This 2020 calendar has watershed tips for every month

Turns out our monthly tips add up to a handy guidebook with steps everyone can take to protect our watershed. What better way to start the year than to review the basics. True, we can’t start with a clean slate, as it were. Our waterways are in a heap of trouble, thanks to runoff from pavement, roofs and other hard surfaces. But we can commit to taking simple steps to reduce and even reverse the damage to our waterways and, by extension, our health.

Here’s a calendar for 2020.  

January: Recycle your Christmas tree. Howard County’s Merry Mulch program keeps thousands of trees out of the landfill and turns them into compost and mulch. Put your unadorned tree at the curb for pickup or take it to Kendall Hardware.

February: Instead of salt – listed in the ingredients as sodium chloride – please use a de-icer that is less harmful to our waterways and friendlier to pets and other creatures. A safer de-icer for plants and waterways is magnesium chloride. Better yet: Clear walkways and driveways first and you can often skip the de-icer. Never use fertilizer as a de-icer.

March: Make a plan to replace some of your lawn with beautiful and beneficial native plants. (Remember to submit an Exterior Alteration Application before creating a planting bed, converting lawn to native plants, or installing a rain garden.)   Once the weather turns mild, place mulch in a ring around the base of trees instead of building a tree-killing mulch volcano. Better yet, add compost (such as Leafgro) to your garden and around your trees. Also watch for notices about our Pull & Plants and Stream Cleanups.

April: Pleasant weather means more walks, so be sure to pick up after your dog – all year round. Dog poop on the ground is a pile of pathogens waiting to cause problems. Left to decompose on yards and pathways, it seeps into the soil and washes into our streams and rivers or, gulp, drinking water sources. Look for pet-waste stations along River Hill paths.

May: Check your downspouts. If they exit onto pavement, rain won’t be absorbed into the ground. Instead, the rainwater will be “wasted,” sent directly down the storm drains and on to streams and rivers. All this speeding stormwater causes erosion along streambanks. Making matters worse, that rushing rainwater picks up pollutants along the way, including oil, gasoline, fertilizer, pesticides and pet waste.

June: Cut your lawn deep (keep it 3 to 4 inches tall), leave clippings in place and don’t apply fertilizer without first testing the soil. (Get a free fertilizer test bag from Claret Hall.) Make sure your lawn-care contractor follows these guidelines, too.

July: Celebrate #PlasticFreeJuly by taking the pledge to avoid single-use plastic, including plastic water bottles, bags, straws, cups, utensils. Our waterways are filled with plastic debris, so much so that it’s ending up even in our drinking water.

August: Let the lawn hibernate when the summer turns hot and dry. Watering and adding fertilizer only encourage summer crabgrass and other weeds. If you’ve followed the June guidelines, the grass will have deep roots and manage just fine.

September: If you aren’t already composting food scraps with the Green Bin, order a free one from Howard County at 410-313-6444.

October: Don’t blow those leaves away with polluting leaf blowers. Instead, mow and mulch leaves to create free food for your yard and gardens.

November: To avoid fatbergs and plumber emergencies, always place Fats, Oil and Grease (FOG) in the garbage bin, not down the drain. Also, the black-out phase for fertilizer starts Nov. 16 and runs through March.

December: Take a moment to appreciate the gifts of a clean watershed: filtering and storing water, filtering air, storing carbon, forming soil, and providing recreation and food.

Happy new year and new decade to all. We hope to see you at our events. 

Raking and bagging is no way to treat leaves. If you think of leaves as free food for your soil, you’ll no longer want to spend hours getting rid of them. In fact, some estimates are that the leaves from one tree are worth about $50 of plant food and humus. A pound of leaves contains about twice the minerals of the same amount of manure.  That’s fertilizer you don’t have to buy – and that won’t end up running off in our waterways. Left in place, chopped-up leaves can help soil hold moisture and nutrients while also aerating it. 

The trick is to mow the leaves into small pieces that will decompose on your lawn during the winter.

“Everybody likes to rake their leaves up. That’s a lot of work,” says John McCoy, Columbia Association’s watershed manager. “I want you to consider doing something a little different this year, doing something that’ll help your lawn, that’ll help us soak up a little runoff, help us with our slow-the-flow program: Grind your leaves on the lawn. Organic matter [on the lawn] helps your plants grow, retains nutrients, and it retains moisture.” (Watch John’s video about mowing leaves at our website, http://villageofriverhill.org/watershed/

Throughout the fall, use a mulching or regular mower without a bag. Mow frequently enough so that the leaf cover doesn’t become too thick. Just as in the summer, don’t mow the grass shorter than 3 inches. Rake excess chopped leaves into your vegetable garden or other planting beds.

