Central Maryland Research and Education Center
Summer, 2013
Bay-Wise Master
Gardener Update
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From:
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Date:
Greetings
Bay-Wise Master Gardeners and MG Coordinators, Mike Ensor; Naima Jenkins-El;
Katie Dott; Herb Reed; Steve Allgeier; Doris Behnke; Elizabeth Solis-McGurry;
Sudeep Mathew; Susan Trice; Joyce Browning; Georgia Eacker; Esther Mitchell;
Hilary Ennis; Jennifer Horton; Michaela Boley; Annette Ipsan; Ginny Rosenkranz;
Robin Hessey and Jon Traunfeld
Wanda MacLachlan
Bay-Wise Update
July 2013
What an interesting first half of the year we’ve had.
This winter, the temperature repeatedly went from
one extreme to the other within the span of a few
days, which caused many plants to begin their
growth earlier than usual – that is – if they could
withstand the fluctuations between the snow or ice
events and the warm spells. Now we are in the
middle of summer and the rains have been
abundant. Depending on your selection, you may
be having a huge harvest or a disease disaster in
the vegetable garden. And you are probably still
mowing your lawn at least once a week even
though it’s summer and the lawn is supposed to go
into its semi-dormant period. Isn’t that just one
more reason to reduce the amount of unneeded
lawn in your landscape?
Certified Landscapes
According to my records, sixteen new Bay-Wise
Master Gardener landscapes have been certified as
demonstration sites since our last newsletter. This
includes four (yea, Barbara, Margaret, Dedra and
Lucy) who just completed the Bay-Wise advanced
training this spring!
Listed in the following chart are those that have
recently had their landscapes certified. Added to
the list are those who somehow fell through the
cracks in past reports. Congratulations to all, for
your landscape certifications.
(410) 531-5973  (301) 596-9478  FAX (410) 531-5567  WTM@umd.edu
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT  11975 HOMEWOOD ROAD  ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND 21042-1545
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LOCAL GOVERNMENTS  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COOPERATING
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS
Page 2 of 14
2013 Certified Landscapes Between 1/1 & 6/30/13
(alphabetized by last name)
First Name
Last Name
County
B-W Training
Demo
Meg
Algren
Baltimore
3/21/2011
6/5/2013
Cindi
Barnhart
Charles
10/17/2012
2/11/2013
Michele
Brown
Anne Arundel
3/26/2011
5/6/2013
Marie "Lucy"
Burnett
Washington
3/11/2013
5/24/2013
Anne
Gillespie
Charles
4/23/2009
6/1/2013
Margaret
Hindman
Frederick
3/11/2013
6/29/2013
David
Lewis
Charles
10/17/2012
6/1/2013
Janet
McGrane
Charles
4/23/2009
6/1/2013
Linda
Ebersole
Washington
5/11/2010
5/24/2013
Patsy
Pahr
Baltimore
3/10/2012
4/18/2013
Dedra
Salitrik
Frederick
3/11/2013
4/25/2013
Carla
Smith
Baltimore City
3/10/2010
3/22/2013
Ellen
Tacie
Harford
3/16/2009
5/6/2013
Anne
Vachalek
St. Mary's
10/17/2012
6/10/2013
Germaine
Vadas
Harford
10/19/1999
6/19/2013
Barbara
Walker
Carroll
4/27/2013
5/16/2013
Bay-Wise Advanced Trainings
Since our last newsletter, we’ve conducted three
Bay-Wise Advanced Training sessions this spring
and graduated 53 new Bay-Wise Master
Gardeners. Fourteen Bay-Wise Master Gardeners
returned for a refresher course.
In March, Frederick and Washington Counties
combined groups and concluded its training on
3/11/13 with 19 new and 4 returning Master
Gardeners. Congratulations to Marie "Lucy"
Burnett, Linda Ebersole, Gary Fulmer, Debbie
Green, Peggy Hardinge, Deb Intveldt, and Sandy
Shay from Washington and Suzanne Bailey,
Benjamin Downing, Suzanne Hill, Margaret
Hindman, Daniel Kuebbing, Margie Lance, Betsy
Mahmassani, Jann Rabin, Geni Rhoten, Dedra
Salitrik, Donna Scherer, Karen Sheahan from
Frederick Counties, for becoming Bay-Wise Master
Gardeners.
Our second training this spring started off with a
bang in Carroll County and concluded at the end of
April with a group of 15 brand new Bay-Wise
Master Gardeners representing two different
counties. Congratulations to Carolyn Gonzalez and
Lynda McClary from Baltimore and Beverly
Blatchford, Peggy Dash, Elizabeth Francies, Terry
Heinard, Connie Hoge, Bill Palm, Carolyn Puckett,
Christa Pusateri, Sharon Row, Linda L. Smith,
Page 3 of 14
Linda Junkins Smith, Stewart Smith, and Barbara
Walker from Carroll Counties. They were joined by
five veteran Bay-Wise MGs, who came for a review
of the course.
