Join us! The Dufief Green Team is open to all Dufief homeowners and renters. Its goals are:
● To undertake projects to enhance our common areas, using plants native to Maryland. Such projects include the landscaping at the front entrance (from Rte 28), removal of invasive plants in common areas and enhancement of our traffic circles.
● To undertake projects that support residents who wish to create wildlife habitat in their yards, such as pollinator garden workshops, plant giveaways, yard visits to give pointers on getting started, etc.
● To enhance appreciation for the natural areas adjacent to our development by inviting residents to join nature walks on the Muddy Branch Park trail.
Contact us at Dufiefgreenteam@gmail.com. We will also be contacting the community via the Dufief Calendar. Your participation is welcome at any level, whether for a single project or
many!
Leave the leaves to support wildlife all winter
Why spend money, time and energy removing all the leaves from your yard! Consider letting your leaves stay on your property this fall and winter. Nature will thank you!
Fallen leaves provide food and shelter for many species of wildlife during the winter, including moths and butterflies, lightning bugs, chipmunks, and even box turtles. A study from the University of Maryland found that leaving leaves on landscapes resulted in soils holding on average 32% more carbon.
This doesn’t mean letting lawns and driveways stay thickly covered with leaves, but rather moving them to other areas of your yard as suggested below. If you run out of areas to place them, start a compost pile, using one of the county’s free compost bins available at these locations including the Kentlands Whole Foods.
Leave some on your grass: A thin layer of dead leaves won’t hurt the lawn. In fact, many of them will shrivel up and disappear surprisingly fast. Examples include maple, cherry, ash, dogwood, and willow. Oak and beech leaves are very slow to decompose and are more likely to smother the grass.
Rake them onto garden beds, and under trees and shrubs: A thick layer of leaves will prevent winter weeds from germinating, will nourish the soil and provide overwintering habitat for many creatures.
Rake them to the peripheries of your yard where they will slowly decompose. Put them in a compost bin or make your own compost pile: By early summer you will have a nice load or two of semi-decomposed leaves to use as a free mulch. Leave them another year, and you will have compost!
Do the world a favor and avoid leaf blowers. The carbon emissions are considerable, and the noise is horrific. Noise pollution is bad for humans and for songbirds and other critters which have trouble communicating over the din.
Here are some articles on WHY leaving the leaves is so important:
- National Wildlife Federation – Why you should leave the leaves
- My Green Montgomery – Five Great Ways to Use Fall Leaves
Upcoming Activities
Bird walks: The Green Team invites you to join in occasional bird walks along the Muddy Branch Greenway Trail. The next birdwalk is scheduled for Saturday, October 5 at 8 a.m. meeting at the Dufief Pollinator Gardens at Dufief Dr and Rte 28. We will walk about 2 miles round trip looking for both our year round birds as well as arriving winter residents. All ages and levels of birders welcome!
Please sign up by sending an email to dufiefgreenteam@gmail.com.
Group size for each walk is limited to 20. Bring binoculars or mention in your email if you don’t have any. We’ll try to bring extras.
Yard Visits: Would you like to add native plants to your yard but don’t know where to start? Green Team members Roger Rasnake and Moira Davenport will make a ‘yard visit’ to give you pointers on plants that will do well in your landscape. Contact us at dufiefgreenteam@gmail.com.
Green Team Projects:
Dufief Pollinator Gardens, Dufief Drive and Rte 28
This spring, the Dufief Green Team installed two pollinator gardens on either side of Dufief Drive at the route 28 entrance. Check them out! More information and a list of the plants is here. The Green Team is working with the HOA Board to plan further plantings for the remainder of the easement area for this fall or next spring.
Invasive plant removal at the pond
Green Team volunteers of all ages met at DuFief Pond on Saturday morning, July 28, to combat non-native invasive species that have proliferated in our common area. We successfully removed hundreds of wineberry and multiflora rose plants around the playground and on the path nearby, and we identified some healthy native plants that we hope will expand there, including spicebush, native grape, and greenbrier. Our thanks to all who came out! We’ll be organizing more weed warrior days in the future, and in the spring, we will have at least one session focusing on garlic mustard and Japanese barberry (see article in August Readwood).
L to r: Antonio Carrillo, Kevin McGrattan, Roger Rasnake, Sana and Adhav Kumar, Moira Davenport and Vin Kotraiah removed invasive wineberry at the pond.
Mosquito Trap Giveaway
Ten mosquito traps consisting of buckets, mosquito dunks and instructions were given away during the Dufief picnic in June. We will do this again next June. These simple traps are very effective targeted control, unlike pesticide spraying of an entire yard that kills all insect life. More information about the ‘bucket of doom’ is here.