If you still have more leaves than you can use, Howard County Master Gardeners Rake and Take program offers a matchmaking service of sorts. The Rake and Take coordinator connects those who want leaves for compost piles or mulch with those who have too many. For information on that program, contact Master Gardener Pat Hooker at 410-489-4314 or phooker9440@gmail.com. Note that the leaves cannot contain herbicides or other chemical residue.

A few key DON’TS about leaves:

• Don’t rake leaves into open space. That’s illegal and a nuisance for Columbia Association. 
• Don’t rake leaves into the street. Piles of leaves end up clogging the storm drains, which can cause flooding. Those decaying leaves soon wash into our streams and rivers, lowering oxygen levels and suffocating fish and other aquatic life.   
• Don’t put leaves in plastic bags. If you don’t want to mow your leaves in place or participate in Rake and Take, place leaves in the Green Bin or in large paper bags so they can be picked up on your recycling day. Howard County no longer accepts leaves in plastic bags.
• Don’t use leaf blowers, which blow around much more than leaves. These noisy machines blast away topsoil and kick up pesticides, fungi, chemicals, fertilizers, spores (sometimes diseased), weed seeds and street dirt that can contain oil and gasoline.  All these emissions can worsen asthma, allergies and other chronic lung ailments. In a 2011 test comparing leaf blowers with a Ford Raptor high-performance pickup truck, the car-buyer site Edmunds.com found that “the hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor.” Also, these leaves too often end up in the street where they will eventually block storm drains.

This fall, turn your leaves into food for your soil or mulch for your garden beds. Then head out for a hike.

Howard County will become a welcoming community – for bees and other pollinators. Think of it as spreading the “Choose Civility” slogan to the littlest among us.

In September, County Executive Calvin Ball announced that Howard County would join the “Bee City USA” coalition, pledging to create sustainable habitats for insects and reduce pesticide use.

This effort is just the bee’s knees for the River Hill Watershed Committee. For more than five years, we have been urging residents to replace at least some of their water- and chemical-intensive grass with native plants. These plants provide food and habitat for local bees, butterflies and other pollinators and attract beneficial insects that are food for native birds. In addition, their deep roots help purify groundwater, prevent erosion, slow stormwater and build healthy soil. Because they’ve evolved in our region, native plants are resistant to local pests, need less fertilizer and water, and can better withstand drought. 

“One in three bites of food we eat is the result of insect pollination. They are critical to our health and our entire ecosystem,” Ball said in announcing the plan. In addition, according to Bee City USA, 90% of wild plants rely on pollinators. “Tragically, pollinators are in decline due to habitat loss, climate change, and the impacts of widespread pesticide use. We cannot wait for the rest of the world to recognize this crisis. We must innovate and be the model of leadership we want others to follow. Our commitment to protect pollinators will align directly with our long-term work to combat climate change and build a safe, livable future for Howard County.”

Howard County has already taken some steps to protect pollinators, including creating 55-acres of pollinator-friendly habitat on county parkland; establishing monarch way-stations in two county parks; working with the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to conduct bee surveys in Centennial Park; and working with the public school system’s 3rd grade science monarch program.

Ball said the county has adopted a policy of limiting the use of pesticides on county land and only under extreme circumstances. As part of the Bee City coalition, the county will also:

• Host at least one educational event or pollinator habitat planting or restoration each year. 
• Install a Bee City USA street sign in a prominent location and create a page on the Howard County website. 
• Develop and implement a program to create or expand pollinator-friendly habitat on public and private land.
• Create and adopt an integrated pest management plan designed to prevent pest problems, reduce pesticide use, and expand the use of non-chemical pest management methods.
• Establish, through the county, a policy in the county’s General Plan to commit to the Bee City USA designation and consider other appropriate measures.
• Each February, after completing the first calendar year as a Bee City USA affiliate, apply for renewal of Howard County’s Bee City USA designation.

For a list of native plants, see this tip at our website.

