NO LADIES CLUB, HOWARD COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ARE STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT – AND HAPPY TO SHARE
STORY BY Marina Sarris
Linda Decker has always enjoyed tending the green expanse that is her yard in Highland. Since becoming a master gardener five years ago, however, she no longer admires the suburban brass ring – “the flawless green carpet in the front yard.”
As part of her training, she learned about the cocktail of chemicals it often takes to maintain the Perfect Lawn. After that, she says, “you lose your appreciation of it, or it becomes an ugly thing to you.”
Now Decker keeps her three-acre lawn healthy the Howard County Master Gardener way – using eco-friendly lawn and gardening practices.
One thing is certain about the master gardeners: This is not your grandmother’s garden club. Master gardeners are more likely to talk to you about integrated pest management than which annuals look best in a flower garden.
“It’s easy for people to see us as a fancy garden club,” explains Sylvia Huestis, sounding every bit like the high school science teacher she was before retirement. But in fact, the gardeners are volunteers for the University of Maryland who have been trained in sustainable landscaping. “We go out into the community and teach people about certain practices that we call Bay- Wise practices,” Huestis says.
As the Bay-Wise name implies, the master gardeners, 140 members strong, beat the drum of conservation and protection of the nation’s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.
Trained by the University of Maryland Extension Howard County, this band of volunteers can be found diagnosing plant diseases at clinics held at county libraries; or talking to community groups about rain gardens, pruning and deterring deer; or visiting homes to provide individualized tips on storm water management, erosion, lawn care and composting.
Certified master gardeners receive 40 hours of training in topics such as botany, entomology (the study of bugs), lawn care, soil, pesticides, organic gardening and, of course, growing flowers. To maintain their certification, gardeners must complete 20 hours of volunteer work and 10 hours of continuing education each year.
The program attracts many retirees and stay-at-home mothers since trainings are held on weekdays, members say. Women make up a majority of the group, as they have since its formation in 1978, program coordinator Georgia Eacker says.
But as the times have changed, so has the focus. The gardeners have evolved from a group largely concerned about beautiful landscaping to one focused on stewardship of the land.
“Twenty-five years ago we wouldn’t worry about native plants or erosion like we do now,” says longtime Master Gardener Barbara Sieg of Ellicott City. “The focus has changed to environmental issues, but we still help people have better landscapes.”
They also help people improve their vegetable gardens. To meet the needs of “locavores” – those who want to eat locally grown food – the group runs the Grow It, Eat It program. Master gardeners like Michelle Bryden try to stop residents from reaching for the pesticide bottle at the first sight of a bug on their tomato plants.
“We teach integrated pest management, which means using the least toxic methods first,” says Bryden, a stay-at-home mother who is a chemical engineer by training. Most problems can be solved by picking off insects by hand, putting in flowers nearby that attract beneficial bugs and planting at the right time, in the right location, she says. “You want to create an environment where plants will thrive on their own.”
The gardeners also want you to think twice before you use fertilizers and weed killers on your lawn. Even if it means tolerating a patch of violets among the grass, as Decker does. “They’re kind of pretty,” she says.
With the right practices, a chemical-free yard can be attractive, says Decker, a retired engineer and director at a technology company. “We don’t want to see weedy yards, but we have a different way of achieving it,”
Master gardeners advocate using lawn grasses known to grow well in Maryland, trimming grass at a higher setting, and leaving clippings on the lawn to spur root growth.
They also help residents select native shrubs and plants that require fewer chemicals and less water. Decker chose joe-pye weed and echinacea, among other species, for her garden beds.
Master Gardener Mary Ament Streb took the lawn guidelines a step further: She put away her mower for good, replacing the grass in her Harper’s Choice yard with an assortment of plants, evergreens and shrubs.
The changes reduced the volume of storm water flowing from her property into nearby woods, a problem for many homes in her Columbia neighborhood. Storm water can sweep soil and pollutants into waterways that feed the bay, she says.
“When I did the research, I realized this was the best way to go. And if you love to garden, grass just doesn’t do it for you,” says Streb, a retired school teacher and administrator.
Streb and other master gardeners publicize the use of “rain gardens” – a strategically placed collection of plants able to withstand both heavy rain and drought. Rain gardens help keep storm water from leaving the yard. The gardeners also advocate the use of 55-gallon plastic barrels to collect rain for watering.
As Columbians know, if you live in one of the planned community’s 10 villages, you probably need approval to add a rain barrel or change your landscaping. The master gardeners have worked with the Columbia Association to smooth the way for homeowners who wish to make “green” improvements.
In a sense, the gardeners can be described as being part of the “think global, act local” movement by getting residents to focus, quite literally, on their own backyards.
“You have to think of a lawn as an ecosystem,” Eacker explains. “It’s about learning to live with our environment.”
For information on Master Gardener events, visit their website at http:// mastergardener.umd.edu/local/ howard/index.cfm or their booth at the Howard County Fair August 4 to 9.
