BayScapes
Credit: USFWSBayScape at MD State Treasury Building
BayScaping: landscaping for the benefit of people, wildlife, and the Chesapeake Bay
Would
you like to save time and money in your yard, while improving water
quality and habitat for wildlife? Then plant a BayScape!
The onset of spawning is related to water temperature
and length of day. Spawning season for alewife generally runs from March
through April. Blueback spawn from mid-April through late May.
What
is a BayScape?
Simply,
a BayScape is a beautiful landscape, planted and maintained to benefit
people, the local environment, and the Chesapeake Bay.
A
BayScaped landscape is great for the environment. It
uses native plants to:
- provide
habitat for local and migratory animals
- improve
water quality
- reduce
the need for chemical pesticides and herbicides
A
BayScape is also valuable for the gardener or landowner because it:
- offers
greater visual interest than lawn
- reduces
the time and expense of mowing, watering, fertilizing and treating
lawn and garden areas
- can
address areas with problems such as erosion, poor soils, steep
slopes or poor drainage
Installing BayScapes on properties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed helps improve local streams and waterways, the Bay's waters and the habitat the area provides. However, you don't
have to live in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed to practice this type of landscaping.
The principles of BayScaping have been applied to many other regions,
and are referred to by a variety of terms including “xeriscaping,” “beneficial
landscaping,” and “conservation landscaping.”
Tell
me More! • How do I get
started?
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