The University of Maryland Bay-Wise Living Landscapes Program is available for residents of Montgomery County. Our Montgomery County Master Gardeners have taken 12 hours of advanced training in Bay-Wise Landscape Management. We perform site visits to certify county landscapes as Bay-Wise, and provide recommendations for a more sustainable landscape.
Every Marylander lives within a watershed and has a
role to play in caring for the land, water, air, wildlife, and each other. Every action we take, every small positive change we make to improve water quality, soil health, and habitat counts in a big way. Many of the practices on the following checklist
can result in cost- and time-savings, as well!
For over a quarter century, Maryland Extension’s Bay-Wise Program has led the way on improving water quality across Maryland’s residential landscapes by promoting ecologically-sound landscape and gardening practices that improve water quality, reduce pollution, cool ambient temperatures, and enhance habitat through voluntary actions. Bay-Wise Master Gardeners have certified 3,500+ landscapes in that time and maintain hundreds of demonstration sites across the state.
This checklist highlights eight essential habits that Maryland residents can adopt today to support healthy Maryland watersheds:
1. Recycle organic yard and kitchen waste on-site.
2. Capture and use precipitation where it falls.
3. Plant and conserve a wide variety of native plants.
4. Protect pollinators and beneficial insects.
5. Reduce hazards to fish & wildlife.
6. Shrink your lawn footprint.
7. Protect our waterways and shorelines.
8. Educate friends, family, and neighbors about MD Living Landscapes practices.
Small actions by individuals can add up to big improvements in air and water quality, human health, energy conservation, biodiversity, flood and drought mitigation for our communities. By making some simple changes in how we relate to and manage residential areas as living landscapes, we can ensure a more climate-resilient future for Marylanders and the Chesapeake Bay.
Choose which actions you’re willing to try along the way to adopting these positive environmental habits that help protect our watersheds that provide us with abundant clean water for communities and agriculture, fresh air to breathe, healthy soil to grow gardens and absorb stormwater, shade to cool our neighborhoods in the summer, and food to eat.
Download and save the Maryland Living Landscape Metric to your computer. Go.umd.edu/MD-Living-Landscapes-Metric
2. Review the actions and decide which you would like to try, or are already practicing on your local landscape.
3. Check off the actions you have completed in each group. Each action taken is worth 3 points. Then total your score. A score of at least 100 will qualify you for a certification visit and a beautiful yard sign that lets the world know that you are Bay-Wise.
4. Please email Montgomery County Master Gardeners at mgmont@umd.edu to schedule a certification evaluation visit. Please attach your completed living landscape metric.
OR
5. Print out the Living Landscape Metric and complete it. Mail the metric along with a message requesting a site visit. Send to:
MCMG Bay-Wise Program,
University of Maryland Extension,
18410 Muncaster Road,
Derwood, MD 20855.
The MCMG Bay-Wise committee will review your MD Living Landscape Metric application & get in touch with you to set up a site visit.
University of Maryland Extension Links
Montgomery County Links
Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection: RainScapes Program overview and video
Montgomery County Pesticide Law
Regional Native Plant Links
New conservation garden MoCo Bay-Wise Photo Credit: Master Gardener Linda Barrett