Sligo Garden Program

The Sligo Garden Program 2024 Garden Kits are available for purchase for the Fall 2024 season starting now! Be sure to join FOSC to receive updates and the FOSC newsletter about all our programs.

Sorry, the Sligo Garden Program is concluded! We are leaving this page accessible for informational purposes only.

This year, Friends of Sligo Creek is again partnering with Nature Forward to provide low-cost native plant gardens exclusively for residents of the Sligo Creek watershed.

Friends of Sligo Creek Logo
Nature Forward logo

Sligo Garden Program

Established to create more native plant gardens in the Sligo Creek Watershed, the Sligo Garden Program encourages residents to convert lawn into gardens. The native plants used in the gardens support local pollinators and slow stormwater, improving the health of Sligo Creek, Long Branch, Wheaton Branch, and their tributaries.

The program is a collaboration between Friends of Sligo Creek and Nature Forward, funded through a generous grant.

Support our local pollinators

Improve the health of
Sligo Creek & Long Branch

 

Sligo Watershed Boundary Map

Sligo Watershed Boundary Map

You must live within the Sligo Creek watershed to qualify for the Sligo Garden Program. Click on the map above to see a larger version of it.

Plant a native plant garden!

The Sligo Garden Program offers 2 options to Sligo Watershed residents:

  • Now Sold Out! Garden Kits for those with 50 square feet of lawn to convert to a native plant garden, and
  • Now Sold Out! Conservation Landscape Design Consultations for those who have at least 250 square feet of lawn available to convert to a native plant garden with significant conservation benefits.

Quantities are limited, so order soon!

Native bushes in bloom at Woodend, the headquarters of Nature Forward

Note: Kits must be used to replace lawn or non-native plants. Limit one kit per household. If you received a kit in 2023, you are not eligible for a kit in 2024.

Getting the plants ready to plant in a pollinator garden.

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Getting garden kits ready to go

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The supply of kits is limited, so if you are interested in planting native plants and supporting our local pollinators and Creek, order yours soon!

After ordering, you will receive further information and a choice of delivery dates this fall 2024.

If you have gotten a kit or consult in the past, you are not eligible for an additional one.

See “Ready to Order?” below to order a garden kit, or a design consultation, or both!

garden kits

All Garden Kits are now sold out!

All it takes is 50 square feet of lawn to create a native plant garden with the Garden Kit that supports pollinators and slows stormwater before it enters Sligo Creek / Long Branch. Garden Kits include:

  • 50 tough, deer-resistant native pollinator plants (choice of a kit for sunny or shady conditions); enough for the 50 sq ft garden
  • 3 garden designs to choose from & simple instructions
  • Advice about site preparation and plant care
  • Volunteers to deliver the kit and assist you to lay out and plant the garden
  • A yard sign to promote the importance of native plant gardening to the Creek and our environment

All for only $25!

A mix of native plants in bloom forming a broad border along a fence. The plants are well mulched.

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Conservation landscaping created from existing lawn

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More to know about the Landscape Design Consultation:

  • No plants are included. You can order a garden kit to obtain 50 plants.
  • The RainScapes program can also connect you with qualified contractors to install your garden.

See “Ready to Order?” below to order a garden kit, or a design consultation, or both!

Conservation Landscape Design Consultations

All conservation landscape design consultations are now sold out!

Do you have more space and a desire to do even more to help pollinators and address stormwater?

  • The services of a landscape architect. For an additional $25, a landscape architect will visit your property and design a custom conservation landscape to replace 250 square feet of lawn that may be eligible for a RainScapes rebate from Montgomery County to help cover the cost of implementing the landscape plan.
  • A visit from a native plant specialist to review your design and answer questions about the RainScapes rebate program.

Just $25 for a custom consultation!

Ready to Order?

After ordering, you will receive an email with further information and a choice of dates to get started.

 We look forward to working together to improve our watershed.

 

Have questions?

FAQs

The map on this page shows the boundaries of the Sligo Creek watershed.

This program is for residents of Sligo Creek Watershed only. But check out Nature Forward for information on garden consults and plant sales available to anyone who lives in the MVA region!

The goal of the project is to convert areas with low habitat value and low stormwater absorption into an area with high habitat value and high stormwater absorption, so it needs to be an area that is currently lawn or non-native plants. You will receive instructions on how to prepare the planting area around a month before your scheduled delivery – no special supplies are required.

The Sunny kit included Roundleaf Ragwort (Packera obovata), Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Wreath Goldenrod (Solidago caesia), Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum muticum), and Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).

The shadye kit included Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata), Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus), and White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata).

If you purchased a garden consultation for a 250 square foot custom design, you will receive a follow-up email from FOSC partner Nature Forward to schedule your garden consultation. You will be able to sign up for a date of your choosing. All appointment times are on weekdays. No plants are included in a garden consultation.

If you also purchased a native plant kit, it will be delivered separately in the Fall.

Sorry!

You can select “Spring” or “Fall” as a preference. Spring kits are limited in quantity. If you selected Spring but the supply of Spring kits has run out, you will receive a Fall kit instead. You will be informed by email.

The Spring kits will be delivered to your home by a volunteer in late April/early May. Fall kits will be delivered in late September/early October. Closer to the delivery date, you will receive a follow-up email about scheduling your delivery at a time that works for you!

The kits are plugs grown by North Creek Nursery in Pennsylvania. They are small, so they are easy to plant, but they are in a rapid growth phase, so they will get bigger fast!

Our kits will be delivered by volunteers, who will help you get started with a garden layout and a plan for planting. You will also receive information on plant care and maintenance.

Take your best guess. We selected plants that do well in a range of conditions, so as long as you have the 50 square feet of space, it should work out!

These kits will not work in a wetland (permanent standing water) but are designed to do well in a range of conditions, from typically dry to typically moist.

We have tested these plants in our gardens, and are confident that deer do not prefer them. Will deer take a bite? Maybe! But they probably won’t come back for more.

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Note: This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Assistance Agreement No. 4H-CB96397501) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, which promotes community-based efforts to develop conservation strategies to protect and restore the diverse natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay.