Mount Airy Community Garden

Grow green

Access sustainable food

Respect the earth and all it has to give

Deepen your roots in your neighborhood

Enjoy being active and outside

Nourish your mind and body

Mount Airy Community Garden Rules

Ground Rules:

• All gardeners must sign an annual Registration Form and agree to abide by the following Mount Airy Community Garden Rules and Regulations.

• Reporting any problems to the Town of Mt. Airy staff immediately, please email our Community Garden Manager Ashley Collier at Acollier@mountairymd.gov or text (240)575-4202.

• Supplying own garden tools. The town will be providing some basic tools which will be marked as town property. Please do not take the town supplies or tools home for any reason. Borrowed tools should be cleaned and returned to the storage area when done.

• Children are encouraged in the Community Garden. However, children are to be monitored while in the Community Garden area and are not permitted to play in or around any other garden plots.

• No littering or dumping of trash. The Community Garden is a carry-in and carry-out facility – trash-free. A compost bin is available and is for plant waste only.

• Providing own seeds/plants

• Daily / weekly maintenance of your own garden plots.

• Each Gardener is required to help maintain the common garden areas. Examples of these are adjacent walkways, demo gardens, and pollinator gardens. We all need to pitch in! We ask for 4 hours a season per ½ plot and 8 per full plot.

• Fees must be included with the Registration Form. Gardeners must reapply each year for a garden plot. Existing gardeners desiring to continue gardening are required to re-sign an annual Registration Form and pay their annual registration fee by December 1each year to hold that garden plot. If a plot is unavailable, the applicant will be placed on a waiting list and will be contacted only when a plot becomes available.

• No taking of fruits/vegetables from plots that are not yours. If you are found to take something that is not yours you will forfeit your plot for the year and possibly not be allowed back the next season.

• Applicants must be 18 years of age or older. Plots are non-transferable. All plots will be surrendered back to the Town of Mt. Airy. Fees are non-refundable.

• Garden hours are 7 a.m. to sunset, 7 days a week. No garden activities are permitted after sunset.

• Alcohol in the Community Garden area is prohibited.

• Amplified music or any other activities that would infringe on other gardeners’ enjoyment is prohibited.

• Plots are rented for 2023 from April 16-November 15. Gardeners are to keep their gardens planted and maintained throughout this time period.

• The Community Garden will open on April 16, 2023. Garden plots must be planted by May 31. Plots that are not planted by the planting deadline are assumed abandoned and will be forfeited without refund. Plots must be cleared of any and all debris/material by November 15.

• Keep the garden gate closed at all times. Lock the gate using the provided lock when leaving the premises.

• Smoking or chewing tobacco is prohibited. Tobacco carries the mosaic virus, which is deadly to some plants.

• No pets (except service dogs) are permitted inside the Community Garden perimeter fencing. Please do not leave animals unattended or tied to the fence.

• Parking should be along Rising Ridge Road.

• The Town of Mt. Airy is not responsible for any injury, or damage to a Person or Personal property.

Plot Rules:

• All gardens are subject to occasional inspections. Garden plots are to be regularly weeded. Plots that become full of weeds or are not regularly maintained will be considered in violation of the Community Garden Rules. The gardener in violation will then receive an email to bring their plot(s) into compliance. A second inspection will take place the following week. If the garden plot(s) is still not in compliance, the plot(s) will be surrendered, and all fees will be forfeited.

• Gardeners may not maintain plantings or structures that impede the adjacent gardeners’ access to sunlight.

• The Community Garden is meant to be an organic space. The use of insecticides or weed repellents is prohibited. Neem oil is a great substitute for an organic insecticide. While the use of non-organic fertilizer is allowed, organic fertilizers are recommended. (More suggestions are available anytime feel free to email Acollier@mountairymd.gov.)

• The only allowed additives for the plots are provided behind the garden. We have for common use a 50/50 mix of soil and leaf compost, wood chips, and horse manure. When mulching please do not use hay as it may reseed and cause more weeds in your plot or elsewhere in the garden. 

• Bedsides can be added but must be Trex, or non-treated wood. Beds should be raised no more than 1-foot height unless approved by the Community Garden Manager.

• Gardening activity and plant growth must be restricted to the gardener’s plot. Please prevent vegetation from walkways and adjacent plots.

• Gardeners should respect each other’s plots. Leave a 6” unplanted border along each plotline where there is no aisle. Do not place opaque structures where they will shade a neighboring plot, no trees or shrubs are allowed in plots.

• No hoses allowed the Town of Mt. Airy will provide buckets to carry water from the water tank. When done using the bucket, it should be returned to the water tank (flipped over to reduce mosquitos) so other people can use it. The gardener MUST be present when watering. Do not leave the water unattended. Water must be turned off when not in use. Sprinklers are not allowed.

• Do not discard garden plot materials (including weeds) onto the surrounding walkways. This material is to be placed in the provided compost bins.

• Garden plot corners are clearly marked. Do not remove these markers.

• No invasive plants are permitted. A list of invasive plants can be found at http://www.mdinvasivesp.org/. Also, no plants may creep out of your beds. Common examples are sunchokes, mint, nothing that will spread like crazy!

• No unauthorized expansion of your plot into the surrounding paths or encroaching on other plots is permitted.

• Corn Clause no plants larger than 4 feet should be spaced on the outer sections of your plot. Taller items are only to be planted in the center, so it doesn’t shade the next plot. Corn is not allowed in our current plots, but we are interested in possibly building a second garden space for it. If interested or have any questions about what plants might be too tall please email or text Ashley Collier for clarification.

*As the garden becomes more established these rules are subject to change *