Air Quality Strategy [pdf]
Now available online: Montgomery County’s Air Quality Protection Strategy, which establishes eight priorities for improving the County’s air quality and recommends specific actions that can be taken on the local level. This strategy is another in a series of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) management tools that is receiving national recognition as a model for communities.

Air Toxics  [pdf]
Toxic air pollutants, also known as hazardous air pollutants, are those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects. The Clean Air Act currently requires the EPA to regulate 188 toxic air pollutants. Toxic pollutants are emitted from a variety of sources, both large stationary sources, such as power plants, and many smaller area sources such as dry cleaners and even our cars. Examples of toxic air pollutants include benzene, which is found in gasoline; and tetrachloroethene (or perchloroethlyene), which is emitted from many dry cleaners. Did you know modeling performed by the EPA predicts that Montgomery County and its surrounding areas have levels of many air toxics in the 95th percentile?

Alien Invaders in Your Yard [pdf]
Each year, exotic invasive plants like porcelain berry and English ivy take over an area eight times the size of Montgomery County, leading to billions of dollars in agricultural and forest product losses, and billions more in control costs. Your backyard may well represent a small but important skirmish in this chilling invasion scenario.

The Amazing Amaryllis: Queen of Bulbs [pdf]
The amaryllis is a tender bulb, meaning that it cannot be planted outdoors year-round. However, this so-called tender specimen has been known to produce flowers for up to 75 years with proper care. Even with modest attention it can easily bloom indoors from year to year, or can be repeatedly forced to bloom on cue by simply transplanting outdoors after blooming, and bringing the plant indoors before the first frost.

An Ancient Solution to Modern Pest Problems [pdf]
Millions of years ago, single-celled aquatic organisms called diatoms roamed the earth’s seas, quietly died, and dropped to the sea floor where they formed fossilized deposits. Today, these ancient diatoms are being mined, processed, and sold to homeowners to help control a host of home and garden pests.

Arbor Day & Tree Planting  [pdf]
Thanks to the luscious warmth of spring and the ongoing inspiration of Arbor Day, many homeowners and community groups have started to think about tree planting. But choosing just the right tree or trees can be somewhat daunting. Here are some general guidelines, with suggestions from experts around the county.

Bald Cypress Trees Have a Thirst for Soggy Soils [pdf]
Many homeowners are plagued by soggy or low-lying wet areas which seemingly transform suburban backyards into Cajun-friendly bayous.  Poor drainage, heavy soils, and excessive runoff from neighboring yards or roadways can make it almost impossible to grow much more than moss and alligators.  One solution to this swampy situation might be found in the bald cypress, a fast-growing, bog-friendly tree which not only thrives in moist environments, but can also sponge up and transpire many hundreds of gallons of water a day! 

Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity for Maryland Streams  [pdf]
The Maryland Biological Stream Survey completed its first full 3-year survey of the major river basins in the state in 1997.  The plentiful and diverse data collected has been scrutinized and evaluated.  One of the outcomes of this survey was the development of a new way to use benthic macroinvertebrates (stream "bugs") to determine the quality of a stream -- the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity. Click above to download this informative publication in pdf format.

Berries, Branches, and Blooms for Winter  [pdf]
You can beat the blahs of a winter landscape by remembering the three B's of off-season gardening: blooms, branches, and berries. Admittedly, there are only a handful of introduced plants, and even fewer native species, which bloom and provide colorful relief during the grey days of mid-winter, with the striking and noteworthy exception of witch hazel.

Best Management Practice Monitoring Protocols  [pdf]
In order to promote consistency and comparability among BMP monitoring projects, The Department of Environmental Protection, Special Area Protection Program has developed a BMP sampling protocols document. The document has been written to provide guidance to consultants and others conducting BMP monitoring.

Breathing New Blooms Into Old Bulbs  [pdf]
Coaxing spring-flowering bulbs to bloom during the winter is a popular trick for adding brilliant color to the home and a welcome boost to the spirit. Unfortunately, the trick does not work well for everyone, while even successful practitioners often look at the faded foliage and wonder what next? Enjoy this new GreenMan column to get maximum mileage from your magificent bulbs

A Colonial Approach for Your Landscaping  [pdf]
Many people overlook the style of their homes when they are seeking landscaping inspiration. The brick colonial, complete with ye olde garage and driveway, is among the most commonly found designs in our older, post-war communities. These modern colonials typically feature an indeterminate landscape of lawns and azaleas rather than anything that might be considered truly colonial, and perhaps better suited to the home and its setting.

Commercial Stormwater Facility Maintenance [pdf]
A downloadable pdf guide to oil/grit separators, underground storage structures, and other facilities.

Composting Myths  [pdf]
It is a tribute to composting that humans have taken such a simple, natural process and elevated it through myth and misunderstanding into a form of new age alchemy. The spread of these myths has been facilitated by word of mouth, misguided publications from solid waste managers, and, worst of all, hardcore marketing. In order to keep composting simple and inexpensive,let's put to rest some of the more popular myths.

Composting With Pallets  [pdf]
Wooden shipping pallets are easily recycled into large, heavy-duty compost bins which assemble in minutes, and can produce rich humus mulch and compost year after year.

Controlling Mosquitoes Around Your Home & Garden
Mosquitoes have buzzed around our planet for countless millions of years, long before the emergence of man and insect repellant. They have spread malaria across the globe, helped decimate isolated villages and have spoiled innumerable picnics and walks on the beach. At great cost — and to no avail — we have fought them with DDT, incense coils and backyard foggers.

A Corny Solution to Weeds [pdf]
Homeowners looking to control weeds in their lawn often grapple with the difficult choice of using toxic herbicides, pulling them by hand, or simply tolerating patches of dandelions and crabgrass. Fortunately, there is now a safe, organic alternative brought to us by our corn-centric friends in Iowa. 

Countywide Stream Protection Strategy (CSPS)
A directory of the varied reports associated with the CSPS initiative.

Countywide Stream Protection Strategy (CSPS) - 1998 Edition
Through this website, information can be accessed about the condition of local streams, and the land use characteristics of the watersheds that drain to these streams.

