Reducing stormwater is an essential step toward protecting the health of the creek and the plants and animals who inhabit it.
The Stormwater Committee works on projects that slow down and clean stormwater runoff before it reaches our Creek. We educate the community about the effects of uncontrolled stormwater on Sligo Creek, how to capture it, and what people can do to reduce it in order to improve the creek’s health. We advocate for effective and sustainable stormwater management on the municipal, county, and state levels.
FOSC announces a free native shade tree planting project
American Witchazel, Hamamelis virginiana
American Witchhazel is a shrubby bush or small tree with attractive fragrant flowers in late fall to winter. Fruit is eaten by wildlife.
I. The Program
Friends of Sligo Creek (FOSC) and Howard EcoWorks are partnering to bring 50 free native trees to Sligo Creek watershed neighborhoods. It’s a great opportunity for residents, businesses, and others to plant one or more native trees to their property. The program includes the trees plus professional planting and materials, thanks to a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
→Fill out this interest form to learn more
Trees clean the air, absorb rainwater, cool our neighborhoods, and provide habitat for birds and pollinators, all while making our communities beautiful and greener for everyone. Learn more about trees and stormwater on the Stormwater page.
This project is part of Maryland’s Five Million Trees initiative, which has already planted more than 1.5 million trees. To make sure the benefits reach everyone, at least 500,000 of those trees are go to historically underserved urban areas, including many parts of our watershed.
II. Is my property eligible?
Check the map to see if your property is in a target area (the brown overlay) in the Sligo watershed. You’ll need to have space for at least one tree.
Properties can be:
- A Home Owners Assn. or Civic Association common area
- A congregation
- An institution, such as a school or college or similar
- A commercial property
- A multi-family property
- A single-family home – if your neighborhood can come together for 10 or more trees. Talk to your neighbors and encourage them to apply!
(Click on the map to see the full map.)
III. What you get
1. A pre-planting site assessment by an arborist
2. Free native tree(s) in 5–7 gallon containers
3. Free materials and installation by EcoWorks staff
Available native trees include:
American Yellow-wood
Pagoda Dogwood
Southern Hawthorn
Kentucky Coffee Tree
American Witch-hazel
Sourwood
Blackjack Oak
Cherrybark Oak
Dwarf Chinquapin Oak
Post Oak
Water Oak
Note: Availability may vary depending on when you sign up
American Yellowwood
(Cladrastis kentukea)
Attracts songbirds for nesting sites and nectar. The pollen attracts bees and other pollinators. The tree has beautiful pea-like, fragrant flowers and showy seedpods that ripen in the fall. (Tom Gill photo)
Blackjack Oak
(Quercus marilandica – the MD state tree)
A top pollinator host. Game birds and mammals eat the acorns. Birds and mammals use it for nesting. (Jim Robbins photo)
Plant info and photos via NC State Extension.
IV. What we ask of you
Commit to watering and long-term care after planting, such as bark protection and weeding (especially keeping vines off your tree).
V. What happens next
Submit the interest form!
→ Fill out this interest form to learn more.
Then discuss with EcoWorks staff the best tree(s) for your location during the site assessment. If you want to proceed, you sign a no-cost agreement stating that EcoWorks will plant the tree(s) for free and you will water and maintain them. Planting happens this winter through spring 2027.
Please share this opportunity with your neighbors, HOA, congregation, or other people who live in the Sligo Creek watershed and who you think would be interested in free trees for their property. Thank you.
The more people who join, the better the chances of planting on your street, and the healthier Sligo Creek and parklands will be!
For the trees,
Elaine
Elaine Lamirande
FOSC Stormwater Chair
What is stormwater runoff?
Uncontrolled stormwater causes flooding, erosion, and carries pollution into Sligo Creek. Rain that falls on natural, grassy, or planted areas soaks into the ground. Rain that falls on hard surfaces like roads, roofs, and parking lots becomes stormwater runoff that carries litter, sediment, pet waste, motor oil, antifreeze and other chemicals and pollutants into the stream. Stormwater runoff causes flooding and erosion to the creek and surrounding areas.
Above: Sligo Creek Parkway at Piney Branch July 2020 (video, at left) and the playground at Kennebec Street (at right)
What can we do about stormwater?
