Clean Water Communities Update: Pines on the Severn

Written by Cindy Hall and Noelle Chao, Class 10 Steward Candidates and Pines on the Severn residents, for their community newsletter.

Last fall, Pines on the Severn was selected by the Watershed Stewards Academy to participate in their Clean Water Communities Program.  In order to achieve this certification, we were asked to complete 5 benchmarks in 2018. Here’s how we’ve done:

1. Assessment of Community Property: COMPLETED! ✅

The South River Federation and the Watershed Stewards Academy visited Pines in November 2017 and conducted a comprehensive assessment of community property spaces.  SRF and WSA delivered a report to Stewards in January 2018. You can find a copy of this report on the Pines Website. It provides a detailed roadmap for addressing different areas of concern in our community, and offers suggestions for the best path forward.

Pines Stewards celebrate Cindy and Noelle completing the Master Watershed Steward Training Course!

Front Row: Cindy, Noelle, Michelle; Back Row: Ann, Ellen, Martin, Alice, Jim, Pat

2. Training of 2 Master Watershed Stewards: COMPLETED! ✅

In October 2017, Cindy Hall and Noelle Chao began taking WSA’s annual Master Watershed Steward Certification Course.  Over a series of 11 sessions, Cindy and Noelle learned about rainscaping practices that reduce stormwater runoff and became familiar with the grants and permits necessary for getting big projects in the ground.  This November, they will officially graduate from the course and become certified Master Watershed Stewards for Pines on the Severn. If you have any concerns about drainage or runoff issues in Pines, please don’t hesitate to contact them.

3. Training of 10-15 Community Stewards: COMPLETED!  ✅

Between December 2017 to February 2018, 15 Community Stewards completed a four-session training, during which they learned about best practices for reducing pollution sources and runoff in the Pines.  Community Stewards have worked hard to organize outreach events that have raised awareness about different actions that all of us can take to help keep Chase Creek and the Severn River clean. Our Community Stewards include Jim & Alice Corey, Dayna & Asha Myers, Jason & Laura Toraldo, Dan & Lauren Weirauch, and Pat Leffler, Michelle Montalbano, Ann O’Malley, Debby Roberts, Laurie Pasieka, Ellen Posten, and Martin Wittel.

4. 20% of Household Adopt Habits that Help: COMPLETED AND CONTINUING! ✅

Since Spring, Pines Stewards have been asking residents to sign a pledge to adopt at least two of four “Habits that Help,” which will reduce pollution in our neighborhood.  The four habits we are asking Pines residents to consider adopting are

• Caring for Septic Systems

• Disposing of Pet Waste

• Protecting Canopy Trees

• Maintaining Leaves

By adopting two, three, or all four of these simple habits, we can GREATLY REDUCE the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and bacteria that enter the Chesapeake Bay.

Currently, over 20% of residents in Pines have signed the pledge.  Our team believes that we can do even better, and will continue to collect pledges through the rest of the calendar year.  If you would like to sign the pledge, please contact Ann O’Malley.

April planting day at Lynne Seach’s home
Front: Noelle and Cindy
Back: Zoe Clarkwest, WSA’s Restoration Coordinator who designed the rainscaping projects in Pines, and Lynne Seach.

5. 10 Rainscaping Projects Installed: 90% COMPLETE! Almost There!

In April 2018, Cindy, Noelle, and their classmates in the 2017-18 Master Watershed Steward Training Course installed two conservation landscapes at the home of Pines resident Lynne Seach.  In June 2018, rainscaping projects were installed at eight homes throughout the neighborhood. Practices included plantings on slopes and hillsides to address erosion concerns, installations of rain barrels to slow down the flow of runoff from downspouts, and landscaping with deep-rooted native plants which have the capacity to absorb a tremendous amount of stormwater.  This fall, installation of the final plantings will begin at the home of Tom and Debbie Carrico. Once the Carrico projects are in the ground, we will have completed all of WSA’s benchmarks, and officially be a Clean Water Community!