CSPS 2003 Update [5.6 MB PDF]
In 2001, DEP began its second five year biological monitoring cycle to assess water quality conditions in all county watersheds. Previous monitoring sites are being revisited to measure and compare water quality conditions and changes over time. Our "yardstick" is the index of biological integrity or IBI. DEP has an IBI for fish and one for aquatic insects. The 2003 Update to the Countywide Stream Protection Strategy (CSPS) examines trends by comparing stations that were monitored for fish and/or aquatic insects in 1994-1998 with those monitored in 1999-2001.  This document is also available in hardcopy format. Contact Keith Van Ness for a free copy, while supplies last.

CSPS Update: Stream Conditions Trend Report   [pdf] 
In 2001, DEP began its second five year biological monitoring cycle to assess water quality conditions in all county watersheds. Previous monitoring sites are being revisited to measure and compare water quality conditions and changes over time. Our "yardstick" is the index of biological integrity or IBI. DEP has an IBI for fish and one for aquatic insects. The 2003 Update to the Countywide Stream Protection Strategy (CSPS) examines trends by comparing stations that were monitored for fish and/or aquatic insects in 1994-1998 with those monitored in 1999-2001.

CSPS Update: Significant Progress in Sligo Creek Restoration  [pdf] 
The most extensive and long term stream restoration effort undertaken so far in Montgomery County, Maryland has focused on Sligo Creek. As in many of the County's older, heavily developed areas, the Sligo Creek watershed posed special challenges. Many of the important headwater tributaries were long ago piped and/or eliminated, and much of the stream channel was highly eroded and filled with debris...

Creating a Butterfly Garden  [pdf]
Butterflies are on the wing!  They grace our days with a rare and evanescent beauty.  And yet, for all their amusing fluttering and richness of color, they have unfortunately met with much the same treatment as many of the other beneficial organisms in our environment. Their habitat has declined significantly due to the persistent impact of overdevelopment and urban sprawl. Moreover, their very existence is continually threatened by chemical-intensive efforts to eliminate agricultural, lawn, and garden pests.

Daylilies for Dazzling Gardens [pdf]
Daylilies have emerged as one of the most popular perennials in American gardens. Unfortunately, while the genus Hemerocallis has grown in favor, many gardeners and landscape designers seem to have directed their attention to only one lustrous variety, ‘Stella de Oro,’ while overlooking the staggering range of color, height, bloom size, and form found among the hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties readily available.

Detecting and Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the leading causes of poisoning deaths in the United States. Approximately 250 lives are claimed accidentally each year, and CO poisoning poses a serious health threat to thousands of individuals and families. The effects of carbon monoxide are often overlooked, with some people suffering from poisoning continuously for months.

Discovering the Secrets of Papyrus
In recent years, ornamental grasses have become de rigueur for most modern garden designs.  They are graceful, tall, and elegant – rather much the Audrey Hepburn of horticulture.  But how can we translate this vertical effect to our indoor gardening environment?  The solution comes replete with a rich and stunning history dating back to the ancient Nile, Pharaohs, Egyptian gods, and Moses in the bulrushes.  Welcome to papyrus, one of the most important plants in early human civilization.

Don't Get Bamboozled!
A common axiom in gardening is putting the right plant in the right place.  Where bamboo is concerned, most people think that the only appropriate location is somewhere on the far side of hell.  Bamboo is cherished and ardently defended as a vigorous landscape screen by some, although it is usually cursed as an invasive, unstoppable menace by most others, especially irate neighbors who find spikes and spears shooting up in their lawn and garden beds. 

Dwarf Citrus: Big On Flavor & Fragrance  [pdf] 
During the cold, gray days of winter, few things brighten and warm a room like the sweet, rich aroma of lemon blossoms or the glow of maturing oranges among glossy, green leaves.  Thanks to the widespread cultivation of dwarf citrus trees, any gardener with a bright window can enjoy all the sensory pleasures of lemons, limes, oranges, and more, all year long.

Easy Composting
Composting is a simple, natural process. There is no need to purchase special activators or fertilizers to make the materials in your composter break down. This document contains basic strategies for making compost "
happen."

Easy Orchids for Exotic Living  [pdf] 
The frequent association of orchids with mist-shrouded jungle canopies has led to the common misconception that growing them poses too many problems. Fortunately, relocating to a remote tropical island or investing in a greenhouse are not prerequisites to enjoying these exotic, breathtaking and unique flowering plants. Anyone who can grow indoor flowering plants successfully will find scores of brilliant and affordable orchids to fit every situation and room in their home.

Environmental Assessment
Identifies significant resource concerns throughout the county and region grouped into key areas, such as air quality, biodiversity, energy management, agriculture, watershed quality, and so on. Within each area, individual measures or "indicators" have been identified by working with numerous citizen advisory committees.

Environmental Lawn Care  [pdf]
When lawn care becomes warfare, when children and pets are put at risk by crossing treated turf areas, or when sprays endanger the health of individuals who are immune-impaired or suffer from respiratory problems, we have to measure the real costs of lawn perfection.

Environmental Protection 1996-2006:
The Path to Sustainability
Ten years ago the Department of Environmental Protection underwent a dramatic metamorphosis, evolving from a large organization with a host of varied missions, to a considerably smaller department focused solely on protecting and restoring the natural resources of Montgomery County. Today, we are well along the path to achieving our goal of developing a sustainable approach to environmental protection which will ensure that future generations have access to clean air and water, a healthy stream system, and a growing tree canopy. This report is designed to provide a summary of the efforts undertaken by DEP over the last ten years in support of our vision and to meet our responsibility to move toward a sustainable future.

Examining Your Vehicle Fleet
There has been a lot of talk lately about SUVs both in fleets and being driven by the public. When looking at pollutant emissions, it is more complicated then merely looking at the type of the car. There are several factors to consider: the age of the vehicle; the type of the vehicle; the weight of the vehicle; and the vehicle’s gas mileage.

