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Calvert County Master Gardeners
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Bay-Wise garden on St. Leonard's Creek |
Calvert County is one of the southernmost counties in the state of Maryland and is bordered on three sides by the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. All land in the county lies within a mile of these waters and every use impacts directly on the Watershed.
Calvert County Master Gardeners (CCMGs) unite with Maryland Master Gardeners in promoting a healthier world through environmental stewardship and education about effective horticultural practices.
Every day, one or more CCMGs is working up front or behind the scenes to help county residents protect and beautify the land around us. Many of our activities focus on community service. Information booths and demonstrations at the Calvert County Fair, Children’s Day at Jefferson Patterson Park, Mind Body Spirit Day at Annemarie Gardens, and our annual Plant Sale and Clinic offer examples of best practices and materials.
Every spring, in partnership with The Calvert Library, we bring you our Garden Smarter lecture series, which focuses on timely information and practical advice. Topics frequently covered include vegetable and container gardening, native plants in the home landscape, and rain garden construction. CCMGs also have a Speakers Bureau which can provide experts to talk to local organizations on a wide range of horticultural topics.
As CCMGs, we bring our knowledge of horticultural practices to numerous public gardens in the county. We designed, produced, and currently maintain the Anne Whisman Memorial Garden at the historic Phillips House. We are participating in restoring the historic gardens at Jefferson Patterson Park. We worked with senior citizens at the Southern Pines Community Center to promote habitat-friendly gardening by designing and producing a Butterfly Garden.
We are available to provide educational programs to communities and actively work with them to develop community gardens. One such activity is the Community Garden at the Chesapeake Ranch Estates. Here residents, working with Master Gardeners through their Garden Club, have helped this community develop more than 50 productive vegetable plots.
Conservation-oriented activities are an important focus for the CCMGs. Every year we participate in Patuxent River Appreciation Days, providing demonstrations and information. We work with school children on the Green School Project. We are designing an eco-friendly landscape and demonstration garden on the land adjacent to the Calvert County Community Resources Building, which serves as the headquarters for the Calvert County Office of the Maryland Cooperative Extension and the CCMG membership. A practicum for homeowners living on the waterfront (Bay Smarter) is planned for June 2008. Most recently, our participation in state and national conservation efforts also included collection of seeds from Ash tree species (Fraxinus sp.) for the Plant Genetic Diversity Program of the USDA.
Because the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries abut virtually all of Calvert County, we devote considerable effort to promoting the health of the Bay. We actively support and participate in the Maryland Master Gardeners Bay-Wise Program, conducting numerous yard visits and assisting homeowners to develop Bay-friendly practices through its yard certification program.
Visit our other pages and learn more about how you can become involved in these and other exciting activities – or become a Master Gardener yourself.
Please stop by our gardens, demonstrations, and lectures – we look forward to seeing you!
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For more information, contact Kathleen Mickley
Last updated: 03/10/2009