Category: Landscape

Mosquito Prevention

by Wardour Whistler

Each summer the Maryland Department of Agriculture sprays weekly for mosquitoes in 2100 communities, including West Annapolis and Wardour. Wardour residents can check email for information on when the spraying occurs, what pesticides are used, and how to opt out if you wish. Discussion at our spring meeting this weekend showed, as always, that neighbors feel differently about how to weigh the risks of pesticide exposure vs. exposure to mosquito-borne diseases. What we can agree on is that preventing mosquitoes is better than spraying. When mosquito numbers are low enough, the MDA will skip spraying for that week. The same goes if you’re considering using a commercial mosquito control company: the CDC and EPA recommend starting with removal of mosquito habitat.

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Save your trees, remove English ivy

by Wardour Whistler

Wardour’s trees need your help. Preserving the beautiful old specimen trees that grew along the bluffs was one of Elizabeth Giddings’s top priorities when she chose Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design the Wardour neighborhood. Their collaboration gave the neighborhood its character as a park or woodland shaded by ancient canopy trees. These trees are not only beautiful but crucial to air and water quality along the Chesapeake Bay. A mature tree can sequester up to a ton of carbon, intercepts storm water in its leaf canopy, and soaks up and filters water that would carry pollutants to the Bay.

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