And finally, May ushered in the newest group of
Bay-Wise Master Gardeners as Howard County
hosted the training for 24 people: Barbara Corak
from Baltimore and Sid Abel, Linda Bussey, Joe
DiGiavanni, Ann Coren, Richard Freas, Judy Fulton,
Gaye Holcomb, Pat Hooker, Molly McElwae,
Deborah Patton, Kent Phillips, Anne Rivera,
Barbara Schmeckpeper, Fran Shellenberger,
Barbara Smith, Beth Blum Spiker, Sue Stevens and
Ann Vieth from Howard Counties, plus five vet who
wanted to catch up on the latest info.
Congratulations to all.
Bay-Wise Statistics
Thank you to each and every Master Gardener who
has taken the Bay-Wise advanced training. Since
the beginning of the program in 1996, you have
certified a total of 1,056 client landscapes and 118
non-residential landscapes. In addition, 476 of you
have had your landscapes certified as
demonstration sites (of which 396 are still
maintained as such)!
To date, we have trained a total of 1,079 Master
Gardeners as Bay-Wise and 315 of you are still
actively participating on your local committees.
News From the Counties:
Anne Arundel
Dr. Herb Reed explains the hydrologic cycle in Howard County
Upcoming Advanced Trainings
As of press time, there are no Bay-Wise advanced
training sessions scheduled for the rest of the year.
Future trainings will be posted on our website.
Look for the link in the top right corner. To
schedule an advanced training for your county,
assemble a group of at least 20 Master Gardeners
(don’t forget you can work with other counties to
reach your minimum of 20 attendees), select three
training dates and a venue and then contact
Wanda MacLachlan to work out a schedule.
Co-chairs, Jim MacNicholl and Robin Gill, are
pleased that their committee has grown to 27.
They’ve certified 16 landscapes since the beginning
of this year including one Bay-Wise demo site and
seven belonging to Master Gardeners. They have
four additional ongoing consultations that will
probably lead to certifications soon. Jim and Robin
additionally report, “Sharon Schroer and Robin Gill
presented to the Anchorage Home and Garden
Club, Four Rivers Garden Club, Naval Academy
Garden Club and Shipley’s Choice Garden Club for a
total of 117 contacts. Already, we visited and
certified some of these club members’ yards and
expect to visit many more this summer.
“Sharon Schroer and Jim MacNicholl spoke before a
group of 24 at Johns Hopkins University. The BayWise presentation was part of a multi-session
course sponsored by the “Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute”. Harry Caldwell organized this course
and invited our participation for the class “The
Chesapeake Bay: Past, Present and Future.”
“Robin Gill in conjunction with the Watershed
Stewards Academy spoke before a group of
homeowners from the community, “Fairwinds on
the Severn”. As a result of the meeting, several
neighbors have already expressed interest in having
Page 4 of 14
the Bay-Wise Committee visit their yards. We are
working with leaders from the community to plan
several group certification days in September. We
will work to gather 10 - 12 volunteers for both days,
and for each team of two we will certify two yards
for a total of 10-12 yards per day. Watershed
Stewards plan to work with the community on
Stormwater management projects in conjunction
with our Bay-Wise certification program for the
individual residents.
“We are continuing to grow our working
relationship and partner with community
organizations like the Watershed Stewards
Academy at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education
Center in an effort to educate residents about their
personal responsibility for cleaning up the Bay.”
Robin Gill, also a member of a local garden club, is
diligently spearheading a project with other
Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland in
surrounding counties to spread the Bay-Wise
message. She has been contacting clubs (as well as
Bay-Wise committees in Calvert, Charles, Prince
George's and St. Mary's Counties) to arrange
presentations for garden club members. These
presentations have led/will lead to additional
landscape certifications. Good job, Robin!
client sites (including 5 belonging to Master
Gardeners) and 1 non-residential site.
Since the first of the year, their team gave
presentations to three different garden clubs
(Stoneleigh, Lake Roland and Wiltondale) reaching
49 people, one to Arbutus Middle School for a class
of 35, and one to 26 attendees at Our Lady of
Grace Church. They reached an additional 92
residents through presentations at Marshy Point
Nature Center and the MD Home & Garden Show.
Carolyn and Leslie also inform us: “The Baltimore
County Bay-Wise program has been greatly
enriched by its partnership with the Gunpowder
Valley Conservancy’s Clear Creeks program in the
Middle River and Tidal Gunpowder watersheds. The
project has taken us into a part of our county with
no Master Gardener presence, much less Bay-Wise.
