the Neighborhood Design Center

Community Forestry,

Green Infrastructure

Village of 12 Trees

Blue dots = Identified potential stormwater intervention sites. Grey rectangles = Ongoing stormwater projects with Blue Water Baltimore.

Project Background

The Village of 12 Trees, an HOA community in Randallstwon, collaborated with NeighborSpace Baltimore County on grant opportunities. NeighborSpace’s HABACO Program Habitat Baltimore County (HABACO) helps HOAs improve and better steward their lands to provide recreational opportunities for their residents, habitat for pollinators, and management of stormwater with green infrastructure.

Then Neighborspace and the Neighborhood Design Center collaborated on
a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant submission. With that grant, we kicked off the project, introducing neighbors to project, asking questions, and surveying concerns.

Three Goals

    • Create a comprehensive neighborhood plan rooted in conservation practices. Includes ongoing and future projects.

    • Design 4 small-scale landscape projects chosen by the community from a set list of
      conservation landscape project types at a scale that can be installed by community volunteers.

    • Create a community-driven conservation landscape plan. Implementation and phasing plans for designed projects.

What we heard and saw from on-site events

Most important landscape elements

    • Seasonal blooming

    • More color

    • LOW maintenance

    • Noise buffer around pool

    • Sidewalks + Crosswalks

Top areas hoping to be addressed by plans

    • Stormwater issues

    • Reducing landscape maintenance

    • Improving the forested areas

    • Improving pedestrian access

Stormwater and Conservation Plans

We provided detailed plans for four key locations. Some of the benefits of these interventions include: increased pollinator and bird habitats, rehabilitated soil ecologies, reduced mowing, intercepted stormwater, decreased erosion, and low-maintenance and drought-tolerant plants. We also advised the community on many plant options, planting schedules, and cost estimates.

Slide 1 of 6

Forest Plans

We provided a comprehensive plan to revitalize the community's forested areas. This included detailed planting guides and instructions, and as well as invasive species removal recommendations and suggestions on what to plant instead to create a lush ecosystem.

We also included info on the phases of implementation, funding sources, and maintenance plans (when to cut grasses, prune, mulch, weed, and water).

Slide 1 of 3

Similar Projects

Schoolyards and Learning EnvironmentsCommunity Forestry

District-Wide Planting Designs and Hands-on Learning

We created a food forest design that engaged students in environmental education and the healthy benefits of native species, and created street tree planting and removal plans for nine different neighborhoods in PCG’s council district nine.

Green Infrastructure

Restoring Stormwater Pond Habitats to Their Native Glory

NDC helped renovate and beautify community stormwater ponds in Wyndham Woods / West Laurel Acres and Victoria Falls / Pines of Laurel. This restoration included the removal of invasive species and accumulated sediment.

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