St. Mary's County

St Mary’s County MG Program
Annual Report 2005

1. Basic Information
# of active MGs               72
# of interns               30
# of volunteer hours           4,062

2. Plant Clinics
# of active plant clinic sites      0
# of plant clinics                1
# of residents served at plant clinics               14

3. Bay-Wise
# of new yards certified as Bay-Wise (MGs and other residents) 2
# of total Bay-Wise certified yards (all years combined) 7

4. Composting
# of composting demonstration sites 0
# of residents who received a compost bin 0

5. Classes taught
# of classes/workshops taught by MGs 65
# of residents educated 1205

6. Awards/recognition
Maryland Plant Community Award

7. Grants:

8. Partners:

St Mary’s County Recreation & Parks Dept.
St Mary’s County Memorial Library
The Sotterley Foundation
The Summerseat Foundation
St Mary’s County Public Schools
St Mary’s County Office on Aging
St Mary’s County Historical Society
St Mary’s County Garden Club

9. Highlights from 2005:
1) MGs Patsy Baxley & Judy Higgs partnered with the Coordinator of Education Programs at the Sotterley Foundation and planted and maintained a demonstration plot of tobacco, cotton, broom corn and gourds, all grown and used by early settlers, and enslaved people in the Tidewater area of our state. These plants were then used in the education programs which hosted 8,000 students in 2005. Judy is shown at the left with a Sotterley staffer and some of the gourd crop which will be made into utensils. This is a continuing project.

2) This was a “year of the trees” for us – thanks to the work of MGs Linda Carlson and Sue Veith. Linda spearheaded on the Leonardtown campus of the Community College of Southern Maryland. Grant money came through the MUCFC and Forestry Board and planting was done by Environmental Studies students, college staff, MGs and our local DNR Ranger. Here we see MG Rollie Campbell explaining proper planting technique.

A similar event took place a few weeks later when Linda coordinated an Earth Day planting of pin oaks, crepe myrtles & yoshino cherries at the governmental center in Leonardtown. Again, funds came from a grant through the MUCFC and Forestry Board with labor from high school students, Recreation & Parks employees and a assist from MGs and our resident DNR Forester, to make sure planting was done properly.

Sue and Linda, and other MGs, have been working with the Lower Tributary Team at the county Grow-out Station to prepare trees for transplanting. Seedlings are planted, then potted when mature enough and planted on public property in the county. Here Sue and Environmental Studies students pot seedlings at the Grow-out Station.

For more information, contact Robin Hessey

Last updated: 02/21/2007