Watershed moments

Sunday, Oct. 13: Pull and Plant. Help us pull invasives and plant natives at our growing garden on the River Hill path. Meet at 10 a.m. at Claret Hall. Wear long pants and long sleeves and sturdy shoes or boots. Bring your reusable water bottle. We’ll provide the plants, gloves and tools.

Let your lawn relax over the summer.

During heat waves with little rain, we are often inclined to turn on sprinklers for the grass. Not necessary. In fact, all that watering encourages the growth of crab grass and summer weeds. At that point, we reach for the herbicides, and a vicious cycle is born: sprinkling and spraying, sprinkling and spraying.  A good portion of the water also runs off onto the driveway, sidewalk or road, sending lawn chemicals and other pollution to our streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

Most Maryland lawns are cool season grasses (fescues, bluegrasses, ryegrasses). They are designed to go semi-dormant over the summer, and we wake them at our peril. Here are some lawn-care tips that will conserve water and reduce pollution to the bay:

1. Grass should be cut no shorter than 3 or 3 ½ inches. This taller grass will encourage deeper, drought- and pest-resistant roots and shade out weeds.
2. Let the lawn go dormant over the summer.
3. Consider replacing some portions of your lawn with grasses and other native plants that are naturally drought-resistant.

If you absolutely can’t resist watering:

1.  Water only when grass shows signs of wilting. Water early in the morning to reduce evaporation. Deep, slow watering a couple times a week is less harmful than frequent, short watering. Stop watering when the water runs onto pavement.  
2. Direct water to the soil at the base of plants. Excess water on leaves can increase the chance of disease. 
3. Occasional overhead watering during hot, dry weather can provide moisture for spiders and other beneficial insects. Overhead watering should be done only in the early morning.

Sources: Maryland Cooperative Extension

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that our nation is exporting “freedom gas,” and “molecules of freedom,” truly Orwellian terms for liquefied natural gas. As we celebrate Independence Day this month, River Hill watershed protectors offer an alternative perspective: Let’s increase our freedom from fossil fuels, starting with pesticides and plastics.  By reducing our dependence on these byproducts of oil and natural (fracked) gas, we can build safer and healthier soil, watersheds and climate.

PESTICIDES: When we replace some of our chemical-intensive lawn with low-maintenance, drought-resistant native plants, we gain freedom from fertilizers, herbicides, watering and hours of mowing.  Free of toxic yard chemicals, we also gain peace of mind, as our children and pets will have safer places to play.

Because native plants evolved in our region, they are resistant to local pests, need less fertilizer and water, and can better withstand drought. Their deep roots also help filter groundwater, prevent erosion, mitigate flooding and build healthy soil. And they provide food and habitat for butterflies, bees and other pollinators and wildlife. For examples of native plants, visit our mega-raingarden at the outdoor pool or our not-so-secret garden along the pathways near the Columbia Gym’s stormwater pond. At those sites, volunteers have worked with us to plant wild ginger, creeping phlox, golden groundsel, witch hazel, white fringetree, redbud tree, pawpaw, sensitive fern, butterfly weed, Joe Pye weed and much more. [See a full list here, here and here.]

PLASTICS: Declare your freedom from single-use plastic by investing in a stainless steel or glass water bottle, always using cloth shopping bags, and skipping the straw and plastic produce bags. For other tips on breaking free from plastics, check out Plastic Free July.

Sadly, we use plastic straws, plastic bags and plastic water bottles for mere minutes, but they last forever. Only a small percentage of single-use plastic is recycled. Most ends up in landfills or litters our landscapes, roadways, streams and oceans. Studies have found tiny bits of plastic in sea creatures  and animals in remote locations across the globe, in tap and bottled water, and, finally, in us. In fact, one study found that we consume about 2,000 microscopic pieces of plastic every week – about the size of a credit card. Gulp.

Governments are responding to the call to get rid of single-use plastics. Maryland’s ban on Styrofoam food packaging takes effect next July. Howard County will also be considering a 5-cent fee on plastic bags at checkout.  The District of Columbia, Boston, Seattle, California and Hawaii have banned plastic bags, and New York’s ban starts in March 2020. The District of Columbia also banned plastic straws. Canada and the European Union are imposing bans on many single-use plastics by 2021.

THE CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already, use this summer to break the plastic habit and adopt more sustainable yard practices. You too can break free from plastic bags, straws and water bottles and that fossil-fuel-dependent, water-guzzling lawn.