Fall Into Spring 
The days are growing shorter and colder, and your mailbox is already full of winter catalogs. You might think your garden chores are finished for the season. Think again. The garden year actually begins with the misty, mellow days of autumn.

Fall Tips to Help Winterize Your Lawn
Homeowners often make the mistake of thinking that the secret to a good lawn is lots of work in the spring. However, perhaps the most vital period of time for healthy turf is the fall, where proper feeding and care will result in a naturally lush and beautiful lawn in the spring, which will keep its green all year long.

Garden Catalogs Promise a Horticultural Heaven [pdf] 
Just as holiday catalog deliveries are waning, gardeners’ mailboxes fill with dozens of seed and garden catalogs bursting with gleaming copper obelisks, Chinese Giant Peppers and a host of tantalizing plants, tools and often wacky products.

Gardens That Are Always Minty Fresh  [pdf]
 Mint is unquestionably the dominant flavor of our everyday world.  It seems that you can’t leave the house without dealing with mint-flavored dental floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash, and even mint-scented shampoo.  Recently, many of us watched the Kentucky Derby while sipping mint juleps, or enjoyed an after dinner mint – maybe even one of those too-sweet crème de menthe cordials.  Then there are the breath mints, chewing gums, and so on.

Getting Started: Composting Basics
The key to successful composting is getting started simply and properly, avoiding unwanted surprises, and learning how to slowly adjust your composting technique to achieve a rich, beautiful product to serve the needs of your garden -- and your lifestyle. Also available as the PDF document: Getting Started: Composting Basics

Going Solar to Set Your Soil Straight [pdf]
Everybody knows that sunlight makes plants grow. But did you know that solar energy can help you "grow" healthier soil? If not, welcome to the solar-powered world of soil solarization! Solarization is a safe, non-chemical, and effective method for controlling the host of pests and diseases which might be lurking in your garden soil, including harmful bacteria, fungi, and nematodes, as well as insect eggs, root-gnawing larvae, and weed seeds.

Good Scents for Better Indoor [pdf]
Tired of our artificially-scented and perfumed world, bubbling with pots of potpourri and plug-in air fresheners?  A more natural choice to add aroma to our homes and offices can be found in an amazing assortment of plants which are as beautiful in bloom as they are richly laden with extraordinary fragrance.

Grasscycling Guidelines
Provides information on how to mow properly, when to feed your lawn, what kind of fertilizer to use, when and how to water, how to aerate your lawn and treat special problems.

Grasscycling: Mower Power to Your Lawn
There is no question that lawns play a central and emotional role in the American landscape. After all, we spend billions of dollars pampering the patches of turf around our homes, in addition to a disproportionate share of our personal time and energy. If your back is already aching – and your wallet feels lighter – you might want to consider joining the grasscycling revolution!

Great Gourds! In Praise of Pumpkins  [pdf]
Celebrating As you select and prepare to carve a pumpkin this Halloween, you should pause to reflect on the vast impact this humble gourd has had on our cultural history. Pumpkins generally trace their origins to Central America, and collections of seed have been found in Mexico dating back several thousand years. Today, pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica, and have found their way into our legends and traditions, kitchens, kitschy competitions, and media.

Greening & Cleaning Your Indoor Air
The overall quality of indoor air in our homes and offices has been declining steadily during the past three decades. Concerns regarding energy conservation during the 1970s led to superior insulation materials, tight-fitting windows and doors, and other construction features which have effectively bottled up our living and work spaces. Unfortunately, while keeping out cold drafts, those design elements have also sealed in a host of potentially harmful air pollutants, leading to "sick building syndrome" and other health issues.

Ground Covers for Shady Areas   [pdf]
Perhaps one of the most common — and frustrating — stumbling blocks in home landscaping is getting grass to grow under trees. Die-hard lawn jockeys spend many weekend hours at garden centers looking for "shade-loving" grass seed. Others go on a liming rampage, dumping bag loads on their lawn to wipe out the lush green, gentle mosses which love acid soils and shady, humid conditions. Worse, yet, others will rip up their lawns in fall, damaging tree roots, and chewing up precious weekend hours, determined to get a good stand of grass growing at any cost.

Groundwater Protection Strategy  [pdf]
A strategy to protect public health, and the integrity of surface water and groundwater.

Ground-Level Ozone  [pdf]
Ground level ozone is a colorless gas created when intense sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be found in the air we breathe. When ozone forms it can be harmful to our health—ozone inflames and can damage the lining of the lung. There are summer days when the region is above the health standard for ozone set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Find out what you can do to breathe easier.

Hanging Baskets: Gardening at Eye-Level
Hanging baskets have come a long way from the plastic potted geraniums traditionally sold outside supermarkets. Garden centers beckon with Old World styled wrought-iron cages or light and elegant moss-filled wire baskets, along with artisan-forged hooks and brackets. And trailing petunias must now compete with an entire aerial garden of colorful snapdragons and fragrant heliotropes, surrounded by a riot of verbena, trailing lantana, nasturtiums, and Italian bellflowers.

Hawlings River Watershed Restoration Study  [pdf]
In May, 2000, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection began the Hawlings River Watershed Restoration Study to evaluate opportunities for stream restoration and stormwater retrofits. The DEP will use the study results as part of an overall watershed restoration plan which will include public education and participation projects, capital projects for stream restoration and stormwater retrofit controls, voluntary nonstructural projects such as reforestation, and watershed monitoring and management programs.

Healthy Indoor Painting Practices
Most paints and floor finishings, including water-soluble latex formulations, contain solvents that can cause eye irritation and short term central nervous system symptoms such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Long term exposure to certain paint components has been associated with chronic damage to the central nervous system, liver, and kidneys. Paint solvent vapors may pose a special risk for pregnant women, young children, and individuals with respiratory ailments. However, paint vapors can be harmful to everyone exposed to them, even for short periods.  This information is also now available in English and Spanish as downloadable pdf documents:

• Healthy Indoor Painting Practices

Heirloom Gardening [pdf] 
Gardeners are finding that many traditional varieties of vegetables and fruits have disappeared. More than 80 percent of the seed varieties sold a century ago are no longer available today. That loss of genetic and cultural resources has led to a quiet, though growing, revolution known as heirloom gardening and seed-saving.