The certification of a county Nature Center (Marshy
Point) in that area has added further to exposure
for B-W in the bayside parts of the county. Six of
our 15 certifications in the last half year has been a
part of this project.
Baltimore City
Co-Chairs, Gail Ritscher and Cathy Thompson
share that their committee of 9 has certified one
demo and 8 client landscapes, all belonging to
Master Gardeners. They also certified two nonresidential sites, including the Waldorf School of
Baltimore and the James Street Park. Additionally,
they are working with five other clients that should
lead to more certifications soon.
Baltimore County
Co-Chairs, Leslie Erickson and Carolyn Vane inform
us that while they have 44 members listed, 15 of
them are very active. The committee has certified a
total of 16 landscapes in the past six months. These
include one Bay-Wise demo site, 13 residential
We have done some major reorganization of our
committee, now that we have a sizable group.
Subcommittee chairs handle organizing
certifications and coordinating presentations. Thus
the work of the co-chairs becomes more
manageable!”
Page 5 of 14
Calvert
Long-time and faithful Chair, Judy Kay, has a loyal
committee of 19 members. She informs us that the
committee made a Bay-Wise presentation to 38
garden club members in January which resulted in
a certification. Another talk to 8 attendees in May
will hopefully generate additional certifications.
Meanwhile, the committee certified three client
landscape sites between March and the end of
June of this year.
Judy also reports, “After the Bay-Wise presentation
to the Calvert Garden Club, we have visited and
certified one yard and are working on scheduling
other yard visits. We are also working with the
leaders of the CGC to encourage more of their
members to participate in keeping with the goal of
the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland's
promotion of the environmental aspects of
gardening and the Master Gardener Bay-Wise
program.”
Middle School students and 300 residents during
the Cecil County Wade-in.
Doris reports, “Cecil County is actively working on
building our Bay-wise Committee. Many of our
recently trained Master Gardeners are interested in
taking the Advanced Bay-wise Training as a way to
help build our Committee and be able to certify
landscapes.
Karen Rita and I recently participated in the Annual
Wade-In event held at the Elk Neck State Park
which is an event about water quality where over
300 people participated in the festivities. At this
event, several interested homeowners picked up a
yardstick to evaluate their yards and we are being
hopeful that most of these homeowners will
contact us for certification.
Carroll
Chair, Marilyn Phillips, and her committee of 10
certified one site belonging to a Bay-Wise Master
Gardener and is, hence, a demo site. Marilyn’s
report is as follows: “The Bay-Wise Committee
sponsored an Open House on June 8, at the Carroll
County Agriculture Center. Three other Carroll Co.
M. G. committees joined with Bay-Wise to present
a yard sale featuring plants and garden accessories.
Extension agent Virginia Brown demonstrated the
use of green cleaners at this event. Guided tours of
the Extension gardens were offered to the public.
M. G.'s from the Eldersburg Library Native Garden
were on hand to give advice on gardening with
native plants. It was estimated that about 125
people from the community attended the event.”
Cecil
Bay-Wise Master Gardener Chair, Doris Behnke,
reports that although their committee of 4 may be
small, they are doing great things. Since the
beginning of the year they’ve certified one client
site. They have also reached over 100 Elkton
Cecil County resident, David Segermark
I recently found out that I am being granted a
$1,000 Video Lottery Terminal Grant to promote
the Bay-wise Program in Cecil County. I submitted
for $500 for 50 signs and stakes, $100 for paper
copies, and $400 for travel reimbursement and I
have received the full funding- WOO HOO!
I will need to hold a Bay-wise training in Cecil
County for my Master Gardeners and it will need to
be held in the evenings and/or weekends because I
need the extra boots on the ground for us to use
the funding that I am being granted; I have 15
people interested in the training.”
Page 6 of 14
Charles
Co-chairs, Ronda Goldman and Jessica Milstead,
share that their committee of 29 members certified
one non-residential, one client and five demo sites.
An impressive client landscape certified belongs to
County Commissioner, Ken Robinson, who has a
few ideas for his county residents with regard to
the Bay-Wise program. According to Ronda, “The
Bay-Wise Program in Charles County is
experiencing exponential growth and publicity as
we prepare to take on new responsibilities within
the county. With the introduction of the new “rain
tax” many Charles County residents will feel the
$43 pinch of helping to keep our waterways safe.
Commissioner Ken Robinson, whom was Bay-Wise
certified in June, proposed the idea of the program
being one of the ways that residents can qualify for
a credit. He wrote a wonderful letter to the editor,
which has sparked new interests in the program
and has facilitated an uptick in requests for
certification and requests for becoming Bay-Wise
Master Gardeners. If passed, the commissioners
will use the Maryland Yardstick as the standard for
determining which residents qualify for the credit.
