In 2025, three Howard County Master Watershed Stewards and Master Gardeners received a Chesapeake Bay Trust Mini-Grant proposal to develop a series of native yard tours in Howard County. Kate Reilly, Nancy Klein, and Susan Tucker planned and launched the Howard County Native Landscaping Tours which consisted of twelve native tours, held on alternating weekends from April through September, highlighting native plant gardens and Bay-Wise practices.

All twelve tours involved visiting three separate residential properties demonstrating the ecological benefits of native plants and sustainable gardening. Properties included townhomes, suburban yards, and rural properties. The project’s objective was to educate and encourage local residents to incorporate native plants and ecological gardening methods (e.g., replacing invasive plants with natives, handling stormwater on homeowner property, and wildlife friendly practices) into their home landscapes. A number of the properties had rain barrels and Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as rain gardens and conservation landscapes on their properties to show the value of these practices.

Thanks to the grant from Chesapeake Bay Trust as well as funds from Howard County’s Office of Community Sustainability, tour hosts gave away a native perennial to the first 55 visitors at each property. Each yard also offered one of three lottery prizes during each tour: a free native shrub or tree from Howard County Bee City, a silky dogwood shrub from Howard Ecoworks, or a $25 gift card from Lauren’s Native Nursery.

Tours were located across Howard County, including Columbia, Ellicott City, Laurel, Elkridge, and Western Howard County. When planning the tour, the organizers mapped out Bay-Wise demonstration gardens and certified properties as well as other residential native gardens in Howard County to help them determine where tours should be held. Howard County Master Gardeners and Watershed Stewards helped guide visitors through properties and answer questions about native plants or ecological landscaping practices.

Tour hosts distributed 2,000+ native plants during the tours, along with 24 native trees or shrubs. Information sheets on each plant described plant characteristics and care. Plants distributed included Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) in spring, Threadleaf Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) in summer, and Wrinkle-leaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) in autumn.

Organizers generated a unique QR code for each home to sign in visitors. This code generated a list of attendees with pertinent information for follow-up, and enabled planners to randomly select lottery winners. 4,098 individual visits were logged at all locations, with an average attendance of 117 persons per tour. A post-tour survey showed that among those who responded to the survey:

• 88% planted their native plants, and 87% intended to add more native plants
• 76% believed their knowledge of native plants increased as a result of the tours
• 100% would recommend future tours to others

The University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension (UMD-SGE) integrates science, education, and partnership-building to advance resilient communities and healthy watersheds across Maryland. Working at the interface of research and practice, UMD-SGE collaborates with local governments, nonprofits, and residents to address challenges such as flooding, climate adaptation, and stormwater management.

Central to this work are initiatives that build local capacity, including the Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA) — a community-based training program that empowers residents to design and implement best management practices—and the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) certification program that strengthens the green infrastructure workforce.

Through these partnerships, UMD-SGE helps translate watershed science into practical, on-the-ground solutions that enhance resilience and water quality. This talk highlights how UMD-SGE’s collaborative model fosters behavior change, community leadership, and workforce development, advancing equitable and climate-smart resilience across the Chesapeake Bay region.

Our Presenter – Amanda Rockler

Amanda Rockler is a Regional Watershed Restoration Specialist with the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program. She received her Bachelor’s in Environmental and Ecological Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her Masters from George Washington University in Sustainable Landscape Design. Amanda works with local governments, non-profits, residents, and other entities to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Presentation

Love Your environment? Take Action! Enrollment opened July 15th a HCC.

Free Information Session via Google Meet about WSA and the Certification Classes available 7:00 p.m.
Click here to join the session Thursday August 13 at 7 PM.

Classes Start September 2nd and are Tuesday Evenings
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Click for the HCC Course Description and Registration Link.

Get Times, Dates, Locations and more information:

Thank you to everyone (Nancy, Barb, Kory, Chris, Bob and Alan)  who helped install spigots for the Greenfest rain barrels! Things went smoothly and we were done in an hour!

Alpha Ridge Giveaways

Barb and Radhika will be giving away rain barrels ever Saturday in May to the folks who have already signed up for them.

After surveying the neighborhood, meeting with the HOA’s point of contact for property management, and assessing where the most impact would be; they put together a plan, a budget, and got it done.

David Johnson, Simon Sauvageau, and Deanna Edmunds stenciling storm drains.

Community outreach and education are some of the best ways to get the message to folks. Some of our neighbors think that stormwater is treated on its way to the Bay, and that just ain’t so. Selecting some of the most visible drains in the neighborhood and holding a cleanup and outreach event helped the folks understand how they can prevent pollution and do their part for our streams, rivers, and the Bay.

The first part of the project was a door-to-door, neighbor-to-neighbor awareness campaign about the health of the streams that immediately feed into the Middle Patuxent River. Literature was provided to more than 90 single family homes—to those who answered their door and those who didn’t—about stream conditions, fertilizers and other chemicals, soil health, invasive plant replacement by natives, and Howard County and non-profit incentive programs and resources.

The team also engaged 9th grade biology students involved in the annual Watershed Report Card through the HCPSS Environmental Educator. Hands-on learning was meant to add knowledge about invasive identification and provide experience in invasive removal and replacement with natives while earning service credits.

Residents, students, and parents removed garlic mustard, Japanese barberry, and multiflora rose near the streambanks and on steep slopes leading to the stream. Twelve full-size yard waste bags were filled with invasives. Fifteen native trees and shrubs and dozens of perennials were planted to stabilize the streambanks, reduce sediment, absorb chemicals, and slow the flow of stormwater.

The pull-and-plant was immediately followed by a WSA-hosted barbecue with a highly attended non-point source demonstration. Information radiated; community came together. Students and residents will be invited in October 2024 to maintain and expand the stream buffer with CA-provided natives. Those using the paths will find inspiration for deer-resistant natives that can thrive, attract pollinators, and increase biodiversity—a virtuous hydrological and ecological loop.

Find out more and register at this link.