Helping Your Garden Survive the Drought [pdf]
 Homeowners are heading into an unpromising spring and summer after the driest six months in well over 100 years.  A severe drought has settled in across the state and the region, forcing gardeners to make some important decisions in the weeks and months to come.

“Honey, I shrunk the lawn!” [pdf]
Nothing is as satisfying as lawn care. Coping with brown patch, powdery mildew, drought, rain and weeds. In return, you enjoy the weekly mowing, noisy machinery, fumes, sweating, raking leaves, watering, and the cost of buying seed and fertilizer. Ah, it's the good life. Haven't you had enough? Maybe instead of just cutting your lawn, you should cut it down to size.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles [pdf]
A hybrid is any vehcile that uses two or more sources of power. In today's HEVs, the two sources are electricity (from batteries) and mechanical power (from a small internal combustion engine). HEVs can offer the very low emissions of electric vehicles with the power and range of gasoline vehicles. They also offer up to 30 more miles per gallon, perform as well or better than, and are just as safe as any comparable gasoline powered car. And, they never have to be plugged in for recharging!  More...

Incredible, Edible Landscapes [pdf]
Picture this. It is early morning and you have just picked up the newspaper from the curb and are walking back to the house. On your way, you bend over and pluck a tasty handful of strawberries for your cereal. You decide to walk around the side of the house to your back door, stopping for a minute to fill your other hand with plump, juicy blueberries. Now you’re thinking fresh, hot blueberry muffins! If this scene appeals to you, you are ready for an edible landscape.

Indoor Plants for Just Hanging Around  [pdf]
Indoor hanging plants seem to come and go in style.  Unfortunately, many people lose interest in them because they become bored with little more than green fronds hanging over their heads.  But hanging plants can offer a great deal more, depending on how they are selected.  A hanging plant does not simply mean Boston ferns, Swedish ivy, and spider plants, although these are remarkably easy to grow.  There are some foliage plants which sport colorful stripes and veins, while others offer weird and intriguing leaf shapes.  There are also a great many flowering plants ideal for indoor hanging baskets, each suited to different levels of light exposure, as well as temperature and humidity ranges. 

Inviting Toads to Your Abode   [pdf]
Each year, in order to combat an onslaught of creepy, crawling critters, many homeowners spend a small fortune on toxic chemicals, pheromone lures, and even propane-powered mosquito traps.  Interestingly, there's a simple solution that's just a short hop (and croak) away.   In the world of natural pest control, one of the brightest players is the humble toad.  Toads have a phenomenal appetite for insects and other invertebrates that go squish in the night, especially undesirable and rapacious creatures such as slugs, gypsy moths, and tent caterpillars.   In fact, up to 90 percent of a toad's diet includes the most common garden pests, such as earwigs, sowbugs (a.k.a. woodlice), millipedes, crickets, a wide assortment of beetles, and otherwise helpful predators like spiders and centipedes.  A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report actually estimated that one adult toad may consume 10,000 pest insects in a 90-day period.

Landscaping to Attract Birds
As people learn to enjoy the beauty of birdlife around their home, they may wish to improve the "habitat" in their yard so that more birds will visit their property. You can attract birds by placing bird feeders, nest boxes, and bird baths in your yard, and by planting a variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers. These can provide good nesting sites, winter shelter, places to hide from predators, and natural food supplies that are available year-round.

Landscaping to Save Energy  (Winter Edition)
Homeowners this winter are being squeezed between lower than usual temperatures and abnormally high natural gas prices. In fact, depending on the size of the home, residents are spending between two to three times as much on basic heating costs... But there are some long-term and attractive landscaping solutions which can provide effective winter climate control by deflecting cold winds and drafts, while providing indoor comfort and increasing property values.  See also Winter Heating Tips below.

Lawn and Garden Equipment
Emissions from lawn and garden equipment like lawnmowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, string trimmers and other gasoline powered outdoor equipment are a significant source of pollution. In fact, one gasoline powered lawnmower run for one hour emits ozone precursors equal to one car driven for 635 miles! Learn how you can make a difference.

Leaf Blower Noise Law
A person must not sell, buy offer for sale, or use a leaf blower at any time that has an average sound level exceeding 70 dBA (A-weighted decibels) at a distance of 50 feet. This requirement is in addition to any other noise level or noise disturbance standard that applies under the Ordinance.

The Legend & Lore of Holiday Plants [pdf]
For many people, the upcoming holiday season is the most special time of year. It is a period somewhat set apart from daily living and reserved for families, friends and celebrations. Above all, it is a time rich with customs and rituals, where even our simplest holiday decorations, songs and stories are the product of complex legends and myths from numerous countries and religious traditions, curiously blended together, transformed and reinterpreted over thousands of years.  

Living Christmas Trees Help Plant Memories  [pdf]
For many of us, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a fragrant, fresh-cut Christmas tree in our home.  And for a lucky few -- those with large yards and strong backs -- the holiday is an opportunity to celebrate with a living Christmas tree; a cheerful, green guest whose role in this holiday tradition is only matched by its future value in the landscape.

Lobelias for Your Landscape [pdf]
Late summer is probably not the most exciting time to hike through our native woodlands.  Weekend rambles present varying shades and textures of green. It's pleasant, but not engaging.  A cool breeze may flutter a yellow leaf or two to the ground, a mere portent of the colorful autumn-kissed leaves to come.  Then suddenly, across the greenness, a brilliant scarlet spike appears.  It's nearly luminous — it's Lobelia!  Click above to download the complete GreenMan factsheet. 

Luring Bats to Your Landscape  [pdf]
It is easy to encourage the creation of gardens that attract butterflies, hummingbirds or songbirds. But bats?  Rather than appreciate these fascinating night fliers, most people tend to react with a loathing inspired by superstition and misunderstanding. However, inviting bats into your yard and garden is one of the easiest and safest methods for eliminating thousands of pesky insects a night, including the much-dreaded mosquito.

