Regulars (All)

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 5/5/11

In the Beginning

Before Maryland had its Master Gardener program, there was the Bay Gardener

Back in the mid-1970s, I was the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service’s specialist in ornamental horticulture, providing technical assistance to nursery, greenhouse, Christmas tree and landscape contracting industries. Only five counties had horticultural agents at the time, and when interest in home horticulture took off, I was overwhelmed with questions from home gardeners from the 24 counties without horticultural agents. My repeated requests to the dean and vice...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 5/5/11

Are My Ears Deceiving Me?

It should be too early for croakers, but who’s complaining?

It was our first drift. My two youngest sons, both still in their teens, were holding medium-weight spin rods poised over the side, awaiting action. Spooled with 12-pound line and baited with pieces of common grocery-store shrimp, with an ounce-and-a-half sinker, the rig dropped right to the bottom where the fish were — without overpowering the twitching tips of their six-foot sticks. Fish Are Biting ... Larger trophy rockfish landings are becoming much more common,...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 4/28/11

Hopping the Heavens

Follow the Big Dipper

The sun sets a little before 8:00 this week, with full darkness coming almost an hour later. By that time, the great bear Ursa Major is almost directly overhead. The third-largest constellation, Ursa Major has been seen as a great she-bear by ancient peoples from Greece to India, Babylon to North America. In the modern age, when the few bears most of us see are captive in zoos or performing in circuses, we are more familiar with the seven stars of the bruin’s hind-quarters, a grouping...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 4/28/11

Breaming with Joy

Seek bluegill, or bream, in sweetwater when the dogwood blooms

It was warm and sunny, a lovely day with a light, early morning breeze coming out of the southeast. I hadn’t seen a day like it in some time, and from the last weather forecast, I knew that I might not see another for perhaps longer still. Hurrying, I slid my squat, blue dingy into the back of the pickup and filled it with tackle, battery and an electric motor. Then I headed for the Eastern Shore. Fish Are Biting ... Up to now, the rockfish bite...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 4/28/11

Putting the Curse on Bamboo

Cut it to the ground now, and be ready to spray it come fall

I’ve written here before about how to control bamboo, and kudzu, too. The column was picked up by the Wall Street Journal, and I received mail from all over the country from readers requesting more information. I also received several letters criticizing me for recommending the use of Roundup (glyphosate). In recent weeks, there has been a resurgence of requests for information on putting the curse on bamboo. I know I can’t please everyone, but I can tell you how...

Article - Our Capital by Ellen Moyer; by Ellen Moyer - 4/28/11

Walking thru History

In two hours, I’ll show you 350 years — with stops for ice cream.

Downtown Annapolis is a time capsule. Follow me on this mile-and-a-half jaunt, and you’ll pass through 350 years. Editor’s note: What’s your favorite walk in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties? Guide us through its spaces, history and ecology in 400 to 800 words with pictures. Send to editor@bayweekly.com. Selected tours earn editing, a byline and $25. Find a parking place on Main Street and buy two hours on the meter, for we start at Kilwins, the...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 4/21/11

Against the Moon’s Light

Only the strongest of this year’s Lyrid meteors will pierce the glare

The waning gibbous moon rises around midnight at week’s end and shines bright through dawn, which puts a damper on the annual Lyrid meteor shower, peaking in the dark hours of Thursday/Friday and Friday/Saturday. Even under ideal conditions with no competing moonlight, the Lyrids tend to max out at 15 to 20 meteors an hour. But any meteor bright enough to pierce the moonlight is likely to catch your attention as it streaks through the sky. Additionally, many of the...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 4/21/11

Bamboo Good and Bad

Clump is good; common is bad

Bamboo comes in two basic forms, clump and common. Unless you are prepared to build barriers to restrict the spread of common bamboo, use only clump bamboo for landscaping. Unlike the common bamboo that propagates itself by producing rhizomes underground, clump bamboo produces very tight-growing clumps and can only be propagated by divisions. Some of the clumping bamboos enlarge by only a few inches a year, while some of the more vigorous forms of clumping bamboos will...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 4/21/11

Though April Showers Come Our Way

Surely the fishing will get better in May

Cold, rain, wind and otherwise miserable weather. That’s the standard spring day in 2011. I can’t remember another year when I have gotten so few days on the water by this time. April 16, the opening day of rockfish season, was particularly difficult, with a morning that saw at least half-gale winds and an afternoon that added torrential rains. April 17 proceeded with a blow so bad that a 23-foot boat capsized with five anglers on board off of Thomas Point,...

Article - Where We Live by Steve Carr; by Steve Carr - 4/21/11

Fear the Turtle

Riparian rights have wronged a number of Bay critters

Turning a big ship around takes time, a lot of time. Right after World War II, many people living along the waters of the Chesapeake Bay began building bulkheads to prevent their shorelines from washing away. The state even encouraged this by offering homeowners free loans to harden their shorelines. A smiling fellow named Leonard Casanova showed up on our doorstep one summer day way back in the early 70s and announced that he was from the Department of...