Silver Spring Methodist Church, Maryland
Featured Site Created By Rob

Wildlife gardens are not just for yards. Gardens can be created anywhere there is space and a motivated person or group. This Methodist Church community in Montgomery, Maryland has come together to create lovely habitat gardens for pollinators and birds. With leadership, creativity, and enthusiasm, each year this site grows its capacity to provide habitat while offsetting their impermeable surfaces by capturing rainwater in cisterns and rain gardens. Recently, they were certified as a Garden for Wildlife site with the National Wildlife Federation. Read more about their process for inspiration.
What work has been done to improve this site for birds and other wildlife? How long did it take?
Then plans were made for 2016 but, this time, with a focus on native plants intermixed with familiar annuals. Again, we put in over 1000 plants. In 2016, we decided to seek certification as a Garden for Wildlife Habitat. We also applied for a grant for a cistern. We got our certification and held a workshop at our site when our Certified Wildlife Habitat was memorialized. The cistern was delivered in the Fall of 2016 but was not operable until 2017, when we secured a pump with some extra funding.
In our 2017 planning, we sought three sources of funding for two rain gardens and an improved drainage system. Over 1500 plants were added including those purchased with grant money. I developed a technique to perform the cold stratification of the native plant seeds. In addition, we created a birdhouse trail. The drainage system is still not built and has been delayed.
The plan for 2018 involves completing the necessary drainage for one rain garden. We hope to secure funding to complete two additional conservation landscapes and to add interpretative signage. The signage will cover birds, butterflies, caterpillars, native herbs, shrubs, and trees. Some plants will be purchased and others grown through horticultural processes. The improved cold-stratification techniques are producing a higher germination rate of the native plant seeds. We may also request a second cistern from one of the funding sources.
What are some successes that you've seen since the improvements were made? (alternatively, "What are you most proud of, or excited to share about this site?")
Are there any tough decisions that had to be made regarding its management? How were they handled?
On our site we have some invasive, deep-rooted, smothering plants. We have used the paint-on herbicide approach. We’d prefer not to use chemical herbicides but felt we needed them to get a handle on the invasive plants.
What is your favorite bird or wildlife spotting?
Our butterfly diversity has gradually increased from five different species (2015), to 11 (2016), to 16 (2017). We had an exciting Pileated Woodpecker sighting in 2016. In 2017, we spotted hummingbirds using the cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis). I spotted a chipmunk a few days ago. The amount and diversity of wildlife using our gardens appears to be increasing.
Check out this great video with images of the work that has been done on this site: