The Creekside Field Report — Issue #2: Projects, bids & winter protection

Issue #2 · November 2026

A free monthly trade newsletter from Creekside Nurseries · Serving the Mid-Atlantic · MD · VA · PA · DC · creekside-nursery.com

Welcome

This issue covers what's moving on projects and policy across Maryland, Virginia and DC, four public bids due Nov. 5 to 20, a winter protection tip for new plantings, and a plant spotlight on bald cypress. Everything here was checked against the source linked in the item, as of Nov. 2, 2026. Built for the trade.

What's Being Built

B&B Green Giant arborvitae loaded on a flatbed beside a building. Photo: Creekside Nurseries.

Industry news

1. Bay Trust tree grants are putting trees in the ground this fall. On Oct. 13 the Chesapeake Bay Trust announced Urban Trees Program awards to 31 community organizations for nearly 22,000 new trees in urban Maryland neighborhoods, with planting starting this fall. The program is also running a first-round pilot to expand access to 36 less commonly available native tree species, for fall 2026 and spring 2027 plantings, with more trees being grown for 2029. Expect more native, species-diverse planting plans from community and municipal projects. (Chesapeake Bay Trust release)

2. Maryland's Tree-Mendous law now covers tree care, not only planting. A law that took effect Oct. 1 widens the program to stewardship, including maintenance and care of native trees and shrubs. Local governments, nonprofits, schools, community associations and businesses can apply through the Maryland Forest Service's Community Forestry Catalyst Fund, which now uses one common application. Individual residents are not eligible for direct awards. Applications are accepted year-round, with reviews on Jan. 15 and July 15. The next review deadline is Jan. 15, 2027. If your HOA or municipal clients ask about funding for tree care or replanting, point them here. (Maryland DNR, Oct. 6 · Maryland DNR, Oct. 28)

3. Loudoun's data center pause vote moved to Nov. 17. The Board of Supervisors deferred its final vote on a proposed 12-month pause on data center and substation applications that need legislative approval, such as rezonings and special exceptions. The board did not vote on Oct. 20, as earlier reports implied. If adopted, the pause would be retroactive to Sept. 15. Applications could still be filed and move through the Planning Commission, and administratively approved applications would not be affected. Watch the Nov. 17 meeting if your pipeline includes campus landscape or screening work. (The Virginia Pulse)

4. NALP benchmark report: profitability strengthened. The National Association of Landscape Professionals' 2026 Financial Benchmark Report, released Oct. 13, draws on confidential surveys of 124 organizations and 2025 results. It says profitability strengthened as sales growth moderated and customer economics improved. This year's edition also expands its workforce section, linking compensation, staffing, retention and productivity to financial performance. (NALP release)

Construction & development

Fairfax City, VA: Willard-Sherwood Health & Community Center. Officials broke ground Sept. 30 on the new health and community center on the Blenheim Blvd. site, where the old health center is being demolished. Demolition runs October to November 2026, mass excavation from winter 2026 into spring 2027, and structure from summer 2027 to spring 2028. Facade, roofing and interior work follow, with completion and move-in expected in fall 2029. Site and landscape work will come late in that schedule. (FFXnow)

Westphalia, Prince George's County: Town Center retail plan. The Planning Board approved the retail and housing application, about 66 acres near Pennsylvania Ave. and Woodyard Rd., with conditions on Oct. 8. The District Council waived its review on Oct. 26, and the county lists Nov. 18 as the deadline to appeal. The approval requires revisions to the site, landscape and tree-conservation plans before certification. The developer targets preliminary grading for late 2026 to early 2027, but that is a developer target, not a confirmed start date. More steps, including final plats, come before building permits. (The Westphalia Gazette)

National Harbor, Prince George's County: Sphere. The County Council approved the Sphere project and its funding framework on Oct. 27, with eight of eleven members voting yes and three absent. The coverage I found gives no construction start date, so treat landscape timing as unknown. (NBC4 Washington)

