A New Life for the Willett Branch; A New Park for the Westbard Sector

New development is coming to the Westbard sector and it will increase the density of the area three-fold.  New residential and mixed use building will be where small shops once operated.  With this change, we MUST have green space.  The Draft Master Plan proposes a new Stream Valley Park and a naturalized Willett Branch creek which would run through the sector like "a green ribbon" providing residents with walking trails, seating and a way to enjoy the outdoors.

Email the Planning Board HERE to tell them that you support this vision for the sector and that no changes should be made or exceptions granted in the new master plan. If the email doesn't work for you, you can download a sample letter HERE.

Email NOW!  The Planning Board meets on December 3 to discuss the environment elements of the Proposed plan.

WE WANT THIS, 

Willett Branch as it could be.

NOT THIS,

Sample Letter Supporting the Naturalization of the Willett Branch in the Westbard Sector.

Download a copy HERE.

 Dear______________________

I support a Westbard Sector Plan that includes a naturalized Willett Branch.  The environmental planners have come up with an innovated design that makes the creek an amenity for the area – a place where people can walk, enjoy nature and congregate.  The current state of this creek is shameful.  The walls are covered in graffiti and the banks are lined with trash.  It winds behind the building where it is out of sight and out of mind. But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Instead of turning their backs to the creek, new development would embrace the creek as part of their open space making the Westbard Sector a show place for the County.

Moving forward, we need open space for the new residents of the Westbard sector to stretch their legs and enjoy the beautiful natural area that the Little Falls watershed has to offer.  Please vote to support a Master Plan with strong environmental component and a naturalized Willett Branch with no exemptions or waiver for any development or developer. 

Sincerely,

______________________________

Contact Information

Planning Board
Casey Anderson, Chair
M-NCPPC
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org

County Council
Council Office Building
100 Maryland Avenue, 5th Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov

County Executive Ike Leggett
Office of County Executive
Executive Office Building, 2nd floor
101 Monroe St., Rockville, MD 20850
ike.leggett@montgomerycountymd.gov
ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov  

Mow Your Leaves for a Better Environment!

Big piles of leaves by the curb, a certain sign of autumn and lots of fun for kids to jump in. What could be wrong with that? Not to be the Grinch Who Stole Leaf Pile Jumping, but everything. Leaves in the gutter make their way to the creek where they decompose and cause nutrient bloom. Leaves in the gutter mean no leaves around the base of your trees where they provide an organic blanket for the trees during the winter. Leaves in the gutter mean you are wasting valuable nutrients for your lawn.

So, this year, take a tip from Winterthur, the spectacular DuPont gardens in Delaware and mow your leaves right on the lawn.

From a Washington Post article

For more than 20 years, the gardeners at this expansive and famously leafy estate have been mowing leaves with (...) lawn mowers. The machines inhale the leaves, chop them into shreds and deposit them as the mower moves along. Engine noise is confined to the muted chug of the mower, not the incessant high-pitch whine of the leaf blower.And there are no bags to unhook and drag anywhere, just a confetti-like litter left on the grass. Ripped into morsel-size pieces, the flakes melt away in two or three weeks as microbes and worms do their work of enriching the soil.

It is such a simple system that (Chris) Strand, garden director, and Long, assistant garden curator, wonder why it hasn't caught on. They are certainly converts in their own gardens. "I spend a fraction of the time I used to spend raking and transporting leaves," says Strand.

This process is endorsed by none other than the Scotts Fertilizer Company. On their website, they recommend you

Take the grass catcher off your mower and mow over the leaves on your lawn. You want to reduce your leaf clutter to dime-size pieces. You'll know you're done when about half an inch of grass can be seen through the mulched leaf layer. Once the leaf bits settle in, microbes and worms get to work recycling them. Any kind of rotary-action mower will do the job, and any kind of leaves can be chopped up. With several passes of your mower, you can mulch up to 18 inches of leaf clutter.

So, give your rake a rest, save the local government some money and help the environment all by mowing your leaves. It works for the Winterthur Estates and it will work for you. When spring arrives, you'll see great results. The leaf litter you mowed this fall will have disappeared. And your grass will look greener than ever.

And if your children need a pile to jump it, rake them one and when they're jumped out, put those leaves under your trees and around your shrubs - free and beautiful mulch!

Great Lawn Fertilizer and Winter Habitat

The National Wildlife Federation states "In addition to becoming natural fertilizer for your soil, leaves that stay where they fall create “mini ecosystems,” according to another post by the group. Chipmunks, salamanders, earthworms, turtles and other small creatures live in the leaves or use them for food and nesting material, and butterflies and moth pupae like to spend the winter in the leaf layers."

University of Michigan Study Endorses Mulching

Here's another good article about mowing your leaves that sings praises to the value of mulching your leaves right on the grass.

http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2012/10/mulched_leaves_offer_food_prot.html

The author addresses the problem of oak leaves - hard to mulch, but with patience, they will shred.

Fine Gardening Magazine Encourages Leaving the Leaves

Mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and unraked leaves in planting beds don’t smother shade-tolerant perennials
by Terry Ettinger

If you dread the annual fall leaf-raking marathon, I have good news for you: Raking and collecting leaves every autumn is a tradition without scientific basis. Research has proven that mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and observation shows that unraked leaves in planting beds don’t smother shade-tolerant perennials.  Click HERE to read more.