Last summer, the Maryland Department of Agriculture confirmed worsening symptoms of beech leaf disease throughout the State in counties including Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Washington and Baltimore City. Beech trees make up a large population of trees in area parks, and trees are showing signs of the disease. You can see symptoms of BLD in the leaves of affected trees: the leaves have dark stripes or bands between the veins on the leaves. The University of Maryland Extension has good information about Beech Leaf Disease, with a map showing how it has spread […]
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June 2026 Newsletter
Schedule of Summer/Fall Events 2026 Native Garden Contest Applications OpenDate: Monday, June 8 – July 7 (see below for more information) GTA Prop-Making Event for Fourth of July parade Fourth of July ParadeWe need your help to create new props for GTA’s entry into Towson’s Fourth of July Parade! We will be creating fish and frogs from recycled materials, along with painting a new parade banner for our theme: ❤️Your Neighborhood StreamDate: Saturday, June 13Time: 11am-2pmLocation: Central Presbyterian Church Outdoor Pavilion, 7308 York Road, Towson, MD 21204 Fourth of July parade: Love Your Neighborhood Stream We need at least 20 marchers […]
Continue readingGreen Good News from Green Towson Alliance
Green Towson Alliance celebrated 10 years of friendship, advocacy, greening and environmental education in 2025. Here are some of our accomplishments. BUILDING A CLEANER, GREENER, MORE BEAUTIFUL TOWSON Community Shade Trees In the 11th year of partnership with Blue Water Baltimore, GTA helped coordinate the planting of 207 trees in 15 Towson neighborhoods in autumn 2025, including Anneslie, Campus Hills, Glendale, Greenbrier, Idlewylde, Knollwood, Lutherville,Rogers Forge, Ruxton-RIderwood, Stoneleigh, West Towson, Wiltondale, and others. Trees ranged from long-lived, tall shade trees (Willow Oak, Shumard Oak, Swamp White Oak, Tulip Poplar, Honey Locust), to mid-sized Riverbirch and […]
Continue readingGreen Towson Alliance (GTA) Calls on Baltimore County Council to hold a public hearing on the renegotiation of the 2005 Sanitary Sewer Consent Decree
The Green Towson Alliance unites Towson area environmentalists to achieve a greener, healthier, more beautiful community through collaboration and activism. Green Towson Alliance is calling for this public hearing based on our ongoing investigation of the sanitary sewer system in Baltimore County, which began when we published our 2017 White Paper, “Is Sewage Contaminating Our Neighborhood Streams?” In 2005, Baltimore County entered into a Consent Decree with Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to violations of the Clean Water Act – specifically the discharge of untreated […]
Continue readingPRESS RELEASE:Sanitary Sewer Overflow found at Lake Roland after heavy rains July 31, 2025
A Green Towson Alliance (GTA) volunteer discovered a manhole cover laying on the ground next to a sanitary sewer stack on the afternoon of Friday August 1, 2025. Upon further investigation, sanitary sewer debris such as toilet paper, flushable wipes and tampons were found in the surrounding vegetation along a hiking trail indicating that raw sewage overflowed from the manhole. The SSO was reported to Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT). This is the third such raw sewage overflow event discovered below the dam in Lake Roland by […]
Continue readingGTA’s 10th Birthday Party!
Green Towson Alliance celebrated 10 years of the combined efforts of manypeople and community liaisons to create a greener and healthier environment inall the neighborhoods that consider Towson their downtown. Over 70 people attended the birthday party on Thursday, May 22 2025, in thecourtyard at Central Presbyterian Church. Festive party lights and GTA’s 4th ofJuly parade props of trees, bees and butterflies decorated the space, organizedby Allison Schulze. A native plant swap started the evening. GTA co-founders Carol Newill and BethMiller presented a brief program summarizing the two main areas of GTAactivities: Hands-On (trees, streams, […]
Continue reading10th Year of Stream Cleanups Coordinated by Green Towson Alliance
Green Towson Alliance has been organizing stream cleanups of local streams and tributaries of the Herring Run and the Jone Falls since it was founded in 2015. This April, 127 volunteers (including 17 children) cleaned trash out of the stream beds and banks and from the alleys and storm drains that funnel trash into the streams. At some sites, invasive English Ivy was cut from the trees and garlic mustard was pulled out. In all, teams at 8 locations collected 109 bags of trash and recyclables, and 16 bags of invasive weeds. In addition, unusual […]
Continue readingHow to Mulch to Help Trees, Not Hurt Them
by Carol Newill Thinking about applying mulch at the base of your trees? Mature trees do not need mulch, except to keep lawn mowers and weed wackers away from the trunk. Younger trees will appreciate mulch, to keep the soil cooler and more moist, so they can grow! Follow the Rule of Threes to avoid damage from over-mulching: Keep mulch at least 3 inches away from the bark, so the bark does not rot or allow pathogens to attack the tree. Mulch should NEVER touch the bark. Apply mulch no deeper than 1 to 3 […]
Continue reading2025 Towson Stream Cleanups
Please click on the image for details on this year’s Spring Cleanups
Continue readingGreen Good News
2024 was a great year for the Green Towson Alliance! Our workgroups completed projects in various areas and truly advanced our goal to achieve a cleaner, greener Towson. BUILDING A CLEANER, GREENER TOWSON Community Shade Trees In partnership with Blue Water Baltimore, GTA helped coordinate the planting of 244 trees in 14 Towson communities in autumn 2024. Stream Clean-upsIn partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore County, GTA organized 198 adults and 33 children, including Girl Scouts and Towson University students, to pull 150 bags of trash out of 11 neighborhood stream […]
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