Maintaining Urban Stormwater Facilities
Describes the four primary types of stormwater management facility and outlines some basic maintenance tasks that will keep them functioning properly. The audience is primarily homeowners associations and residential or commercial property managers.

Meditations on a Monastic Garden   [pdf]
A garden can play many roles in our lives, depending on its design and intent: a treat for the senses, a source of sustenance, or a simple place to mess about with plants.But certainly one of the most important and traditional roles is as a unique place away from the world and worldly concerns.This special sort of garden can serve as an area for reflection, meditation, and spiritual healing.Indeed, for many of us, while we acknowledge having lost Eden, we haven’t given up on trying to recreate an ideal space for body and soul

Menu for a Hummingbird Garden [pdf]
Few sights outdoors are more delightful than the charmed beauty of hummingbirds. They seem to appear as if by magic, hovering with nearly invisible wings, silently darting from flower to flower. Adorned in iridescent green and scarlet, these visitors can be coaxed into almost any garden with just a handful of the appropriate nectar-rich flowers.

Moon Gardens for Luminous Landscapes   [pdf]
For some people, gardening is a diurnal affair: watch them as they toil, sweat, plan, and plant with peppy bright colors resplendent in the sun. Yet for romantic souls, twilight stirs enchantment and a pure quiet beauty which only awakens with the fall of night. For the nocturnal gardener, a moon garden is a phosphorescent paradise, filled with shimmering silver foliage, the subtle glow of white blossoms, and the sultry, intoxicating fragrance of night-blooming jasmines, stocks, and fantastic twining moonflowers. 

Native Grasses for a Naturally Elegant Landscape  [pdf]
The introduction of ornamental grasses to the American landscape is one of the defining moments in modern garden design.  These grasses, planted in clumps or large masses, recall elements of the nation's vanishing prairie, while adding sophistication and panache to even the most groomed garden.

Natural Color for Shady Landscapes   [pdf]
Planting in full shade is one of the most daunting challenges facing the average gardener.  Not the partially sunny, light-dappled kind of shade that feels so lovely in midsummer, but the deep Amazonian shade so dark that moss will grow on your garden trowel if you don't keep moving.  Not surprisingly, many folks facing full shade simply give up and resign themselves to a dull landscape of invasive ivy and much over-utilized liriope, little realizing that there are ways to foster splashes of vibrant color even in their horticultural twilight zone.

NPDES Annual Report - 2005  [pdf]
Contains background and specific information about the Montgomery County NPDES MS4 Permit to control stormwater runoff into streams and other waterways. The goal of this federal Clean Water Act program is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's water.

NPDES Annual Report - 2004  [pdf]

NPDES Annual Report - 2003  [pdf]

Noise Control Through Planning and Design  [pdf]
Noise, or unwanted sound, can be an unwelcome by-product of our built environment, seriously degrading the "quality of life" in our residential, business, and mixed-use communities.  Obviously, the most effective method of controlling unwanted sound is to prevent it in the first place.  Noise can be prevented or controlled to reasonable levels by various design, location, and engineering measures, or a combination thereof.  In this context, the design engineer, architect, developer, or contractor are essential in our abiding effort to ensure quiet communities.   Likewise, the individual homeowner or businessperson should be aware of noise considerations when planning renovations or replacement of equipment. 

Noise Control: A Sound Solution  [pdf]
When sound becomes noise, an unwanted din at high continuous levels, problems arise. Noise interferes with our normal residential and business activities, and persistent exposure can result in psychological stress. Noise at high enough levels can damage our hearing. 

Noise Ordinance: Montgomery County  [pdf]
The County Council finds that excessive noise harms public health and welfare and impairs enjoyment of property. The intent of this Chapter is to control noise sources to protect public health and welfare and to allow the peaceful enjoyment of property. This Chapter must be liberally construed to carry out this intent. 

Noise Ordinance Compliance [pdf]
Just as litter degrades the landscape of the community, noise degrades its soundscape. The United States Census Bureau’s “Surveys of Neighborhood Problems,” conducted over the past three decades, identified noise as consistently among the top four issues of concern. Fortunately, Montgomery County has had an effective Noise Control Ordinance since 1975 (Chapter 31B, Montgomery County Code). In 1996, the ordinance was comprehensively revised to make it more pro-active, user-friendly, and better structured to deal with current and future realities. The goal of the ordinance is to reduce overall noise levels in the County; therefore, there must be universal and consistent compliance with its provisions.

Noise Pollution: An Overview  [pdf]
The world around us is filled with sound. Every minute of every day we encounter an infinite variety of sounds, many of them rich with pleasant associations: the familiar chirping of crickets, the song of a bird, a child's laughter, the soothing patter of summer rain, or the rustle of leaves in a breeze.

Notice to Contractors  [pdf]
The Montgomery County Council recently enacted a comprehensive revision to the County Noise Control Ordinance (Chapter 31B, Montgomery County Code), including changes to the provisions concerning noise from construction activities.

Open Burning: A Regulatory Factsheet
Open burning creates air pollution that can directly affect the health and well being of people who live or work near open burning sites. Air pollution from open burning can cause property damage to nearby residential and commercial property. In addition to smoke and odors, open burning contributes carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone (smog).  See also below:

• Agricultural Burning Permit Guidelines
• Recreational Burning Requirements

Outdoor Water Conservation Tips
During drought periods, it's important to prioritize watering chores and learn who needs water first, who doesn't, and how best to meet those watering demands with dwindling water resources.

Particulate Matter  [pdf]
Particulate matter includes dust, dirt, soot, smoke and liquid droplets. Particulate matter can either be directly emitted or formed in the atmosphere by reactions of fuel combustion gases. Particulate matter air pollution recently has been touted to be among one of the most harmful air pollutants. Inhaled particles can evade the respiratory system’s natural defenses and penetrate deep into the lungs causing both respiratory and cardiovascular disease. There will be days that this region will not be able to attain the new fine particulate matter health standard. Learn more about this hazy pollutant.

