Resources

Bay-Friendly Landscaping (BayScaping)

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, BayScapes program

DC: 202/466-4633
VA: 804/775-951
PA: 717/737-8622
MD: 410/377-6270

Chesapeake Bay Program, "Better Backyard: A Citizen's Resource Guide to Beneficial Landscaping and Habitat Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed" (PDF)
800.YOURBAY

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Free booklet on backyard conservation, tips on tree planting, wildlife habitat, backyard wetlands, etc. 1.888.LANDCARE

Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, Home and Garden Information Center

MD: 800/342-2507
Outside Maryland: 410/531-1757

Greener Plants
A valuable resource for homeowners, businesses, landscape architects, designers and maintenance crews on topics such as lawn care, irrigation, pest management, buffer areas and strips and how they relate to healthy wetlands, marshes, creeks, streams and bays filled with sustainable aquatic life and harvestable seafood.
800/323-3008

The Backyard Environmentalist: How to Make Your Yard Eco-Friendly
Find out more about pesticides and fertilizers, composting, mulching, and xerisxcaping.

Bio-Engineering (Biologs) for Shoreline Protection

Biohabitats, Inc.
15 W. Aylesbury Road, Timonium, MD 21093
410/337-3659

IKEX, Inc.
2601 Emory Road, Finksburg, MD 21048
800/835-1516

Pinelands Nursery, Inc.
Bioengineering materials, wetland trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants.
323 Island Road, Columbus, NJ 08022
800/667-2729

Ragen Associates
20 Larsen Road, Iselin, NJ 08830
800/752-1010

Propex
800/621-1273
Find a location

Composting

MD: Maryland Department of the Environment

PA: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Forest Buffers

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Plant trees for the Bay
410/268-8816

Chesapeake Bay Program, EPA
1.800.YOURBAY

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Information for landowners, communities, schools, and businesses.

Riparian Forest Handbook: Appreciating and Evaluating Stream Side Forests (pdf)
Virginia Department of Forestry, Charlottesville, VA
804/977-6555

Wye Research and Education Center
410/827-8056

Lawns

Maryland Cooperative Extension Service (Home and Garden Information Center)
Free publications on lawn care, lawn renovation.
800/342-2507

Order Soil Test Kits

Maryland Cooperative Extension Service (Home and Garden Information Center) (PDF)
Lists regional laboratories who do soil tests at cost.
800/342-2507

Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension Services
Contact your local county extension office or search the directory.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Services
Contact your local county extension office or search the directory.

Meadows and Warm Season Grasses

Chesapeake Natives
Native plants propagated from indigenous seed sources.
Pope Farm Nursery, 7400 Airpark Drive, Derwood, MD 20855
301/655-9236

Ernst Conservation Seeds
Seeds of native and non-native grasses, wildflowers, wetland plants, and shrubs; live stakes for streambank restoration.
9006 Mercer Pike, Meadville, PA 16335
800/873-3321

Prairie Nursery Inc.
Source for mid-western native and non-native meadow seeds and plants, information on starting a meadow, plant selection.
P.O. Box 306, Westfield, WI 53964
800/476-9453 (800.GROWILD)

Native Plant Information

Delaware Native Plant Society
302/674-5187

National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002
202/245-2726

Maryland Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD 20914

Maryland Department of National Resources, State Forest Tree Nursery
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/nursery
1.800.TREESMD

Virginia Native Plant Society
540/837-1600

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

US Fish and Wildlife Service
Maryland native plant lists to download.

Native Plant Suppliers

Anne Arundel County Planning and Zoning
For Anne Arundel County residents: provides free marsh grasses, Spartina alterniflora, after application and site visit.
410/222-7441

Biohabitats, Inc.
15 W. Aylesbury Road, Timonium, MD 21093
410/337-3659

Chesapeake Natives
Native plants propagated from indigenous seed sources.
Pope Farm Nursery, 7400 Airpark Drive, Derwood MD 20855
301/655-9236

Clear Ridge Nursery
Native trees and shrubs for conservation.
217 Clear Ridge Road, Union Bridge, MD 21791
888/226-9226

Environmental Concern
Retail nursery for riparian trees and wetland shrubs, education, and research facility.
P.O. Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663
410/745-9620

Ernst Conservation Seeds
Seeds of native grasses, wildflowers, wetland plants and shrubs; live stakes for streambank restoration.
9006 Mercer Pike, Meadville, PA 16335
800/873-3321

