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The 59^th Montgomery County Agricultural Fair from August 10 to 18, 2007 provided a major opportunity and historical milestone for the Master Gardeners of Montgomery County.   Building a new garden from scratch on a former parking site, twenty hearty MG volunteers were assisted by staff from the Agricultural Center and the Department of Environmental Protection.  The garden layout includes five newly designed raised beds made of dry stacked fieldstone separated by wide and inviting walkways.  

 

The result was a Bay Friendly Garden oasis that showcased a variety of native  and commonly planted ornamental grasses, flowers, small trees, shrubs and vegetables attracting thousands of fair visitors.    The environmental friendly garden  demonstrated water conservation, mulching, pest control through Integrated Pest Management (IPM) received significant media attention and was featured in the September/October edition of the Washington Gardener Magazine and was written up in several newspapers and TV and radio coverage. 

Our tent teams were briefed to provide basic information on: Bay Friendly Gardening; the proper use of native plants; and water conservation - utilizing rain barrels, drip hoses, attracting wildlife and use of permeable walkways to prevent water runoff.  The model garden served an attractive teaching tool, inviting visitors to look and absorb Bay Friendly garden ideas that they could use themselves.

 

Visitors and children were fascinated by the 15 foot tall Malabar spinach and the beautiful sunflowers and the many pollinators.  In addition, a large number of folks signed up for rain barrel training, and some visitors indicated they were significantly inspired to build their own rain gardens.

 

The Bay Friendly garden received an Award of Excellence from the 2007 Keep Montgomery County Beautiful 21st Annual Beautification Awards.