The staff is currently researching if there are other
components that can or should be included.
Commissioner Ken Robinson and his wife, Dr. Sheryl Elliott, after
receiving their Bay-Wise certification
“We are continuing to work with schools through
the Chef in the Gardener Project and Junior Master
Gardener: Wildlife Gardener program. Currently,
we are exploring writing curriculum for the Chef
Project in conjunction with the University of
Maryland. Once the curriculum is completed the
project will be offered to other schools with culinary
arts programs. The focus of the project is
designing, planting, and harvesting in a Bay-Wise
Kitchen Garden. We will continue to partner with
local chefs by providing “garden to table”
ingredients grown the old fashion way-bay friendly.
“JC Parks Elementary School is assessing their
curriculum standards in order to prepare their
science students for the Junior Master Gardener
Program. Upon the completion of the project the
students will “gain a greater understanding and
strengthen appreciation for the wildlife that is part
of their local community, enjoy novel, hands-on
project-based learning as they have fun gardening
for wildlife, and build components of wildlife
garden habitat.” This effort will empower students
to steward their local environments while taking
ownership of the communities that they will
eventually inherit.”
Frederick
Former Chair, Ruth Axelrod, has moved to New
Hampshire and has turned the reigns over to cochairs, Regina Irizarry, Jann Rabin, and Suzanne
Hill. Despite this transition, the Frederick County
Bay-Wise Master Gardeners have been very busy.
They’ve certified two demo, two client landscapes
and one non-residential landscape at Brunswick
Community Garden. Not counting the 2 hour
presentation on rain gardens as part of the 2013
Bay-Wise advanced training, this group has also
conducted 6 classes reaching 140 people. They also
• Participated in three public events that reached
over 600 attendees.
• Co-sponsored a newly-established
environmental event that reached over 100
individuals and resulted in two inquiries into
landscape certification and one request for
speaker to HOA.
• Reached 15+ youth and parents through Youth
Gardening Committee.
• Co-hosted Bay-Wise Advanced Training; 12
FCMGs and Interns newly-certified.
Page 7 of 14
•
•
•
Five landscapes, including one community
garden, certified.
Planted one rain garden, protecting Carroll
Creek, reducing erosion and stormwater runoff;
201 native plants installed.
Reached approx. 130 individuals through
presentations and seminars.
“Frederick County co-hosted Bay-Wise Advanced
Training (along with the Washington County UME
Office) in March. A total of 12 Frederick County
Master Gardeners and Interns completed the
classroom training. All have since completed their
field training and are now officially qualified to do
Bay-Wise Landscape Certifications.
One impact from their efforts was a site visit to
provide stormwater runoff mitigation/rain garden
information, native plant and general Bay-Wise
advice to HOA Board in suburban setting with 20
homes. Another is that they reached approximately
250 Facebook fans through social marketing,
through write-ups and photos of Bay-Wise
certifications; generated inquiries into certification
by the public.
Regina reports, “Bay-Wise Committee members
participated in the annual Ag Week event at Francis
Scott Key Mall, with displays and staffing. This
event, held February 18-23 (Saturday 2/23 was
Bay-Wise Day), and coordinated by the Master
Gardener Ag Week Committee, made over 550
contacts over the week-long period.
“Bay-Wise Master Gardeners co-sponsored the first
Frederick Green Neighbor Forum on March 2. This
event, coordinated by the Friends of Baker Park and
held at Hood College, “introduces homeowners and
business owners to practical steps we can take now
to improve our local environment, reduce storm
water runoff, make our back yards more hospitable
to local fauna, and more.” (Green Neighbor Forum
brochure.) Workshops covered such topics as “Why
We Care – How the Local Environment Affects the
Regional, State, and Coastal Environments,”
“Ecological Landscaping and Water Harvesting,”
and Where Our Water Goes.” Ruth Axelrod, Vice
Chair for Education, presented “Working with
Nature: Gardening for Beauty and the Bay.” The
event generated interest in our program, and
inquiries into the Landscape Certification process
and a request by the Foxfield Village HOA in
Middletown, MD for a presentation by Ruth. We
hope to continue our participation in this program
in the future.
Frederick County Master Gardeners constructing rain garden
Completed rain garden after rainstorm
“Over two days in April and May, Bay-Wise Master
Gardeners, along with the Demo Garden
Committee, installed a rain garden at the
Demonstration Gardens at the Frederick County
Extension Office at Montevue Lane. This rain
garden pre-treats a portion of the ‘first flush’ of
storm water that drains from approximately 9,000
ft2 of impervious paving and 580 ft2 of lawn from
the existing parking lot area to the lower
demonstration garden areas, and eventually to
Page 8 of 14
Carroll Creek, which is approximately 400 feet
downslope. The project was funded by the Frederick
County Office of Environmental Sustainability.
Thanks to the hard work of Master Gardener
volunteers, many of whom are Bay-Wise-trained,
sod and soil were excavated, and biomix, mulch,
river stone, and a total of 201 native shrubs,
grasses, ferns and perennials installed.
“Bay-Wise committee members participated in The
City of Frederick’s Beyond the Garden Gates Tour
on May 19th, with a tent and information table at
the South Frederick Arboretum. Per Special Events
Chair, Betsy Mahmassani, members provided tour
participants with information on what individual
homeowners can do to create beautiful landscapes
and contribute to the health of the larger
environment.
composting indoors with worm bins and outdoors,
native plants, and mason bees.
“Jann Rabin, Bay-Wise Vice-Chair for Landscape
Certifications, has begun posting photos and brief
write-ups of the most recent Bay-Wise landscape
certifications on the Frederick County Master
Gardeners Facebook page. The goal is to help
spread the word about the program and generate
interest in Bay-Wise practices. The succinct garden
descriptions help to illustrate the fact that BayWise Can Be Beautiful! You can read about Laura
Robinson's, Margaret Hindman's, Marianne
Wilburn's, Dedra Salitrik's, Alex Weise’s and Bill
Bugg’s landscapes right now, even if you're not on
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/mastergardenersfreder
ickcountymaryland”
Harford
“Bay-Wise committee members participated in the
annual Frederick County Master Gardener plant
sale on Saturday, April 27, with a Bay-Wise display
table and staffing. In addition to providing general
Bay-Wise information, we also helped customers
with native plant selection.
“Bay-Wise committee members have been assisting
the newly-formed and very active Master Gardener
Youth Gardening Committee this spring. Per Donna
Scherer, Youth Gardening Chair, a program for
children based on Bay-Wise principles is in the
planning stages. (A native hedge row walk for
scouts was planned in June, but cancelled due to
severe weather.) A June scavenger hunt for
preschoolers and parents promoted Bay-wise
practices, with a focus on attracting pollinators,
attracting birds and insects with homes,
Bay-Wise Master Gardener Chair, Joan Parris
informs us that they now have 23 members on
their committee. Since last report they have
certified 6 client (4 belonging to a local Master
Gardeners) landscapes. The committee busied
itself with 2 presentations reaching 87 residents.
They also participated in a local wade-in reaching
an additional 50 people (40 were youth). Joan
shares this impact: “One of our certifications was
for a teacher who works at Harford Glen – the
Harford County environmental center where 5th
graders spend a week every year. He is excited
about the Bay-Wise program and will be an
important advocate with parents and teachers at
the center.”
Joan also reports, “Harford County Bay-Wise
volunteers were busy this spring certifying gardens
– some of new interns and some of contacts from
the Farmer’s Market and Garden Series classes. In
addition, we had several special events. Joyce
Browning spoke to 75 participants at a Farm
Bureau breakfast. Joan Parris presented a program
on Bay-Wise gardening to 12 members of the
AAUW at Harford Community College. And we
participated again at the Anita Leight Wade-In,
Page 9 of 14
reaching 50 contacts at that event. Our farmer’s
market presence has increased this year – we are at
the Ask a MG booth twice a month, talking to
people about Bay-Wise gardening and encouraging
home-owners to have a garden certification.”
presentation, Georgia Eacker and Linda Decker
presented a Master Gardener view of the practices
homeowners could implement to mitigate the
impact of rain water from their impervious
surfaces.
Howard
Bay-Wise Master Gardener Chair, Linda Decker
reports that their committee grew from 28 to 35
within the past six months. They certified one nonresidential and three client landscapes and have 11
landscape consultations pending. The committee
has been very visible giving presentations to the
League of Women Voters (75 in attendance),
Patapsco Heritage Greenway (60), Howard County
Greenfest (over 2,000), Patapsco State Park Family
Fun Day (10), and Glen Mar Methodist Church (40).
Linda also shared, “We began the year with a series
of meetings with the Howard County Storm Water
Manager and the Director of Environmental
Sustainability. Faced with the challenge of Phase II
of the Watershed Implementation Plan, we agreed
that the mission of the Howard County Bay-Wise
Master Gardeners to educate and assist the public
with Bay-Wise Landscaping practices would
complement the county’s plan to offer credits for
landscape elements and practices that deal
effectively with storm water runoff. The county
approached us because of their respect for the
Master Gardener program and the success of
previous cooperative ventures. We put a task team
in place to review our Bay-Wise yardstick and
determine if it was sufficiently rigorous to
recommend that Certifications qualify for credits
against the Storm Water Utility fee. Rather than
alter a document that is used state-wide, we
elected to place additional restrictions on
certification and make mandatory those elements
dealing with run-off from impervious surfaces and
buffer plantings adjacent to streams or other
water.