Watershed moment

Sunday, Oct. 13: Save the date for our next Pull & Plant event.  

The recent scary report on global biodiversity offers a stark assessment of human beings’ gigantic footprint on our Earth. A million plants and animals face extinction within decades because of our actions. The evidence is “ominous” and “unprecedented,” experts said in a recent UN report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Hand-wringing and despair is not the answer though.

“[I]t is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” said IPBES chair, Sir Robert Watson. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals. By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”    

You, too, can have a hand in promoting biodiversity – and saving life on Earth.

In fact, part of the solution echoes the River Hill Watershed Advisory Committee’s mantra: Plant pollinator-friendly natives in your yard, and don’t use pesticides that harm them.

Our manicured lawns are a monoculture, lacking biodiversity and yielding a food desert for local bees, butterflies and birds. Native plants, however, improve the beauty and biodiversity in our area and offer a food buffet for pollinators. These plants’ deep roots also help slow stormwater runoff. Because they evolved in our region, natives are more resistant to drought, freezing and diseases, and, once established, require less water, fewer (or no) pesticides, and less fertilizer and other maintenance than non-natives.  

Consider replacing some of your lawn with these natives: 

Groundcovers: wild ginger, creeping phlox, moss phlox, pussytoes, golden groundsel.

Shrubs: highbush blueberry, mountain laurel, witch hazel, and American beautyberry, rose mallow, hillside blueberry

Trees: eastern redbud, white fringetree, pawpaw (with edible fruit), American Holly, white oak, river birch, arborvitae, black gum

Grasses: blue sedge, wool grass, little bluestem, yellow Indian grass

Ferns: sensitive fern, Christmas fern.

Wildflowers: Eastern columbine, butterfly weed, Joe Pye weed, Turk’s cap lily, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, golden groundsel, black-eyed Susan (Maryland’s state flower), New York ironweed.

You can see some of those natives in action at the rain garden the watershed committee planted between the Meeting Room and the solar panels at the River Hill outdoor pool. Other examples are at our Pull & Plant sites along the River Hill trail.

 “The plan for our planet is remarkably simple. Reduce our impact by making sure that everything we do, we can do forever,” naturalist David Attenborough said. One key step will be “rewilding” our planet. We can play a part in our own yards by planting native flowering plants and then creating pollinator-safe zones by avoiding pesticides.

Watershed moments

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WatershedCommittee/

Find all of our tips on our website: www.villageofriverhill.org/watershed/

You are what you eat, sure. Turns out the climate – and your watershed – are also what you eat. Consider, for example, that backyard-grilling-favorite: the burger. For starters, eating a cow is a very roundabout and inefficient way to get protein. One estimate is that it takes 25 kilograms of grain to produce 1 kilogram of beef – plus lots of land, water, and polluting fertilizers and pesticides. The United Nations estimates that 45% of the land surface of the planet is used for growing food for livestock and for grazing. It also takes about 1,800 gallons of water to make one pound of beef (468 gallons for chicken) compared with 138 gallons for a pound of wheat.  

In a 2018 study, Oxford University and Swiss government researchers concluded that meat, aquaculture, eggs and dairy use about 83% of the world’s farmland and contributed as much as 58% of food-related emissions, while providing only 18% of calories.

Climate change is already disrupting watersheds as heavier downpours create more stormwater runoff and flooding, while other areas suffer from persistent drought.  Crop yields are projected to decline up to 25% by 2050 due to changing rain and temperature patterns.

Equally unsettling: A third of the food we produce is lost or wasted. 

With that in mind, here are several delicious steps you can take to reduce your food carbon footprint:

Eat less beef, dairy and other animal products and more plants: Author and former New York Times columnist Mark Bittman decided to eat vegan before 6 p.m. and whatever he wants for dinner. Others suggest meatless Mondays, for starters. Cutting back on animal products helps the climate, the watershed and your health. Need to grill a burger? Try a veggie burger made from black beans or chickpeas. For more recipe ideas, check out the Minimalist Baker, One Green Planet, and Sweet Potato Soul.

Support local and small farms: Head for farmers markets. Buy organic produce. Consider participating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), investing in a local farm upfront and receiving a weekly box of locally grown, seasonal vegetables and fruit. Food grown locally isn’t transported across the country or around the world to get to your table. The most local would be the food you grow in your yard or in pots on your deck.