Pathway to Fragrance [pdf]
Pathways can extend an invitation to friends and guests or lead us away on new adventures. Unfortunately, most of the paths we typically design are sterile ribbons of concrete.  However, with some alternate paving materials and a nose for fragrant ground covers, we can transform those lifeless, static pathways into a welcome treat for the senses.

Peachy Ideas for Your Patio   [pdf]
There has been a Lilliputian revolution going on in the world of fruit.  While most everything in our culture has been getting super-sized, horticulturists and plant geneticists have been toiling away, developing dwarf and super-dwarf varieties of fruit trees ideally suited for the smallest backyard or patio garden.  You can almost smell the peaches ripening from your bedroom window!

Pesticides: Selection, Safe Use and Alternatives [pdf]
Pesticides are substances used to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pest ranging from insects, animals and weeds to microorganisms such as fungi, molds, bacteria and viruses. Did you know that common household products such as flea and tick sprays, powders and pet collars; kitchen, laundry and bath disinfectants and sanitizers, including bleach are considered pesticides? Learn more about pesticide use basics — and new County Pesticide Regulations — by clicking above.

A Plant With Pedigree and Pizzazz [pdf]
For those of us with a drop or two of chlorophyll in our veins, propagating and sharing plants with friends and neighbors is second nature. You might think of it as hand-me-down horticulture.  One of my most bizarre and entrancing pass-along plants is the Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), often erroneously called “Night Blooming Cereus” or “Queen of the Night.”

Planting a Pizza & Pasta Garden  [pdf]
Pizza gardens can be planted simply to provide the fresh herbs and vegetables to make your home-baked pizza a masterful culinary creation, or they can be designed to create a whimsical round garden bed resembling a large deep dish pizza.

Planting Fragrance in Your Garden
Gardens play many roles in our lives.  They’re sanctuaries and playgrounds, habitat for wildlife and colorful backgrounds for entertaining.  They can also be aromatic portals to our past. Nothing conjures up long forgotten memories like our sense of smell.  A whiff of lavender and we remember our father’s aftershave or a great-aunt’s parlor. And so, with just a shovel and a shrub, you can open a pathway to your past – or perhaps create some fragrant new experiences.

Putting Your Soil to the Test  [pdf]
Healthy soil is the single most important ingredient for successful lawns, yards, and gardens.  Unfortunately, it is the one element generally overlooked by homeowners as they head into their neighborhood garden center, hell-bent on beating some pest or jazzing up the green in their grass.  The simple fact is that healthy soil produces healthy plants.  Period.  Anything done to improve the yard or garden which does not consider the needs of the soil is a waste of time — and potentially damaging both to the soil and to the community of plants it supports. 

Rain Gardens: Harvesting the Heavens  [pdf]
For imaginative landscapers, rain gardens may represent the perfect marriage of heaven and earth. Specially-designed garden areas help to receive and store rainfall, using that moisture to nourish an oasis of interesting native plant communities reminiscent of lush streambanks and freshwater marshes.

Raising Children in Your Garden [pdf]
For many of us, our love of gardening began in childhood, often with a single defining moment, such as kneeling beside a mother or grandmother and setting a few seeds in the soil.  That simple act has the power to introduce a child to a larger, wondrous world of color, beauty, and delicious flavors, while instilling forever an appreciation for plants and soil, the web of life and the rhythm of the seasons.

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) [pdf]
Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs for short, are one way consumers, businesses, and organizations can buy clean energy without changing their energy supplier.  Certification organizations like Green-e, regional transmission organizations, and others verify the validity of the certificates.  When a consumer purchases RECs they are offsetting the amount of pollution they generate by supporting clean energy.  Find out how you can offset your electricity consumption by purchasing RECs and earn rewards.

The REC Market Helps States Meet Clean Air Requirements  [pdf]
A Maryland county is purchasing wind energy to combat ground-level ozone pollution.  By Ann Elsen, Montgomery County's former Energy Planner.  "A local government in Maryland recently found an innovative way to use renewable energy certificates (REC) to improve regional air quality. This approach has created a new market driver for wind power and may foster increased wind development in areas faced with serious air pollution problems."  Reprinted with permission from the Month 2005 issue of North American Windpower.

Rethinking Lawns in the Commercial Landscape  [pdf]
A growing number of property managers are learning that selecting alternatives to landscaping with grass leads to both long-term savings and to exceptional aesthetic values — which can be seen as an investment in advertising: visually separating that colorful, creative site from the boring sea of grass around them.

The Return of Brood X [pdf]
 Unless you have been living underground recently, you must already know that periodical cicadas are about to make a dramatic and noisy return to our area after quietly living underground for 17 years. Oh sure, we have our share of cicadas each year, whose shrill mating calls are loud enough to drown out most polite conversation, but those large blackish-green individuals, often called “Dog Day” cicadas, belong to a different genus from our septendecimial friends. They only live for several years and appear each year, and are therefore not periodical.

Rhapsody in Blue  [pdf]
Gardening, at its best, is all about orchestration. Like any musical composition, a garden requires the proper arrangement of colors, textures, and form. But it also begs for a certain amount of experimentation. You can use your garden space to blend together a wide variety of otherwise unrelated plants.

Rock Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan  [pdf]
The Rock Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan is a summary of the more technical and lengthy Rock Creek Watershed Feasibility Study that was completed in the Summer of 2001. The document describes the general stream conditions found in the watershed, along with typical impacts and problems that need to be addressed. Solutions to these problems and specific project areas are presented, which include stream restoration and stormwater management throughout the watershed.

The Roots (& Tubers) of the Thanksgiving Tradition  [pdf]
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, a holiday full of swirling memories and preparations, like so many colorful autumn leaves.  It's a celebration of family and food and delightful traditions.  And it can be a reminder that our traditions are actually anything but traditional.

Sage Advice About Gardening With Salvia  [pdf]
Few plants have commanded such a central role in human history as common garden sage.  First revered for its medicinal properties in antiquity, this unassuming member of the mint family was held sacred to the Greek and Roman gods, traded by the Dutch for tea from China, and has been revered by herbalists for millennia, from Dioscorides and Galen to your local GNC outlet.