“In April, the League of Women Voters invited the
key officials from the County to address their group
on the plans for WIP II. As a complement to their
Cecil County Master Gardener on the bay
“As implementation of the Storm Water Utility fee
became politically charged in the County, we
undertook to keep the entire Howard County
Master Gardener community apprised of
developments in the county’s plan for
implementation. Since many Master Gardeners
would be drawn into conversations with the public,
we wanted them to have accurate, apolitical
information so that they could explain what was
happening and why. Currently, implementation for
Howard County has been deferred until the end of
the year allowing more time to work on programs
for evaluating homeowner’s properties for
potential credits. We continue to stay in close
contact with the county.
“One outgrowth of the meetings with the county
was a larger role in the annual Howard County
GreenFest. "Saving the Environment One Yard at a
Time" was the theme of the event aimed to educate
the community about ways to be more
environmentally friendly. Over 100 vendors and
organizations filled the Howard County Galleria
with "green" products, educational advice,
awareness campaigns, giveaways and more. As
usual we had a Bay-Wise display and speakers that
participated in the programs. For the first time the
Page 10 of 14
Bay-Wise team organized a native plant sale. We
contacted vendors, arranged for outdoor space in
the quad, handled the set-up and tear down and
assisted the vendors. We set up our own booth at
the sale to provide information about native plants
and offer publications for sale. Altogether about
2000 residents of Howard County came to
GreenFest. Many interacted with our exhibitors
and speakers and many bought native plants to
take home. The county and the vendors were
enthusiastic about the success of the plant sale and
we will be repeating it in the future.
“We are pleased that about eight interns from this
year’s class of Master Gardeners have decided to
make Bay-Wise one of their areas of participation.
They were active in the native plant sale, assist in
consultation and maintaining our demonstration
rain garden. Because of the influx of new people
we conducted an Advanced Bay-Wise Class in May.
“There has been a heightened interest in native
plants by members of our team and we were
fortunate to be able to bring Dr. Sara Tangren as a
continuing education speaker for the Howard
County Master Gardeners. It was standing room
only! We also arranged a tour of rain gardens in
Columbia, MD with John McCoy who explained the
Columbia Association’s Cost Share Program.
location for public interaction. In addition to the
give-away, we have a “working” compost pile and a
demonstration rain garden. Master Gardener Gaye
Holcomb designed the demonstration Rain Garden
and assisted by other Bay-Wise Master Gardeners
maintains the plantings. We staff these locations
on Saturdays to explain their functionality and
engage citizens in discussions about better
practices for their home landscapes.”
Prince George’s
Franchella Kendall, Chair, reports that their
committee of 18 members certified three
residential and three non-residential sites so far
this year. The non-residential sites were
community gardens at Schrom Hills Park, Spring
Hills Park and Greenbelt Community Center. The
committee also gave a Bay-Wise presentation to
their 25 newest interns as part of their basic
training. Franchella adds that “The Prince George's
County Bay-Wise Master Gardeners certified 6
properties, 3 of the properties were community
gardens. These are demonstration gardens that
are situated on diverse properties. They have
planted vegetables as well as flowers and all of the
gardens are organic. Volunteers of the Chesapeake
Education Arts and Research Society (CHEARS)
maintain the gardens.
“We have maintained an ongoing program to
provide monthly garden tips for the Columbia
Village newsletters as well as install informative
displays in the Howard County libraries.
“Also, in a cooperative venture with the Howard
County Bureau of Environmental Services and
Dryers Ice Cream manufacturing facility in Howard
County, large food-grade barrels are recycled as
rain barrels. Twice a month, April through October,
Barb Schmeckpeper leads a team of Bay-Wise
Master Gardeners managing the distribution to the
public. They explain how to convert the barrels and
provide information on their use and impact.
Coincident with this activity, we also manage the
distribution of free compost bins to the public. The
Alpha Ridge Landfill has developed into an ideal
Volunteers at CHEARS Community garden
“Also this year the Intern Master Gardeners as part
of their training are shadowing us during the
certification to learn more about Bay-wise and the
yard certification process.”
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Queen Anne’s
Despite some serious setbacks, the Queen Anne’s
County Bay-Wise committee shows some
impressive accomplishments. New co-chairs
Debbie Pusey and Pat Gannon join Vida Morley to
head up their county’s group. Debbie and Pat are
stepping up to fill voids left by Kate Greer, who was
in a serious auto accident and although she is
recovering, is unable to fulfill her co-chair
responsibilities. Likewise, Jane Chambers also had
some health issues and had to step down as cochair. Despite the turnovers, the committee of 26
has certified 14 client landscapes with 4 more still
pending. They also taught/reached 201 adults and
children in 5 different classes/events.
