Home and Garden Information Center

Key Points As Maryland summers become hotter, zoysiagrass is an alternative to a tall fescue home lawn for the warmer regions of the state like the Eastern shore, Southern Maryland, and the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. Zoysia is a warm-season grass that goes dormant and turns tannish-brown in...

Key Points The following information is for cool season lawns such as tall fescue. Maryland’s changing weather patterns are making growing lawns more challenging. Refer to The Challenge of Growing a Lawn in Maryland . The recommended time to fertilize tall fescue lawns is in the fall before...

Are you considering purchasing some plants and concerned about their potential invasiveness? Whether you’re a business owner shopping for plants to resell, or just looking for something to put in your own yard, our list will save you time. We’ve compiled data from a dozen of the region’s most well-...

Care after lawn renovation, for at least the first two months, is important for successful seeding. Changing weather patterns in Maryland including warmer than normal temperatures in late summer and fall, fluctuating periods of very wet, and then very dry weather are making seeding more challenging...

Seed germination Photo: Pixabay Key Points: Seed types Purchasing grass seed An example of a grass seed label Seed mixtures and blends How much grass seed to plant Seed types Turf-type tall fescue is the recommended grass species for Maryland. It does well in all parts of the state. Purchasing...

Key Points: Complete renovation (starting over from scratch). Overseeding into an existing lawn. Repairing bare spots. Why do lawns fail? Weed infestation. Reseed bare areas otherwise, weeds such as crabgrass will invade. Drought. Lawns often recover after a drought when rainfall returns but not...

Photo: Pixabay Sod advantages and disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages A longer window of opportunity to install sod than with seeding. More expensive. An instant lawn and faster establishment. Limited choice of turf cultivars. Immediate erosion control and soil stabilization. Not always readily...

Key Points: Questions to consider before you begin. Types of grass planted in Maryland . Site preparation steps before seeding or laying sod . Most Maryland lawns are started from seed. Turf-type tall fescue is the recommended type of grass for the entire state. Timing is critical for success. Late...

Moss, a native plant, commonly grows in areas where turfgrass does not thrive. Mosses move into areas of thinning turf because the growing conditions favor the moss over turfgrass. In some cases, moss is an attractive groundcover and it is perfectly suitable to let it grow. This page will provide...

Glyphosate, is the active ingredient in Roundup® and other herbicide (weed killer) products. It is systemic (absorbed by foliage and moves throughout the plant) and non-selective (can stunt and kill any plant). But, it has been in the spotlight as a possible cancer-causing compound. This has raised...