Salad Days in Your Salad Garden [pdf]
Like many people, I grew up thinking that salads were little more than clumps of tasteless iceberg lettuce, wedges of flavorless supermarket tomatoes, and a oily dressing reconstituted from dried Italian herbs in a foil envelope. Thankfully, American cuisine has changed, and now most of us can turn to our garden for help in creating exciting salads from homegrown greens, vegetables, herbs – and even flowers!

Selecting Tough Plants for Tough Times  [pdf]
The otherwise lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer can often pose life and death challenges for area gardeners — or at least for their garden plants, including sweltering heat and possible watering restrictions. Such tough times call for tough plants and a creative new plant palette. Fear not! Developing gardens around heat- and drought-tolerant plants will not result in desert landscapes of gravel and stone punctuated with the odd yucca or prickly pear. Some of the toughest plants readily available are among the most spectacular in form, color, and fragrance.

Shady Ideas for Home Landscaping  [pdf]  
By properly positioning trees around our homes and reducing the amount of sunlight striking rooftops, walls, and windows, we can lower cooling costs by up to 25 percent. In fact, this type of natural cooling is much akin to using hats and sunscreen to protect delicate skin from harmful solar radiation.

A Shakespeare Garden  [pdf]  
 Bring the bard to your yard! In a world where we are most often reflected in baseline demographics, gardening becomes a rare opportunity to express personal interests and creativity. Perhaps all that is wanted is a touch of inspiration. For that, what better source than Shakespeare? The bard’s works overflow with flowers and botanical allusions, with magical moonlit glades, and with gardens as both settings and metaphors.

Sharing Your Holidays with Wildlife  [pdf]
However you prepare to decorate for the upcoming holiday season, you might want to expand your spirit of giving to include your feathered and furred neighbors.  You will find that creating colorful, edible outdoor ornaments is a fun, imaginative, and rewarding activity that will bring your family closer together, and may launch a wonderful new tradition.  

Showering With Your Schefflera [pdf]
Indoor gardening can introduce a wide array of benefits into your home and office, from decoration and fragrance, to fresh-cut culinary herbs. Unfortunately, indoor plants can introduce annoying pests and other  problems, especially if some of those plants were brought indoors to overwinter.

Solar [pdf]
William McDonough, an architect and urban planner famous for his environmental initiatives, is quoted as saying "...there is an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us.  It delivers more energy than we could ever use in about 8 minutes.  And it's wireless!"  He is talking about the sun.  We can use the sun's energy to produce electricity.  This clean renewable energy sources is a viable option for consumers in Montgomery County.  Find out how you can take advantage of the technology at your home or business.

Solutions for Steep, Sunny Slopes
A steep, sunny slope in your landscape can be a real challenge, especially if you're trying to manage that area as a lawn.  The slope itself makes mowing difficult — if not outright dangerous — and it is difficult to keep the turf green, as most water simply flows downhill, leaving the hillsides brown and barren.  A proper solution should really turn this landscaping liability into an attractive asset.

Special Protection Area Annual Report - 2004
The 2004 Special Protection Area Annual Report summarizes results of all monitoring completed in the four SPAs through 2004.  DEP monitors stream conditions annually locations throughout the SPAs. Additionally, development projects located within the SPAs are required to monitor representative sediment and erosion control and stormwater management BMPs to determine the effectiveness of these devices in minimizing impacts to the receiving stream. Results of an analysis of sediment and erosion control device effectiveness are presented.  Proposed changes to the current SPA law and their rationale are discussed in the report.  This year, the report has been produced in a smaller, easier to read format.  The Special Protection Area Program began in 1994. This report covers the period of 1994-2004.
   •  2004 Report Cover Letter 

SPA Annual Report 2003 [pdf]
The 2003 Special Protection Area Annual Report summarizes results of all monitoring completed in the four SPAs through 2003.  DEP monitors stream conditions annually at 47 fixed locations throughout the SPAs. Additionally, new development projects located within the SPAs are required to monitor on-site conditions to determine effectiveness of site design and stormwater management BMPs (Best Management Practices) in minimizing impacts to the receiving stream.  Status of all new development proposed in the SPAs can also be found in this report.  The Special Protection Area Program began in 1994. This report covers the period of 1994-2003.

SPA Annual Report 2002
The 2002 Special Protection Area Annual Report summarizes results of all monitoring completed in the three SPAs through 2002.  DEP monitors stream conditions annually at 47 fixed locations throughout the SPAs. Additionally, new development projects located within the SPAs are required to monitor on-site conditions to determine effectiveness of site design and stormwater management BMPs (Best Management Practices) in minimizing impacts to the receiving stream.  Status of all new development proposed in the SPAs can also be found in this report.  The Special Protection Area Program began in 1994. This report covers the period of 1994-2002.

Introduction
Clarksburg SPA
Paint Branch SPA
Piney Branch SPA
Evaluation and Recommendations

SPA Annual Report 2001 [pdf]
The 2001 Special Protection Area Annual Report summarizes results of all monitoring completed in the three SPAs through 2001. DEP monitors stream conditions annually at 47 fixed locations throughout the SPAs. Additionally, new development projects located within the SPAs are required to monitor on-site conditions to determine effectiveness of site design and stormwater management BMPs (Best Management Practices) in minimizing impacts to the receiving stream. Status of all new development proposed in the SPAs can also be found in this report. The Special Protection Area Program began in 1994. This report covers the period of 1994-2001. Development status is updated through June 2002.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Clarksburg SPA
Paint Branch SPA
Piney Branch SPA
Evaluation and Recommendations

Stormwater Facilities Maintenance: Funding Options
Policymakers have struggled with the task of equitably funding the maintenance needs of the County’s stormwater management facilities.  The variability in funding sources to pay for repair and maintenance of these structures has resulted in some citizen objections to the inequity of the current revenue system. To address this funding equity issue, the Council President and the County Executive formed the Stormwater Financing Options Working Group.