Debbie reports, “Queen Anne’s County had a very
productive spring conducting numerous
educational outreach programs and well as
consultations and certifications. Beginning in
March, a group of MG’s put together a display for
the Queen Anne’s County Tourism Center which
was available for viewing for the entire month.
April Activities included educating students at
Greensboro Elementary School, teaching Bay-Wise
principles in a horticultural class for three weeks at
Chesapeake College Institute for Adult Learning,
and participating in a panel discussion for Kent
Island Estates HOA. May was highlighted by our
‘Garden Affair’ event which had several exhibits
demonstrating bay-wise guidelines. Led by cochairs Jane Chambers, Kate Greer, Vida Morley and
interim co-chairs Debbie Pusey and Pat Gannon,
teams visited 18 gardens resulting in 14
certifications and 4 consultations with
recommendations to improve to the certification
level. We are also in the planning stages of
partnering with the Corsica River Conservancy to
help promote the Bay-wise Program to their
membership. We are looking forward to a busy
second half of 2013.”
St. Mary’s
Fran Cook and Linda Crandall, Co-Chairs, report
that their committee of 10 members and have
been quite busy. They’ve certified 12 landscapes.
One belongs to a Bay-Wise Master Gardener;
eleven are client landscapes (3 belonging to local
Master Gardeners). They also met with 35 St.
Mary’s County Green School Coordinators in
February to plan the St. Mary’s County Green
School Celebration in June, in which they reached
215 people – 152 who were children. They also
gave a presentation to 35 teachers of the
Chesapeake Public Charter School. And finally they
gave a public presentation to 24 residents for the
St. Mary's Arboretum Association at St. Mary's
College.
Linda adds, “Our St. Mary’s County Bay-Wise
Committee has had a busy year so far. After the
first attempt was snowed out, in February we were
finally able to meet with and do a Bay-Wise
presentation for the St. Mary’s County Green School
Coordinators. That presentation resulted in several
visits to individual schools as we continue to work
at sharing information about ways to improve the
health of the Chesapeake Bay with our local school
system and helping them create Bay-Wise certified
landscapes at all St. Mary’s County public schools.
On June 6th we partnered with the St. Mary’s
County Department of Capital Planning and Green
Schools to help celebrate the efforts of ‘The Green
Teams’ in 5 of our county schools. During this
celebration we were able to do a modified BayWise presentation for 152 elementary students
(and the teachers and chaperones with them) and
get them to join us in our efforts. They signed on to
join our ‘Superhero Mission’ to ‘save the world’
locally by working to save The Chesapeake Bay
using some of the Bay-Wise ‘special powers’. We
focused that day on talking about working to
control stormwater runoff (slow it down, spread it
out, and sink it), encouraging wildlife (plant
natives), and recycling yard waste (nature doesn’t
need a landfill). We hope these young people will
not only continue to work to make their schools
Page 12 of 14
Bay-Wise, but will also carry this message to their
families.
about 30 participants in March. A new Bay-Wise
PowerPoint presentation was given this spring at
the Hagerstown Community College Flower &
Garden Show and a meeting of the Antietam
Watershed Alliance. A new educational display was
used to teach 654 visitors at our information booth
at the HCC Flower & Garden Show and at two
spring plant clinics. Plus, a column on the Bay-Wise
program was featured in our local newspaper.
Two yard reviews were completed and eight more
are slated for completion this summer.”
More Assorted Stuff
Free Publications
“In another partnership we worked to establish last
year, our efforts with the St. Mary’s River
Watershed Association (http://smrwa.org/)
continued as we certified another Bay-Wise
neighborhood. Because of this partnership,
SMRWA includes information about Bay-Wise in all
their advertising, and this has resulted in weekly
ads in one of our local papers about Bay-Wise.
Along with the calls that come in from these ads,
we are looking forward to working with SMRWA
again in the early fall to certify a third
neighborhood.
“After some work, the first issue of our St. Mary’s
County Bay-Wise newsletter, ‘The Bay-Wise Brief’ is
in its final stages and will be available to our BayWise clients by the end of the month. Along with
all these efforts, so far this year we have also
certified 12 properties.”
Washington
Co-Chairs, Ruthanne Mills and Annette Ipsan, are
pleased to add two more demo sites to their list.
Additionally, they gave a presentation to 38
attendees at the Hagerstown Community College
Flower & Garden Show and another one for 10
members of the Antietam Watershed Alliance.
