We have lots of web pages about a variety of gardening topics (lawns, veggie gardens, flower gardens, etc.) through the Home and Garden Information Center program. At present, we don't have many pages formatted to be printable fact sheets, though any web page should be able to be printed as-is with the green printer icon near the top of the page (below the main image under the page title). We are in the midst of trying to streamline our lawn content, but that will not be ready for a relaunch until later this year; the content currently online is still applicable, just spread out into more individual web pages than the new version intends to be. You can explore our lawn topics and pages by following the link.

A good first step is to have a laboratory soil test sample sent in and tested, as it will inform you about any adjustments (with lime or fertilizer, or adding compost) that might be needed to support lawn health. We can help to interpret the results if desired. If you want a cool-season lawn, the type most widely grown in Maryland and possibly the better of the two for your county, then they are tall fescue-based and the primary season of care and renovation is in very late summer or early autumn. If you want a warm-season lawn (zoysia, essentially), its season of care is different, peaking about now and the rest of the month. Timing information for fertilization, planting, and other maintenance is provided within the lawn pages linked above.

With regards to other plantings, information that will help any adviser narrow-down the options for what plants to consider and how to take care of them includes site conditions that will impact how well it grows. These conditions include how much direct summer sun a location receives (for reference, "full sun" is about 6-8 or more hours of unobstructed summer sun), how well the soil drains, and if deer visit the area often and browse. Also helpful would be knowing how large plants for certain locations can get without running out of space, without relying on pruning to restrain growth.

Start by considering where you'd want to plant the largest-growing plants, usually trees and shrubs, and plan out where they can go based on the space available and how large you'd want them to get. Then, work your way down in size to smaller shrubs and perennials, then any annuals (plants that need replanting each year), if you want them. Annuals don't survive the winter, but tend to bloom all season long, and can provide flower color or other interest in the "in-between" times if other shrubs or perennials are finished for the season, since each tends to only flower for a few weeks per year. Annuals can also just be colorful companion plants for other species, even if their bloom season isn't the main reason for use. Perennials die back to the ground in winter but regrow in spring and do not need replanting, though a very small number of perennial species are "short-lived" by nature, and might need replacing every few years. Shrubs and trees tend to live for many decades, though some trees live longer than others.

For anything cold-hardy enough to be a perennial in our area, weather shouldn't need to factor too greatly into your plant choices. An exception would be when it ties-in with soil drainage, since a rainy year could make a poorly-drained site very soggy, which some plant species will tolerate well and others will not. It's always easiest to work with the conditions you have and then pick plants that naturally thrive in or tolerate those conditions, than to attempt the opposite -- picking plants and then trying to meet their needs by altering the existing soil or sun conditions. When deer are a persistent problem, try to either only use species they tend to dislike (though nothing is foolproof), or consider adding a fence to exclude them. Fencing is the most expensive approach to dealing with deer, but the most reliable.

While Extension doesn't provide on-site consultations or landscaping designs, we can provide feedback for plants a designer might suggest to you, if you wanted another opinion on their selection before buying and installing them. You could also look into hiring someone with Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional credentials if you'd prefer a landscaper/designer have training in sustainable landscaping techniques. (You may very well find someone who is well-trained and experienced but not certified, but this organization might be a handy starting point.)

Having certain aesthetic goals or plant traits in mind for areas of the yard being landscaped helps with the plant selection process. For example, aside from planning for harvestable plants like vegetables, herbs, and small fruits, if you wanted to attract butterflies or birds, have certain seasons of bloom, flower or foliage fragrance, and so on, that can help narrow-down a very large list of plant candidates that might otherwise be overwhelming. Some gardeners prefer to use only native plants, while others are open to natives or non-natives (as long as they are non-invasive, since we don't recommend the use of any invasive species as they can spread into natural areas and degrade habitat), so the choice is up to you.

Miri