Street Sweeping for Pollutant Removal [pdf]
The purpose of this report is to: document the current status of street sweeping in Montgomery County; evaluate pollutant removal from street sweeping based on a literature review; and make recommendations for the County's street sweeping program to maximize pollutant removal at the lowest possible cost.

Success in a Soggy Garden  [pdf]
Many homeowners are frustrated by low-lying areas in their yards which are always a bit on the soggy side. Fortunately, these wet areas can be turned into desirable landscapes which are beautiful, easy to maintain, and beneficial to the environment.  Using native or indigenous plants and a bit of creativity, you can transform mucky soils into lively gardens which will provide wildlife habitat, filter excess nutrients and pollutants from stormwater, recharge groundwater supplies, and control flooding.  Natives are essential to this reclamation of wet areas.  Over thousands of years, they have adapted to rainfall and seasonal temperature patterns; if you have a niche, they can and will fill it.

Summer Cooling Tips [pdf]
During the summer, well over half of your total energy costs are spent cooling your home. The fossil fuels used to generate electricity to provide air conditioning contribute to air quality and health problems in our region, and add greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere which cause global climate change. You can make a difference. Taking a few simple steps to save energy while cooling your home can save you big bucks and help protect the environment.

Swinging With Native Vines  [pdf]
"Come and swing with these native vines." Vines are one of nature’s greatest gifts to gardeners. They can cover ugly fences and utility poles, camouflage storage sheds, or bring color, fragrance, and panache to trellises and arbors. Vines fit into almost any available space, whether spilling out of a balcony window box, climbing up the front of a town house, or running free like a ground cover. It is too bad gardeners seldom think to use vines, or else plant the wrong ones by mistake.

Tabletop Topiary  [pdf]
Since the early 1970s, garden enthusiasts have flocked to Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland, for a view of horticulture taken to a fanciful extreme.  Of course, with a little effort, most patient gardeners can create their own topiary displays, whether to adorn a doorway or grace a dining room table.

Tasty Trellises & Appetizing Arbors  [pdf]
Recently, upscale horticultural venues have been tempting gardeners and their wallets with an exciting array of prefabricated arches, arbors, and trellises, often with exquisite designs and metal finishes which echo the costly wrought-iron structures found in estate gardens. In addition, there are also less expensive wooden options, should you forgo an expedition to Smith and Hawken.  Whatever your budget, if you envision a trellis in your future, consider treating yourself to some of the tasteful — and tasty — climbers best suited for vertical gardening. 

Terrific Townhouse Gardens [pdf]
There's no denying that townhouse communities are popping up all over our region.  Townhouses are popular and often more affordable than single family homes, and with a bit of horticultural slight of hand, they can provide almost as many satisfying garden options as larger yards. The trick to mastering these smaller, confined landscape areas is to realize the inherent limitations of your site, and to create the illusion of more space.

Turning Autumn Leaves into Healthy Lawns [pdf]
Autumn is perhaps the most mellow and reflective season. Shorter days encourage reading in the evening, while crisp air and colorful vistas invite weekend hikes and trips to the countryside. Regrettably, too many people waste their precious weekends raking leaves into piles or shatter the quiet peace of sunny afternoons with leaf blowers. There is a better solution.

Turning Office Spaces Into Greener Places
The modern office is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Manual [pdf]
The Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Workbook is part of DEP's Environmental Partners Campaign and ongoing efforts to prevent pollution and improve the quality of life and the environment. All of the suggestions offered are designed to reduce your inventory of hazardous materials, material storage and disposal costs, as well as the requisite liability and regulatory concerns connected with those materials.

Versatile Viburnum for a Vibrant Landscape  [pdf]
Gardeners in the Washington area can select from hundreds of small trees and shrubs which will readily flourish in our climate. However, among all the choices there are only a handful of "must-have" species, with viburnum at the very top of that fairly short list. There are approximately 200 species of viburnum worldwide, with more than 120 species in North America alone. Locally, our native landscape offers several absolutely dazzling specimens of viburnum which are suitable for almost every yard and situation, including Mapleleaf, Arrowwood, Possumhaw, and Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium, V. dentatum, V. nudum, and V. prunifolium).

WaterWise Irrigation
While the first step toward creating a water-efficient landscape is to select plants which will thrive under the conditions provided by our region's typical precipitation, it is virtually impossible to expect a yard and garden to get by without some additional watering.

WaterWise Landscaping
The solution to dry soils and drought is not simply to run a hose and run up a huge water bill. Watering is very often the most wasteful and expensive of solutions -- with improper watering or overwatering leading to even more short and long-term problems for the landscape. To keep your corner of the globe green, it is best to become WaterWise.

Wind Energy [pdf]
Though it's making headlines, energy generated from wind is nothing new.  Farmers and explorers have been using wind to grind grains, pump water, and sail ships for centuries.  Today we are using wind to generate electricity.  Learn more how wind generates electricity, why this energy source is good for our environment, and how you can buy wind energy for your home, office, or organization.

Winter Heating Tips [pdf]
We’re in for a cold winter, but you can stay warm. Use these energy saving tips to stay warm and comfy in your home while keeping your heating costs down.... Comfort tip number one: Keep drafts out! A small leak around a door or window can be the equivalent, in terms of air flow, to removing a brick from the side of your house and letting the wind blow through. Seal those gaps and keep winter winds on the outside.

Winter Watchfulness for a Healthier Landscape [pdf]
These oddly mild days of late winter offer a welcome opportunity to get a jump on gardening chores, with the added bonus of preventing problems before they begin.  As the Mid-Atlantic suffers under a prolonged period of drought, the record-breaking warm temperatures are putting an unusual amount of stress on our landscapes, especially on evergreen trees and shrubs, and evergreen herbs and perennials, as well as trees and shrubs planted last fall. 

Zen Gardens Provide Space for Meditation [pdf]
Troubled times and a hectic world have often called people to natural places, or cultivated manmade spaces, which emphasize quiet and reflection. A wonderful blend of the two is readily found in Zen gardens, which sometimes imply island-studded ponds, tea houses and pagodas, although a personal meditation garden might simply include a small corner of a backyard artfully designed and carefully tended.