Waste less food: Food in a landfill nourishes no one and produces methane, a greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide. Fortunately, River Hill is one of five areas in the county where residents can compost food that would otherwise go to waste. Users of the Green Bin help turn wilting food scraps into mighty soil, tame rushing stormwater into a trickle, save space in landfills and reduce global warming. To get a free bin, call 410-313-6444 or order online at www.FeedTheGreenBin.org.

Buy produce and grains in bulk: All that plastic packaging is a byproduct of oil and natural gas, prime drivers of climate change. Those apples, bananas, cucumbers, and onions don’t need to travel to your home in a plastic bag. Just leave them loose in your reusable cloth bag. If you can buy grains and beans in bulk using your own container or reusable bags, all the better.

Cook from scratch: Processed food uses a lot of energy to produce, package and transport. The cost for those items is high – for the climate and health.

Watershed moments

• We need volunteers for our spring Pull & Plant, scheduled for Saturday, June 1. Meet at Claret Hall at 10 a.m. to pull invasives and plant natives near our not-so-secret garden on the pathway. We’ll be done by noon. Students can earn community service hours. To register, email events@villageofriverhill.org. Or just show up.
• Follow us on Facebook .
• Check out our beautiful rain garden at the outdoor River Hill pool.

Pop quiz: What’s wrong with this picture?

Answer: Just about everything. “Mulch volcanos” are a mysterious aesthetic that can kill trees. Mulch should not touch tree bark.  Properly applied around the base, mulch is great for trees. It will help control weeds, retain moisture in soil, provide insulation for roots in extreme temperatures, and reduce the chance of damage from mowing and weed-whacking. But piled up high into a volcano shape, mulch weakens and softens the bark, allowing fungi, bacteria and viruses to attack and insects to chow down. It also holds moisture next to the bark, causing rot and suffocation. In addition, mulch volcanoes create an ideal home for rodents that can eat through to the inner bark, cutting off the pipeline of nutrients to the tree.

Mulch can be applied in a ring or donut shape in a 2- to 3- foot radius around a young tree. Mature trees don’t need mulch other than as part of a landscape planting bed or to keep mowers and weed-whackers at a distance.

• 

[image from Buffalo Green Fund]

Is it time to fertilize? Probably not. In most cases, fertilizer should be applied only in the fall. Spring fertilizers promote weeds. At any rate, always test your soil before applying fertilizer. Don’t waste money on fertilizer the soil doesn’t need. You can get a bag with directions for a free soil test at Claret Hall. Leave grass clippings in place when mowing and consider adding clover to your lawn. Both naturally add nitrogen to the soil. Or use organic fertilizers, such as manure.

Is turf grass a native plant? No. Keep in mind that our manicured and chemically treated lawns are a food desert for local bees, butterflies and birds, while native plants support a buffet. Native plants improve the beauty and biodiversity in our area, and their far deeper roots help slow stormwater runoff.  Because they evolved in our region, natives are more resistant to drought, freezing and diseases, and, once established, require less water, less fertilizer, fewer pesticides and other maintenance than non-natives.  When adding plants to your yard, choose from among these natives: 

Groundcovers: wild ginger, creeping phlox, moss phlox, pussytoes, golden groundsel.

Shrubs: highbush blueberry, mountain laurel, witch hazel, and American beautyberry, rose mallow, hillside blueberry

Trees: eastern redbud, white fringetree, pawpaw (with edible fruit), American Holly, white oak, river birch, arborvitae, black gum

Grasses: blue sedge, wool grass, little bluestem, yellow Indian grass

Ferns: sensitive fern, Christmas fern.

Wildflowers: Eastern columbine, butterfly weed, Joe Pye weed, Turk’s cap lily, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, golden groundsel, black-eyed Susan (Maryland’s state flower), New York ironweed.

Watershed moments

•  Saturday, April 6: Join us at the River Hill outdoor pool parking lot as we build our first oyster-reef balls. These concrete structures will eventually be dropped in the Chesapeake Bay and become home for generations of oysters that filter pollution from the water – about 50 gallons a day each. Then help us plant a rain garden in the bioretention facility that Columbia Association built in place of the old stormwater drain. This rain garden of native plants and flowers will help slow the flow of rushing rainwater, attract pollinators, and beautify the River Hill pool. 
• Saturday, April 13, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Master Gardeners’ native plant sale at Greenfest, Howard Community College, parking lot C.
• May: For details about our spring pull and plant, stay-tuned on Facebook   www.facebook.com/WatershedCommittee/

We need to clean up our act.

