four cuts: deadheading, cutting back, the Chelsea chop (no relation, I swear!), and staggering bloom times. Each mode will be explained to determine why, how, and when they are done and what plants can receive this care so you may better enjoy your native plants in your home gardens. We will also review other strategies to help you choose the best plants for your space to minimize future intervention.
Perfect Performance for Native Plants: Manage your native perennials through strategic maintenance
Part of VCE Loudoun Master Gardener's Free Lecture Series
Thursday, February 15, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Hosted by Loudoun County Public Library
Event Details:
View the Event: Event URL
Password: LCPL
Speaker Bio:
Chelsea Ruiz is a horticulturist and garden writer based in Virginia. She received her bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and trained in fine gardening at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Longwood Gardens. With a background in plant trials and research evaluation, she trialed native plants for a wholesale native plant nursery. Her experience in garden writing came from necessity - the need to communicate truth over tropes to nursery customers on how their plants grow in various challenging settings. Her garden writing aims to provide facts and realistic experiences to empower gardeners to make informed decisions in their landscapes. She communicates her work as a guest writer for native plant blogs and has been featured in trade publications. Currently, Chelsea is a historical estate gardener with her husband and their dog on a 5,000-acre property with woodland, grassland, and estuary. In addition to caring for 10 acres of formal garden space, she is beginning the lifelong work of converting degraded pasture back to native grasslands.
Perfect Performance for Native Plants (PDF)