Washington, DC: 16th Street NW landscaped medians. DDOT is building landscaped median plantings, removing impervious surface and upgrading crosswalks between H and K Streets NW. Phase 1 (I to K Streets) runs Oct. 19 to about Nov. 25, and Phase 2 (H to I Streets) runs Nov. 25 to about Dec. 31, on weekdays, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. The release does not say when the plants go in. (DDOT)

Olney, Montgomery County: Olney Golf Park forest plan. The Planning Board voted Sept. 24 to approve, with conditions, a forest conservation plan amendment for 235 townhomes on the former driving range, and mailed its written resolution on Oct. 20. The conditions call for 0.68 acres of new forest planting, 54 inches of mitigation tree planting, off-site mitigation credits, and five years of maintenance. The forest plan moves alongside a rezoning request (Local Map Amendment H-164). (Planning Board resolution MCPB No. 26-88)

Bids & Upcoming Work

Semi flatbed loaded with B&B spruce (Picea). Photo: Creekside Nurseries.

Four public bids with planting or landscape scope, listed by due date. All times are Eastern. Each one is posted on the agency's official portal (eVA, eMMA or Bid Express), so pull the full documents there. Verify dates and requirements on the official posting before you bid. Addenda can change due dates, so check for updates.

• Thu., Nov. 5, 10:30 AM: Baltimore County, Jennifer Branch Relief Sewer Consent Decree (20127 SX0 / BPM059036). A sewer project with a tree, shrub and seeding reforestation scope, plus wetland and buffer restoration. The county's prime bid is due Nov. 5. The reforestation work is a subcontract scope under that bid, so if you plant, contact the contractors bidding the prime. The prime bid requires county prequalification. Official posting: Baltimore County Public Works "Current Solicitations" page and eMMA. (Baltimore County)
• Fri., Nov. 6: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, tree planting and post-planting establishment, Lyndhurst Ponds Natural Area Preserve near Waynesboro (eVA ref. EVA-130943). Planting labor for about 4,900 bare-root tree and shrub seedlings on about 25 acres, followed by two years of competition control and row mowing. This is an invitation for bids posted Oct. 31. Official posting: eVA, search the reference number. (eVA)
• Thu., Nov. 19, noon: Maryland State Highway Administration, District 2 environmental assets maintenance in Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne's counties (AZ5727114R / BPM059506). Maintenance and preservation of planting beds, individual trees, turf, stream sites and wetlands at SHA facilities and rights-of-way. A Small Business Preference applies. Bids are submitted online through Bid Express only, and you need a Bid Express digital ID, which can take about 7 business days to be approved. If you plan to bid, start that registration this week. An optional pre-bid session was set for Nov. 2 at 10 AM. Bid security and bonds apply above a threshold, so check the IFB. Official posting: eMMA and Bid Express. (Bid Express, Maryland)
• Fri., Nov. 20, 2 PM: State of Maryland, organic landscape maintenance for the Maryland State House grounds in Annapolis (BPM051886). An invitation for bid for ongoing organic landscape maintenance, reserved for small businesses (Small Business Reserve). There is an optional virtual pre-bid conference on Fri., Nov. 6. Official posting: eMMA, search the solicitation number. (eMMA)

Bidding one of these? If your bid includes plant material, send us your plant list and we'll get you a quote. Call or text (443) 586-7022 or email ops@creekside-nursery.com, Mon–Fri, 7–4. Free delivery on qualifying orders.

Field Hub: A Sneak Peek

Field Hub, our new app for the landscape trade, launches Jan. 11, 2027 (01.11.27). You and your crew leaders and sales staff each get your own account. Check live availability, see open orders, quotes and quote requests, track orders, snap a photo to find matching plants we have in stock, drop a pin for our driver, build orders for multiple jobs, and save every job site. Watch the sneak peek on our website's News page (https://creekside-nursery.com/news-updates/field-hub-sneak-peek). Questions? Call or text (443) 586-7022 or email ops@creekside-nursery.com, Mon–Fri 7–4.

Creekside News

• Free delivery on qualifying orders. Ask us when you request a quote.
• Plant photos on request. Ask us for labeled photos of a plant before you order. Each photo shows the plant name, size and height when available.
• Text us. (443) 586-7022 takes texts as well as calls, Mon–Fri 7–4.
• No credit card fees. Watch the short video on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
• LinkedIn. Follow our LinkedIn page for project news and new issues.