Slowing down and reducing stormwater can be done using various techniques and materials, depending on the size and nature of the problem, the location and the budget. Take a look at the Stormwater Resources page for some of the many steps you can take in your residential neighborhood, and at the Larger Stormwater Projects page for examples of projects around Sligo Creek that FOSC has been involved with. FOSC is currently active the Wheaton Branch Flood Mitigation project planned by DEP and DOT.
- The Stormwater Resources page shows many steps you can take in your yard and neighborhood to increase permeability and reduce runoff.
Residential Stormwater Resources
- The Larger Stormwater Projects page shows larger FOSC-assisted stormwater management projects in an apartment building, a park, and a church.
Larger Stormwater Resources
Neighborhood Project: A Rain Garden on Hancock Avenue
A local neighborhood rain garden project featuring a great design, native plantings, and neighborhood cooperation. A simple and inspiring example for other neighborhoods seeking to manage stormwater and preserve the Creek.
Watershed Projects: Sligo Tree Boxes
People walk by the tree boxes in the Sligo Creek watershed all the time, oblivious to the tree boxes they are walking right by. A clever combination of concrete structures and natural processes, these boxes are a part of the County’s green streets program. What are they, how do they work, and why are they important?
Major Public Project: Wheaton Branch Flood Mitigation
Montgomery Parks, DOT and DEP are working to slow down stormwater along Sligo Creek through a collaborative project along the Wheaton Branch of Sligo Creek, the Wheaton Branch stormwater mitigation project.
The Wheaton Branch stormwater management pond, at the bottom right of the map below, collects stormwater from a highly developed 770-acre area of Wheaton.
Highly developed land affects Wheaton stormwater runoff management
Flood Plain Maps courtesy of DOT and DEP, Montgomery County, MD
During storms, water flowing into Wheaton Branch backs up as it reaches the undersized Dennis Avenue bridge, just north of the Wheaton Branch stormwater ponds. The result is significant flooding for residents in the area north of the bridge.
The existing 100 year floodplain map shows the flooding that affects residential properties and roadways for several blocks. Through an extensive re-engineering project, the proposed 100 year flood plain would be lowered and widened to direct floodwater away from homes along Glenhaven Drive and other nearby streets.
Ed Murtagh, longtime FOSC member and social media creator, created these videos 1) demonstrating how stormwater ponds function using the University Boulevard Stormwater ponds as an example, and 2) the components of the planned flood mitigation project at Wheaton Branch.
FOSC Suggestions Made to DEP/DOT for the SW paonds
During the public feedback period in January 2021, the FOSC Stormwater Committee sent a letter to DOT and DEP requesting clarification and suggesting project changes to enhance the flood mitigation project to further the County’s environmental goals.
Lower Sligo in downpour, July 2020
Video courtesy of Kit Gage, Advocacy Committee Chair
The Inwood Ave Bridge during rain, Sept 2020
Video courtesy of Susan Morelli, FOSC Steward
Focus on: Wheaton Branch Flood Mitigation Project
Jan 27, 2021: DEP responded to the Stormwater Committee’s comments.
Jan 15, 2021 Update: FOSC Stormwater Committee submitted comments to DOT and DEP on Wheaton floodwater mitigations.
December 16, 2020 Update: DEP and DOT held a public informational meeting via Zoom for the Dennis Avenue Bridge Replacement and Wheaton Branch Flood Mitigation. The MoCo DEP major projects page has details.
December 2020 Update: FOSC Social media and Steward coordinator Ed Murtagh produced a video (see above and the FOSC Youtube channel) explaining the proposed Wheaton Branch Flood Mitigation Project.
October 2020 Update: FOSC submitted a letter to DEP requesting habitat improvements to the Wheaton Branch stormwater ponds.
September 2020 Update: FOSC Steward Susan Morelli recorded videos of high stormwater at the Dennis Ave. bridge.
You can read about other DEP projects on the Major Projects page, and about other Parks projects at Parks’ Stream Stormwater Management and Stream Restoration websites.
Other Stormwater Efforts
We are one of many groups in the Stormwater Partners Network working together for clean water in Montgomery County.
Join the Stormwater Committee
To volunteer with the Stormwater committee, get in touch through the Contact form or, if you plan to join FOSC, through the Join FOSC form.