Fortunately, cleaning up can be fun – especially with many helping hands.

On March 30, we are piggybacking on the Columbia Cleans/Spring Cleanup, organizing our annual cleanup in River Hill. The cleanup is an enjoyable activity for teens and families, and students can get community service credits.

Each year, lying in plain sight along the paths and in our streams, we find enough plastic bottles, plastic bags, cups, straws, candy and chip wrappers, soda cans, cigarette butts, liquor bottles and other assorted items to fill several gigantic bags. We recycle what we can; the rest goes to the landfill.

The results are rewarding. Also discouraging, because we know our little crowd of trash warriors picks up only a relatively small area. We need to do much more to keep trash out of our landscapes and waterways. The General Assembly is even considering legislation, HB410, to establish a task force on ways to keep plastic bottles and other debris from entering storm drains – as a matter of public health and safety. (Watch the hearing here.)

Ideally, this work can happen every day, by preventing litter or steadily picking it up. Here’s a list we found with helpful reminders:

• Set an example by not littering.
• Pick up one piece of litter each day.
• Pick up after your pet. Every time.
• Keep lids closed on garbage, recycling, and compost bins.
• On garbage collection day, pick up dropped items in front of your house.
• Plant and maintain flowers along the sidewalk. Turns out people litter less in areas that have been beautified.
• Carry a litter bag in your car and on walks/hikes.
• If you smoke, use a car ashtray or portable ashtray to dispose of cigarette butts. Empty the ashtray properly. (Meanwhile, work on quitting.)
• Cover all loads in your truck bed before driving.
• Work with neighbors to keep your block clean.
• Report dumping to the Columbia Association at 410-312-6330.
• Participate in community cleanup events.

To help with the spring cleanup, meet at Claret Hall on Saturday, March 30, at 10 a.m. To register, email events@villageofriverhill.org

Watershed moments

• Saturday, April 6: Join us at the River Hill outdoor pool parking lot as we build our first oyster-reef balls. These concrete structures will eventually be dropped in the Chesapeake Bay and become home for generations of oysters that filter pollution from the water – about 50 gallons per day each. Then help us plant a rain garden in the bioretention facility that Columbia Association built in place of the old stormwater drain. This rain garden of native plants and flowers will help slow the flow of rushing rainwater, attract pollinators, and beautify the River Hill pool.

Let’s send some valentines to our watershed. These valentines will protect our health and that of our rivers and land. What’s not to love about that?

Skip the salt. Winter is rough on the Middle Patuxent River and its tributaries. Much of the salt we spread on our roads, driveways and sidewalks ends up in our rivers and, eventually, in our ailing Chesapeake Bay. Show your waterways (and plants) some love by avoiding salt or using it sparingly on your driveway and sidewalks. Shoveling down to the pavement helps. If you must use a deicer, look for one that lists magnesium chloride or calcium magnesium acetate as a first ingredient. Magnesium is safer for concrete, plants and our waterways.

Go native: Snowy February is a grand time to daydream about replacing some water- and chemical-intensive lawn with low-maintenance, drought-resistant native plants. Maybe this is the year you install a native-plant-filled rain garden. Either way, native plants are the key. They have deep roots that help purify groundwater, prevent erosion, mitigate flooding and build healthy soil. Native plants provide food and habitat for butterflies, bees and other pollinators and wildlife. Because they’ve evolved in our region, native plants are resistant to local pests, need less fertilizer and water, and can better withstand drought. This chart from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay shows the dramatic difference in roots of non-natives (especially that pitiful fescue turf) when compared with natives.

Those deep roots encourage surface water to infiltrate the soil, where it is temporarily stored and then taken up by growing plants.  Check out our watershed tip that includes a list of plants native to this region.

Volunteer in your community. The Columbia Association and the River Hill Watershed Committee are planning a stream cleanup in River Hill on Saturday, March 30. On Saturday, April 6, we hope you’ll join us to build our first oyster reef balls and plant a rain garden at the River Hill outdoor pool. Save these dates and stay-tuned for details. Students can earn community service credits.

Follow us: Show your River Hill Watershed Committee some love by liking us on Facebook. We also post tips on our website: www.villageofriverhill.org/watershed