Lower Marlboro Nursery
Open by appointment. Native perennials, wildflowers, shrubs.
P.O. Box 1013, Dunkirk, MD 20754
301/812-0808

Octoraro Native Plant Nursery
Native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants for reforestation and streambank restoration.
Kirkwood, PA
717/529-4099

Pinelands Nursery, Inc.
323 Island Road, Columbus, NJ 08022
800/667-2729

Sylva Native Nursery and Seed Co.
1683 Sieling Farm Road, New Freedom, PA 17349
717/227-0486

Tubex Forestry Products
Tree tubes and deer repellent for tree seedlings.
800/248-8239

Non-Native Invasive Plants

National Park Service, "Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Nature Areas"

Maryland Native Plant Society
Information on controlling non-natives, with lists of native plant alternatives.
P.O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD 20914

The Nature Conservancy: Maryland Chapter
Information on the removal of specific non-native invasive plants.
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814
301/897-8570

Phragmites

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 68, Wye Mills, MD 21679
410/827-8612

Rain Barrels

CBF's Build Your Own Rain Barrel brochure (PDF)

Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center
Download instructions on how to obtain and construct a rain barrel.
975 Indian Landing Road, Millersville, MD 21108
410/222-1688 or 410/222-3822

Gardeners Supply
Source for purchased rain barrels.
Burlington, Vermont
888/833-1412

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Rain Barrel instruction.

Rain Gardens

CBF's Build Your Own Rain Garden brochure (PDF)

Weems Creek Conservancy
Raingarden instructions and plant lists.
P.O. Box 6018, Annapolis, MD 21401-6018
410/263-2102

Shorelines

Maryland Critical Area Commission
410/260-3460

Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Shore Erosion Control
Technical and financial assistance.
410/260-8523

Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ publication, Shore Erosion Control Guidelines for Waterfront Property Owners (PDF)
Water Resources Administration
Tawes State Office Building, Annapolis, MD 21401

Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts
717/545-8878

Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection
717/783-2300

Virginia Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service
Provides technical information to landowners
804/786-1712

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Program
804/225-3440 or 1-800-CHES-BAY (1-800-243-7229)

Stormwater

Information Center for Watershed Protection
Provides local governments, activists, and watershed organizations with technical tools for protecting water quality. Information is available on watershed planning, watershed restoration, stormwater management, watershed research, better site design, education, outreach, and watershed training.
8391 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043-4605
410/461-8323

The Low Impact Development Center, Inc.
Focuses on the design and planning of a development site to reduce environmental and water quality impacts, through runoff retention, grading, planting and stormwater management.
5010 Sunnyside Avenue, Suite 200, Beltsville, MD 20705
301/982-5559

Wetlands

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
For a free booklet on Backyard Conservation. Tips on backyard wetlands and ponds can be downloaded from the website.
1.888.LANDCARE

Environmental Concern
P.O. Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663
410/745-9620

Wildlife Habitat

WindStar Wildlife Institute, Backyard Habitat Restoration
Certification and online course
Emphasis on creating habitat for wildlife with native plants.

General Reference Books and Field Guides

A Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States
by Janine M. Benyus (Simon and Schuster, 1989)

A Guide to Field Identification: Trees of North America
by C. Frank Brockman (Golden Books, 1996)

Chesapeake Bay: A Field Guide
by Christopher P. White (Tidewater Publishers, 1989)

Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast
by Gene M. Silberhorn (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982)

Eastern Trees
by George A. Petrides and Janet Weir (Peterson Field Guides, 1998)

Grasses: An Identification Guide
by Lauren Brown (Houghton Mifflin, 1979)

Growing and Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants
by Richard E. Birr (University of North Carolina Press, 1992)

Landscaping with Native Trees
by Guy Steinberg and Jim Wilson (Chapters, 1995, out of print)

Landscaping with Wildflowers: An Environmental Approach to Gardening
by Jim Wilson

Life in the Chesapeake Bay
by Alice Jane & Robert L. Lippson (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000)

Noah's Garden
by Sara Stein

Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology
by Sara Stein

Plants of the Chesapeake Bay
by Lytton Musselman and David Knepper (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013)

The American Woodland Garden
by Rick Darke (Timber Press, 2003)

The Native Habitat Garden
by Ken Druse (Clarkson Potter, 1994)

Wetlands
by William A. Nearing (The Audubon Society Nature Guides, Alfred A. Knopf, 1989)