No-Mow Month - April

The City of College Park encourages its residents to reduce or refrain from mowing their lawns in support of local pollinators during the month of April.

For April 2023: We hope our native pollinators had a great month! No Mow April has ended on Sunday, April 30. Please cut your yard next week so grass and weeds do not exceed 12” high. City staff may issue violation notices (with time to correct prior to a fine) for properties not in compliance. The City and your neighbors greatly appreciate your cooperation. Residents are reminded that they are responsible for maintaining grass in the City right of way to the curb adjacent to their property. Soft yard waste such as grass clippings (if not composted), may be placed in City beige yard waste containers, reusable containers with a City yard waste decal, or paper yard waste bags, and left at the curb on your regular refuse/recycling collection day. For more information, please visit collegeparkmd.gov/specialcollections.

Monarch Pledge

In September 2021, the City's Bee City committee made and distributed milkweed seed packets to help support our local monarch butterflies as part of the Monarch Pledge. The milkweed seeds were collected in College Park, packaged and distributed to Little Free Libraries in College Park by Bee City Committee members. The milkweed seeds can be sown this fall or stored in the refrigerator until next spring for sowing as they require a cold period to germinate. Monarch caterpillars like to eat the milkweed plants, so don’t be surprised to see evidence of their feeding or a caterpillar!

Join the City's Bee City Committee and support our monarch butterfly populations! Get your free swamp milkweed seed packet at your local College Park neighborhood Little Library.

National Pollinator Week

National Pollinator Week celebrates and brings awareness to our pollinators.

During the third of June, Pollinator Week is celebrated internationally. During this week, many events across the country are organized, seeking to increase awareness and improve the protection of pollinators and pollination. In this context, the City of College Park Bee City USA Committee is collaborating with the newly certified University of Maryland Bee Campus USA and the Sustainable Maryland Route 1 Pollinator Corridor group to host the screening of the movie “My Garden of a Thousand Bees”, followed by a Pollinator Resource fair.

See event details here.

“My Garden of a Thousand Bees” is a documentary filmed in the UK, in which the filmmaker decides to let plants naturalize and spread in his yard and observes the changes in the pollinator populations that appear in the garden as a result. The film has been acclaimed for showcasing the impact that increasing floral diversity in our green spaces can have on insect and pollinator diversity and abundance, and how each of us has the power to contribute to protecting these important parts of our ecosystem. The screening of this family-friendly film is open to all audiences.

The film will be shown at the University of Maryland Clarice Smith Center, 8270 Alumni Dr. followed by a Q&A session; the Pollinator Resource Fair will be held at the Arboretum Outreach Center across the street at, 3931 Stadium Dr. At this Fair, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with Bee City/Campus USA affiliates from the region, biodiversity organizations, and local native plant nurseries and resources.

The event is free and will be held at the Clarice Smith Center and the UMD Arboretum Outreach Center on Saturday, June 17th, 1-4PM.

Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Mosquito Control Program

From late May/early June through September, the City cooperates with the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) to identify and control mosquito populations with spraying and larviciding.

The program consists of:

LARVICIDING STANDING WATER: Treatments are made monthly by MDA personnel to known areas of standing water to control mosquito larva that will prevent development into adult moquitoes.
SPRAYING TO CONTROL ADULT MOSQUITOES: MDA has designated Wednesday night for adult mosquito spraying the City (when thresholds are met). Spraying will only begin after dark and may continue until midnight or later. If you see a truck in your community spraying during the day, please note that it is not from the State of Maryland. As a precaution, MDA advises residents to bring in pets, stay inside their homes and close their windows while the spray truck is in the vicinity. Please remain in your home for at least 30 minutes after the truck has left. If there are people outside when the truck passes by, MDA will not spray and will not return that night. Spray applications are made by truck-mounted ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayers. The spray schedule shifts, and the frequency will be determined by surveillance data collected and complaints received. This means that your neighborhood may or may not be sprayed each week.

