Meet Ellen Paquette, a Loudoun County Master Gardener

Meet Ellen Paquette, a Loudoun County Master Gardener. Trained by Virginia Tech and working as volunteers, Master Gardeners educate Loudoun citizens about safe, effective and sustainable landscape management practices. 

Key takeaways:

• Master Gardeners work in accordance with the Loudoun County Cooperative Extension office. 
  
  

• They provide research-based horticultural information to the community at large. 
  
  
• They have a help-desk, conduct garden clinics and offer horticultural advice such as helping identify plants and how to help diseased plants. 
  
  
• There is a demonstration garden in Ida Lee Park (in Leesburg, VA). They also present information to children in elementary schools and libraries. 
  
  
• Initiatives such as the “My Back Yard” program and the “Healthy Virginia Lawn” program help people deal with conservation issues, such as erosion. 
  
  
• For the Fall season: remove any dying flowers and plants from flower beds. They can be replaced with cooler weather options such as asters, mums, oriental cabbage and kale. Be sure to clean up fallen leaves and mulch appropriate areas.  
  
  
• A note about your lawn: if you have warm season grass, it is brown by Thanksgiving. If you have cool season grass, Fall is the perfect time to fertilize.
  
  
• Loudoun Master Gardeners can send to Virginia Tech samples of your soil so you will know what your lawn needs and how to fertilize it effectively.