You can start here if you would like to have a self tour of our garden.
Start the Tour
As you climb the stairs from the Agricultural History Farm Park Activity Center parking lot, a path to the left takes you through the Shade Garden. Straight ahead is a path through an arbored entrance to the main garden, an area exhibiting nine types of gardens in more than 15,000 square feet. The following descriptions are meant only as an introduction to wise horticultural practices. Free, research-based sustainable gardening information and answers to your gardening questions are available from the University of Maryland Home and Garden Information Center
1. Shade Garden
This is a woodland garden of full shade primarily under black locust, oak and hickory trees. Most of the plants found here will also grow well in part sun, and stand a moderate amount of drought. Most are deer-resistant.
The soil is a somewhat sandy loam and is quite rocky. Once or twice a year, a top dressing of partially rotted wood chips or compost is applied to improve the soil.
This garden is particularly lovely in the spring when plants like Virginia Blue Bells, Snowdrops, Wood Poppy and Bleeding Heart are in bloom.
2. Conservation Garden
This is a fairly self-sustaining garden, requiring no pesticides or fertilizers. A top dressing of compost each year improves the soil and helps keep weeds to a minimum. Conservation gardening helps to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed thru the use of native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climate and thus require minimal care. Additionally, local wildlife has evolved with the native plants and often depends on these sources for food and habitat for reproduction.
One of the goals of a naturalistic garden design is to provide something of interest in every season of the year.
3. Kitchen Garden
You’ll find easy-to-grow varieties of perennial and annual culinary herbs in this garden. Our selections emphasize herbs known to attract beneficial insects. Among these are plant pollinators and natural predators and parasites of plant pests.
4. Edibles Garden
This is the largest garden because so many good things to eat will grow in our area if good soil and full sun are present. Look for the many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, both familiar and unusuaI. If your soil is very compacted, you probably need to amend it by adding several inches of composted material. Get a soil test for soil analysis so you know what you need to add. Check out our soil tests. Controlling insects and disease is best done by planting disease-resistant varieties and by maintaining good cultural growing conditions; mulching, watering and monitoring for pests. Growing a variety of plants, especially flowering plants in or near your vegetable garden, also helps by attracting beneficial insects and pollinators. We are planting cover crops for the late fall/winter will help to keep our soil fertile.
5. Herb/Fragrance Garden
Many herbs originate from areas of the world with hot, dry climates and poor soil, so there should be an herb or two that will grow even in the worst conditions. Only a few will tolerate shade, however. Herbs are not only necessary for food to taste its best, but they also attract to the landscape beneficial insects. Herbs are not a botanical classification, but rather a group of plants that benefits mankind, primarily by providing medicines and seasoning.
6. Therapeutic Horticulture and Garden by Youth with Autism
Raised beds improve drainage, bring order to small spaces, and are often easier to install and maintain than rototilling and amending compacted soil. Our raised beds help the disabled to more easily participate in gardening and provide plant material for therapeutic horticulture projects at various area institutions.
7. Children’s Garden
This area contains plants that children will enjoy. Each plant is selected for its fragrance, texture or color or for its unusual name. Almost every plant has an animal name. See if you can find the Bear’s Breeches, Lamb’s Ears, Ponytail Grass, or Catmint. The “Living Teepee” is an easily erected, shaded play area where Cardinal Climber vines intertwine on the stretched wires. The “Caterpillar” similarly becomes overgrown with the vine of the season and becomes a fun tunnel for children to crawl through. Mr. McGregor’s Garden grows all the veggies so desired by Peter Rabbit, such as lettuce, carrots, and peas.
8. Butterfly Garden
Urban sprawl, pollution, and the spread of invasive, non-native plant species have had a profoundly negative impact on butterfly habitats. Our goal is to show how you can help sustain butterfly populations by creating a “micro-habitat”. Our butterfly garden provides habitats specifically suited for both adult butterflies and their young, and shows how drought-tolerant plants can be used to create low-maintenance gardens. To accomplish this, our design includes both nectar plants and plants on which butterfly larvae (caterpillars) feed.
9. Ponds
The Demonstration Garden maintains two ponds; one, using a rigid plastic form, located in the Conservation Garden and another, using a flexible plastic liner and underlayment, at the Butterfly Garden. Pond plants are divided by function into categories. Submerged plants consume nutrients and carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and provide both shelter and a food source for spawning fish. Marginal plants, which grow in shallow areas at the edge of the ponds, have roots requiring wet soil. Floating plants have no need for soil. Their roots hang in the water and are extremely effective at keeping the water clear. Floating leaves provide shade that retards algae growth.
10. Compost Production Area
Compost for the garden is produced by mixing “greens”, such as weeds and plant trimmings, which are high in nitrogen, with “browns”, such as leaves and straw, which are high in carbon. The ideal ratio is 300 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. The materials are kept moist and turned regularly while they heat up and are decomposed by bacteria, fungi, and other microbes and larger organisms such as earthworms and insects. The result is a dark, crumbly, earth-smelling material.
Finished compost which is applied as a top dressing to our garden beds adds important plant nutrients to the soil as well as improving the soil tilth, aeration, and water-holding capacity.
Turf Plot ( not numbered)
This area demonstrates tall fescue, the main type of grass recommended for Maryland lawns. Good turf management include: initial soil amendment with organic material, grass clippings recycling to preserve nitrogen, fertilizing mainly in September to promote root growth and drought resistance, use of insect- and disease-resistant seed varieties, and regular mowing at about three inches to minimize weeds and promote good root growth.
Your lawn care practices can have a negative effect on the Chesapeake Bay. DO NOT OVER FERTILIZE. Follow University of Maryland fertilization recommendations.