In order for MDA personnel to spray, they will first survey the area/section of concern using traps and landing rate counts, (they may also request access to your property to place a trap for their survey). If mosquito count thresholds are met, they may make a control spray application in the neighborhood, but please be aware that they do not spray individual properties.

If you have any questions, please call MDA at 301-422-5080.

REQUEST FOR EXEMPTION FROM ADULT MOSQUITO CONTROL SERVICES
Residents can request exclusion from the adult spray program by completing an exemption form annually and return it to:

Program Supervisor, Mosquito Control Section
50 Harry S. Truman Parkway
Annapolis, MD 21401

If you don't have a printer, the local office for MDA Mosquito Control in College Park has offered to send residents a form via DocuSign. Send an email to skeetermd1.mda@maryland.gov to request the form be sent via DocuSign.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the MDA’s Mosquito Control website (https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/pages/mosquito_control.aspx) for more details about the program, including their policy, insecticides used, product labels and material safety data sheets (MSDS), and more.

Take control of mosquitoes in your yard
It takes a community working together to control the mosquito population. Mosquitoes may carry zika, west nile, dengue fever, chikungunya and heartworm in cats and dogs. Mosquitoes thrive in warm weather, but there are several things you can do to remove mosquito habitat from your yard.

Dump and drain: If it holds standing water for longer than a few days, flip it over or drain it out (tires, tarps, animal bowls, flower pots, toys, wading pools).
Dunk: If you can’t dump it or drain it (birdbaths, fish-ponds, persistent puddles) put mosquito dunks or mosquito torpedoes in the water. They kill the mosquito larva and do no harm to other species.
Screen: Corrugated drainpipes are a mosquito breeding ground! Tie stretchable nylon (pantyhose) around the ends or replace with smooth PVC which doesn’t hold water.

A one page sheet on Mosquito Control is available at this link AgBrief_Mosquito-Control.

Tips to Keep Mosquitoes Away

Follow the three D’s to keep mosquitoes away:

Drain: Standing water attracts mosquitoes. Empty out any outside water containers near your home at least once per week
Dress: Dark clothing attracts mosquitoes. Wear long sleeves, long pants, and light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.
Defend: Properly apply an EPA-registered repellent such as DEET, picaridin, IR 3535, or oil of lemon-eucalyptus. For permanent areas of standing water (ponds, rain barrels, etc), contact the City's Department of Public Works for a mosquito torpedo which releases an insect growth regulator in water that prevents adult mosquito development.

For more tips to avoid mosquito bites, visit the MDA's Mosquito Control website.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know, the Asian tiger mosquito is active during the day and only breeds in containers of standing water (i.e. around humans)? A great way to reduce the amount of mosquitoes is to eliminate their breeding sources! Empty, remove or turn over unused containers, buckets, toys, bird baths, flower pots and saucers, tarps, corrugated drainpipes, kayaks, pet dishes, wading pools, free-standing basketball hoops that may have standing water and store them so they don't hold water. Bird baths or fountains should have water changed at least twice a week. Make sure gutters are clean and work with your neighbors to identify potential mosquito breeding areas. Removing all sources of standing water from your yard can greatly reduce the amount of mosquitoes in your vicinity!

For permanent areas of standing water (ponds, rain barrels, etc.), mosquito "torpedoes" slowly and continuously release an insect growth regulator into the water that prevents larval mosquito development into adults for up to 2 months. The City offers mosquito torpedoes for residents – visit the Department of Public Works for more information. Please click here for information on Pre-Strike Mosquito Torpedo from the manufacturer.

If ditches do not flow and contain stagnant water for one week or longer, they can produce large numbers of mosquitoes. Report such conditions to a Mosquito Control Office. Do not attempt to clear these ditches because they may be protected by wetland regulations.

insects, Pollinators, & Mosquitoes

Pollinators

POLLINATOR GUIDES: