Green Thumbs for Clear Creeks!

Clear Creeks Project Bay-Wise Steward Sue Kane has been cultivating a green thumb since the age of six, when she first earned a nickel for tending the family garden. As her skill improved, so did her wage, and she was eventually raised to ten cents.

“I’ve been gardening ever since,” said the life-long practitioner.

Now semi-retired, Kane has been putting her love of gardening to work for cleaner community waterways and a healthier Chesapeake Bay. She will be one of the volunteer Bay-Wise Stewards on hand to help their fellow Middle River residents learn to do the same at the Clear Creeks Project Community Garden Tour on Sunday, June 28 from 2:00-4:00 pm.

The free tour will include four stops in Middle River and feature various types of bay-friendly gardens, including residential bayscape, edible bayscape, and rain gardens, as well as a community bayscape in Miramar Landing that helps filter and absorb storm water from over two acres of open space.

Pretty and practical, “conservation gardens” like these are specifically designed to help control storm water runoff and support healthy landscapes. They are planted with flowers and shrubs native to the region. Native plants tend to require less watering and fertilizing while providing much needed food and shelter to local birds, bees and butterflies.

In addition to visiting each garden, tour attendees will receive simple tips and advice about bay-friendly lawn and garden practices and learn about having their properties Bay-Wise certified through the Baltimore County Master Gardener’s free Maryland Bay-Wise Yardstick program.

Helping residents to get their properties Bay-Wise certified has been a central goal of the Clear Creeks Project, which is a community based initiative that seeks to address residents’ desire for improved water clarity in the creeks and rivers of the Bird River, Middle River and Tidal Gunpowder watersheds.

To become Bay-Wise certified, a homeowner fills out a yard certification application with a possible 82 points. Points are awarded for an array of bay-friendly lawn and gardening practices, like installing a bird bath, applying mulch, or planting a conservation garden. A landscape needs 36 points to be certified Bay-Wise, and the process can prove educational.

“On the face of it, the Bay-Wise certification document can look complicated,” says Leslie Erickson, the Bay-Wise Committee Chair for the Baltimore County Master Gardeners, “but what people find is that it’s easy and fun.”

After having her property Bay-Wise certified last fall, Sue Kane decided to enroll in training to become a Baltimore County Master Gardener, (application process now underway for Fall of 2015), and to volunteer as a Clear Creeks Project Bay-Wise Steward.

“For me, having grandkids is part of it. I want to be able to help save what we have. People say, ‘I’m only one person.’ But you take that one and this one, and now you’ve got two. Everything we do can make a difference,” Kane said.

If you would like to tour Bay-friendly gardens and /or learn about steps you can take in your own backyard to make a difference in the health of the Bay, register for the Clear Creeks Garden Tour with Project Steward Dan Doerfer at ddoerfer52@gmail.com or visit the Project website at www.clearcreeks.org. And if you would like information about becoming a Baltimore County Master Gardener (BCMG), contact BCMG Coordinator Anna Glenn at amglenn@umd.edu.

Clear Creeks: Our Water, Our Heritage, Our Pride is funded through grants from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, Baltimore Gas and Electric, and Gunpowder Valley Conservancy.