Annette also reports, “Washington and Frederick
County Master Gardeners hosted a joint training for
The Natural Resources Conservation Service
provides a variety of publications about conserving
and preserving our natural resources, which fits
right into our Bay-Wise philosophy. This is a great
site for obtaining FREE publications on a variety of
topics including soils, pollinators, wetlands, etc.
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailf
ull/national/home/?cid=stelprdb1045532
Troubled Bees & Beneficials
Calvert County BayWise Committee Chair,
Judy Kay, shared this
article
http://www.cfans.umn.
edu/Solutions/Fall2012/
Killer_Bottle/index.htm
about University of
Minnesota research
that studied the link between commonly used
garden insecticides and Colony Collapse Disorder in
honeybees. The insecticide, imidacloprid, causes
death in four different species of lady beetles, a
parasitic wasp, a predatory green lacewing and
bumblebees as well as honey and solitary bees.
This is just one more reason to encourage others to
use IPM to address insect pests in the landscape.
Page 13 of 14
Maryland’s New Lawn Fertilizer Law and
Homeowners
Beginning 1 October 2013, Maryland residents will
be required to follow University of Maryland
recommendations when applying fertilizers to their
lawns. Maryland Department of Agriculture has
instituted a new law for commercial lawn care
professionals and homeowners who apply fertilizer
to lawns. The law requires applicators to follow
many of Bay-Wise practices we have been
espousing for many years, such as sweeping spilled
fertilizer off of paved surfaces, not fertilizing within
15 feet of waterways and not fertilizing when
heavy rain is forecasted. A relatively new
requirement is that no phosphorous may be
applied to turf unless indicated by a soil test or
during seeding. Find out more about the law and
how it affects homeowners by visiting this link:
http://mda.maryland.gov/Pages/fertilizer.aspx.
From this page you can download many useful
publications. Although developed for the
professional industry, the MD Professional Lawn
Care Manual,
http://mda.maryland.gov/SiteAssets/MDAProLawn
CareManual6.24.13.pdf , is a good review of
everything a Master Gardener should know about
turf. Check out the first six chapters.
New Bay-Wise URL
Have you notices something new about our
webpages? Early in April University of Maryland
Extension switched its website management
software to align with the rest of the university’s
software. With this switch comes a new and longer
URL. So now www.baywise.umd.edu has been
phased out. Our new web address is
www.extension.umd.edu/baywise.
Let me know your thoughts about the new pages.
As with anything new, there is always room for
improvement.
Bay-Wise Signs
A few years ago the price of signs increased by a
dollar. So the signs with accompanying post now
cost $10.35. When you are ready to
order more signs & posts, visit the
Bay-Wise website and click on the
link For BW MGs Only and cursor
down the page to the link where you
can download the new order form.
New Bay-Wise MD Yardstick for NonResidential Landscapes
Speaking of signs, many of you have been
asking for a new Yardstick specifically for
certifying non-residential sites and a larger sign
to accompany it. My increased workload has
not allowed me to address that need so I am
asking for your help. Submit your ideas for
adapting the current Yardstick to one for nonresidential landscapes. I’d like to form a small
committee to help move the process along. If
you are interested in helping to come up with
ideas for the content for the new Yardstick,
please contact me at wtm@umd.edu.
Interested in Planting Trees?
The Maryland Urban and Community
Forest Committee (MUCFC) is a
volunteer group of citizens,
professionals, and government
officials united to protect and
enhance Maryland's forest
ecosystems. MUCFC is a sub-committee of the
Maryland Association of Forest Conservancy
District Boards. Every county in the state has a
Forestry Board. The primary functions of the
Committee are to 1.) Promote and coordinate the
Maryland Community PLANT award program that
officially recognizes communities planting and
caring for trees, and 2.) Administer grants to
communities, through their
local Forestry Boards, that
promote planting and care
of trees. If you are
interested and would like
more information about
membership, please
contact Wayne Lucas,
Page 14 of 14
301-324-2684 or me, at 410-531-5973.
If you are interested in applying for a grant of up to
$1,500, or learning more about MUCFC, visit:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/programs/urb
an/mcfc.asp
Is Your Landscape Certified?
Are you among the few, the proud, the “certified?”
Has your landscape been certified as Bay-Wise yet?
indicators of the Bay-Wise Landscape Management
Program is to have all Bay-Wise Master Gardeners’
landscapes certified as demonstration landscapes.
So far 473 “demo landscapes” have been
designated throughout the state. If yours isn’t one
of them, and you know who you are, contact your
county’s Bay-Wise committee chair to set up an
appointment. The process is easy & fun and one of
the rewards is increased visibility in your
neighborhood as an expert on ecologically sound
landscaping.
Wanda MacLachlan
If you answered “no” to these two questions, it is
time to move into action. One of the successful
Contact Information:
wtm@umd.edu
410-531-5973
11975 Homewood Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042