Start the Tour
As you climb the stairs from the Agricultural History Farm Park Activity Center parking lot, a path to the left takes you through the Shade Garden. Straight ahead is a path through an arbored entrance to the main garden, an area exhibiting nine types of gardens in more than 15,000 square feet. The following descriptions are meant only as an introduction to wise horticultural practices. Free, research-based sustainable gardening information and answers to your gardening questions are available from the University of Maryland Home and Garden Information Center
1. Shade Garden
This is a woodland garden of full shade primarily under black locust, oak and hickory trees. Most of the plants found here will also grow well in part sun, and stand a moderate amount of drought. Most are deer-resistant.
The soil is a somewhat sandy loam and is quite rocky. Once or twice a year, a top dressing of partially rotted wood chips or compost is applied to improve the soil.
This garden is particularly lovely in the spring when plants like Virginia Blue Bells, Snowdrops, Wood Poppy and Bleeding Heart are in bloom.
2. Conservation Garden
This is a fairly self-sustaining garden, requiring no pesticides or fertilizers. A top dressing of compost each year improves the soil and helps keep weeds to a minimum. Conservation gardening helps to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed thru the use of native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climate and thus require minimal care. Additionally, local wildlife has evolved with the native plants and often depends on these sources for food and habitat for reproduction.
One of the goals of a naturalistic garden design is to provide something of interest in every season of the year.
3. Kitchen Garden
You’ll find easy-to-grow varieties of perennial and annual culinary herbs in this garden. Our selections emphasize herbs known to attract beneficial insects. Among these are plant pollinators and natural predators and parasites of plant pests.
4. Edibles Garden
This is the largest garden because so many good things to eat will grow in our area if good soil and full sun are present. Look for the many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, both familiar and unusuaI. If your soil is very compacted, you probably need to amend it by adding several inches of composted material. Get a soil test for soil analysis so you know what you need to add. Check out our soil tests. Controlling insects and disease is best done by planting disease-resistant varieties and by maintaining good cultural growing conditions; mulching, watering and monitoring for pests. Growing a variety of plants, especially flowering plants in or near your vegetable garden, also helps by attracting beneficial insects and pollinators. We are planting cover crops for the late fall/winter will help to keep our soil fertile.
5. Herb/Fragrance Garden
Many herbs originate from areas of the world with hot, dry climates and poor soil, so there should be an herb or two that will grow even in the worst conditions. Only a few will tolerate shade, however. Herbs are not only necessary for food to taste its best, but they also attract to the landscape beneficial insects. Herbs are not a botanical classification, but rather a group of plants that benefits mankind, primarily by providing medicines and seasoning.
6. Therapeutic Horticulture and Garden by Youth with Autism
Raised beds improve drainage, bring order to small spaces, and are often easier to install and maintain than rototilling and amending compacted soil. Our raised beds help the disabled to more easily participate in gardening and provide plant material for therapeutic horticulture projects at various area institutions.
7. Children’s Garden
This area contains plants that children will enjoy. Each plant is selected for its fragrance, texture or color or for its unusual name. Almost every plant has an animal name. See if you can find the Bear’s Breeches, Lamb’s Ears, Ponytail Grass, or Catmint. The “Living Teepee” is an easily erected, shaded play area where Cardinal Climber vines intertwine on the stretched wires. The “Caterpillar” similarly becomes overgrown with the vine of the season and becomes a fun tunnel for children to crawl through. Mr. McGregor’s Garden grows all the veggies so desired by Peter Rabbit, such as lettuce, carrots, and peas.
8. Butterfly Garden
Urban sprawl, pollution, and the spread of invasive, non-native plant species have had a profoundly negative impact on butterfly habitats. Our goal is to show how you can help sustain butterfly populations by creating a “micro-habitat”. Our butterfly garden provides habitats specifically suited for both adult butterflies and their young, and shows how drought-tolerant plants can be used to create low-maintenance gardens. To accomplish this, our design includes both nectar plants and plants on which butterfly larvae (caterpillars) feed.
9. Ponds
The Demonstration Garden maintains two ponds; one, using a rigid plastic form, located in the Conservation Garden and another, using a flexible plastic liner and underlayment, at the Butterfly Garden. Pond plants are divided by function into categories. Submerged plants consume nutrients and carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and provide both shelter and a food source for spawning fish. Marginal plants, which grow in shallow areas at the edge of the ponds, have roots requiring wet soil. Floating plants have no need for soil. Their roots hang in the water and are extremely effective at keeping the water clear. Floating leaves provide shade that retards algae growth.
10. Compost Production Area
Compost for the garden is produced by mixing “greens”, such as weeds and plant trimmings, which are high in nitrogen, with “browns”, such as leaves and straw, which are high in carbon. The ideal ratio is 300 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. The materials are kept moist and turned regularly while they heat up and are decomposed by bacteria, fungi, and other microbes and larger organisms such as earthworms and insects. The result is a dark, crumbly, earth-smelling material.
Finished compost which is applied as a top dressing to our garden beds adds important plant nutrients to the soil as well as improving the soil tilth, aeration, and water-holding capacity.
Turf Plot ( not numbered)
This area demonstrates tall fescue, the main type of grass recommended for Maryland lawns. Good turf management include: initial soil amendment with organic material, grass clippings recycling to preserve nitrogen, fertilizing mainly in September to promote root growth and drought resistance, use of insect- and disease-resistant seed varieties, and regular mowing at about three inches to minimize weeds and promote good root growth.
Your lawn care practices can have a negative effect on the Chesapeake Bay. DO NOT OVER FERTILIZE. Follow University of Maryland fertilization recommendations.