Latin for Gardeners: September 2018

September’s Native Maryland Plant
Symphyotrichum laeve (L.) Á. Löve & D. Löve var. laeve (sim-fy-oh-TRY-kum LEE-vey)
Common Name: Smooth Blue Aster

Aster is September’s birth flower, and I couldn’t be more delighted. My birthday is in September and that’s when I see the greatest variety of butterflies in my garden – all because of the Symphyotrichum laeve growing there. They flock to this nectar source – a tall, sturdy, multi-stemmed plant that produces an abundance of daisy-like pale blue flowers. It has a non-aggressive rhizomatous root system, spreading slowly and persisting in my garden, providing I keep the more aggressive taller plants at bay (e.g. Eupatorium maculatum aka Spotted Joe-Pye Weed). It prefers full sun and tolerates drier conditions, once established.

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer but if you grow Symphyotrichum spp. you’ll continue to have beautiful blooms and many pollinators visit your garden, well into October.  This is an easy plant to propagate and it’s guaranteed to attract pollinators.  You can extend the bloom season even further by “pinching” (pruning with hedge shears) the stems back by about one-third in early June. This will delay the blooms a few weeks, so if you pinch some and leave some, you’ll have an overall longer fall bloom. Don’t pinch later than June – you’ll remove buds that are forming which will result in less flowering.

As we know, Latin (botanical) names are universal and are rarely changed.  However, due to DNA and genetic research findings, many of the Aster spp. were recently reclassified.  This plant, a member of the Family Asteraceae, was assigned its own Genus, Symphyotrichum, but is still commonly referred to as Aster in the horticultural trade.

~ Alison Milligan – MG 2013
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: August 2018

August’s Native Maryland Plant
Ceanothus americanus L.  (see-uh-NOE-thus uh-mair-ih-KAY-nus)
Common Name: New Jersey Tea

Ceanothus americanus has taken its time to grow on me.  I was originally attracted to this plant due to claims of its severe drought-tolerance and ability to thrive in poor soil.  I had just the right place to test these claims!  I planted a 6” tubeling in an area where other plants have struggled and eventually died.  I knew this plant was a favorite of deer and bunnies and, sure enough, in its first year the tubeling was reduced to 2” by bunnies that visit my yard. Not to be deterred and knowing most of the growth in the early stages was happening below ground, I kept the plant in this difficult site. I am thrilled that I stuck with it - after three years I have a fully grown, low-mounding, low-maintenance shrub that has lovely white blooms starting in May. Another benefit? Pollinators love this plant!

Ceanothus americanus is a nitrogen fixing plant in the Buckthorn (Rhamnaceae) family, one of the few non-legumes that can fix nitrogen; this ability allows the plant to improve the soil and survive where other plants wouldn’t stand a chance. My experience has been that this is one tough plant. It prefers full sun and doesn’t want to be moved once established so consider this when siting it. Although I’m delighted the plant has lived up to its drought-tolerant claims I won’t be testing out another claim that many Midwesterners have stated, “the roots of the plant can break a plow”. 

Fun Fact: Ceanothus americanus leaves, like Monarda didyma leaves, were used as a substitute for “real tea” during the American Revolution.  Unfortunately for the drinkers, these leaves contain no caffeine. 

~ Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7

Latin for Gardeners: July 2018

July’s Native Maryland Plant
Monarda didyma L.  (mo-NAR-da DID-ee-muh)
Common Name: Scarlet beebalm, Oswego tea

Too busy to make a splash at the beach?  Then make a splash in your garden with Monarda didyma!  This summer I’m doing my best not to get red like this prolific perennial blooming in my garden.  Monarda didyma is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae); it has a long bloom period, and its tubular flowers are perfect for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. I have yet to see long tongue bees on my Monarda spp., although there are plenty of them elsewhere in my garden. 

Linnaeus named the genus Monarda in honor of a 16th century Spanish botanist, Nicolas Bautista Monardes (1493-1588). The species name didyma translates from Latin meaning "in pairs" or "twins", referring to the stamens occurring in pairs. The common name refers to the use by Native Americans of rubbing crushed leaves of the plant on the skin to treat bee stings. Be aware of powdery mildew with Monarda spp. If you provide the plant with good air circulation and no watering from above it helps combat this fungal leaf disease. 

Fun Fact: Monarda didyma was a substitute for “real tea” after the Boston Tea Party.  This species is sometimes called Oswego tea for the Native American tribe who found many uses of it. Stay tuned, next month we’ll meet a shrub whose dried leaves are also used as a tea substitute.  For now, grab yourself an iced tea and have a Happy Fourth of July!

~ Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7