Plan Spring Now

If you have spring 2027 jobs on the books, send us your plant lists and bids now so we can plan stock and schedules with you. We'll quote them and set up pickup or delivery. Email ops@creekside-nursery.com or call (443) 586-7022. Pricing and payment terms are confirmed on your quote.

Seasonal Tip: Protect new plantings from voles and deer this winter

B&B trees with wrapped trunks on a trailer. Photo: Creekside Nurseries.

Two kinds of bark damage show up on new plantings between fall and spring: gnawing at the base by voles, and antler rubbing by bucks. Both are easier to prevent than to repair.

• Voles are active all year. They eat plant roots and, in winter, can girdle the bark on lower trunks. They are especially hard on boxwood roots (UMD Extension).
• Guard the trunk. Place a tree guard, an 18-inch-high cylinder of hardware cloth, around each trunk and set it 2 to 3 inches below the soil line (UMD Extension).
• Don't pile mulch against the trunk. Mulch piled against trunks or under shrubs gives voles cover. Clear weeds, groundcover and litter around plantings too (UMD Extension).
• Deer rub in fall. Bucks rub antlers on small, flexible saplings, trunks and limbs when the velvet dries in the fall breeding season. Damaged bark shows vertical scrapes and shredded areas with wood exposed (UMD Extension).
• Use a physical barrier for rubbing. Plastic tree wrap, tubes or 4-foot woven-wire cylinders work. Repellents are not effective against antler rubbing (UMD Extension).
• Match the guard to the pest. Rubbing happens in the fall breeding season, and vole girdling happens in winter. A tree guard at the base and a tree protector on the trunk cover both.

Sources: University of Maryland Extension, Voles and Deer Damage.

Plant Spotlight: Bald Cypress

Bald cypress trees and knees reflected in still water. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain).

Taxodium distichum · a native deciduous conifer

Why now: this is the month it shows its color. Unlike most cone-bearing trees, bald cypress sheds its needles each winter and grows a new set in spring. The lacy needles turn russet-red in fall before they drop (Morton Arboretum).

Uses: it suits rain gardens, pond edges, stormwater areas, parks, wide medians and city parkways. It handles wet soils, occasional flooding and also dry sites, and it transplants well (Morton Arboretum). It is rated resistant to deer, salt, wind and storm damage (NC State Extension).

Size and form: typically 50 to 70 ft tall and 20 to 30 ft wide, pyramidal when young and flat-topped when old (Morton Arboretum; NC State Extension). The "knees" that rise from the roots form mostly where the tree grows in or near water.

Care: full sun to part shade, in acidic soil. High-pH soils can cause yellowing (chlorosis). Occasional problems are twig blight, spider mites and bagworms (Morton Arboretum; NC State Extension).

Interested? We carry bald cypress in containers and B&B. Ask us what we have. Call or text (443) 586-7022 or email ops@creekside-nursery.com.

Sources: Morton Arboretum; NC State Extension Plant Toolbox. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain.

Quick Hits

• Pest note: hemlock woolly adelgid. Check hemlocks for small white woolly masses on the branches. In Maryland, adelgids overwinter as adults covered in that white wax. Dormant-rate horticultural oil goes on in February or early March, before egg laying, and excess nitrogen may enhance adelgid populations, so UMD advises not fertilizing hemlocks (UMD Extension, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on Trees).
• Dates to watch: Nov. 17, Loudoun's data center pause vote. Nov. 18, appeal deadline for the Westphalia Town Center retail approval. Nov. 25, 16th Street NW median work moves to Phase 2 (H to I Streets). Jan. 15, 2027, next Maryland Community Forestry Catalyst Fund review.

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Creekside Nurseries · Wholesale & Distribution
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Photo credits:

• Header, What's Being Built, Bids & Upcoming Work and Seasonal Tip: Creekside Nurseries.
• Plant Spotlight: bald cypress. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).