The Oyster Gardening Program allows you to grow oysters near the surface of the water. This affords them excellent exposure to oxygen and phytoplankton (their food source), and helps produce big, healthy mature oysters for Chesapeake Bay restoration. The structure of the garden also affords some protection from predators that can feed on young oysters. After several months in this environment, oysters should be ready for planting on sanctuary reefs.

In this program, you have your choice of two types of gardens in which to grow your oysters: either a Taylor float, or a set of four wire mesh cages. The best choice for you will depend on your location, dock facility and personal preference. Below is a description of each type of oyster garden and the circumstances under which it works best.

Taylor Float

A Taylor float is made from a rectangular frame of PVC pipe for floatation, with a wire mesh basket suspended from it. The float measures about 3 feet x 5 feet and is one foot deep. The float can be secured to your dock the same way you would tie up a small dinghy (see Deploying Oyster Seed). The advantage of this type of oyster garden is that the float is at the surface of the water, so your oysters are always at the top of the water column. This positioning allows them maximum exposure to oxygen and plankton. Another advantage of keeping your oysters very close to the surface is that you can readily observe some of the underwater activity of fish and other organisms that will be drawn to your garden. Still another advantage is that wave action at the surface may help keep the oysters clean.

The major drawback to a Taylor float is its weight. While you will start out with some 70 pounds of oysters and shell, the weight of oysters can increase considerably in a good growing year. Because you will need to get the float and oysters out of the water periodically (see Care and Maintenance of Oysters), this can present a problem. Floats can be lifted onto the dock, or moved onto a beach, mud flat or marsh at high tide. Taylor floats work well if you have such an area nearby, or if you have a low or floating dock. They work best in low wave-energy areas. In high wave-energy areas, Taylor floats have the potential to bang against pilings and crack. Once cracked, the PVC flotation will take on water and sink.

Oyster Cages

Oyster cage gardens consist of four wire mesh boxes, each measuring 1.5 feet x 1 foot x 1 foot. These cages should hang from your dock so the oysters sit about one foot below the water surface at low tide (see Deploying Oyster Seed). The main advantage of this type of garden is that it divides the weight of your oysters into four smaller, easy-to-manage parcels. For this reason, oyster cages work well if your dock sits high above the water surface, or if you feel it may be difficult to lift a Taylor float out of the water.

Oyster cages are also durable in high wave-energy areas. There is no floatation to crack if the garden bumps up against pilings. Their location below the water surface also helps dampen the effect of surface wave energy on the cages. This type of garden is recommended for higher wave-energy areas.

One disadvantage of oyster cages is that they are tied off at a set height, and therefore do not rise and fall with the tide. In the wintertime, it is absolutely essential that your cages remain under water! This is because oysters exposed to freezing air temperatures may die. (Oysters are fine if they are in water, even if they freeze into a solid block of ice). We therefore recommend that you lower your cages to just above the Bay bottom late in the fall, and leave them there until all risk of freezing air temperatures has passed. If winter storms and tides combine to create unusually low water depths in your creek, oysters will remain underwater. However, if you have a floating dock that goes up and down with the tide, you can tie your cages so the oysters always sit a few inches below the surface. (For more on this, see Deploying Oyster Seed).

This page was last modified October 17, 2012

The Oyster Gardening Program is a cooperative effort of the Oyster Alliance
Chesapeake Bay Foundation ~ Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science ~ Oyster Recovery Partnership

This page is part of Maryland Sea Grant's Oyster web site.

For more information, report problems or provide comments, please contact webmaster@mdsg.umd.edu