Demonstration Native Plant Garden for Shady Backyards

Posted on by
2

By Kathy Landis and Joanne Hutton

On Sunday May 6, 2012, Potomac Overlook Regional Park (PORP) held a dedication ceremony that marked the official opening of the new demonstration native plant garden for shady backyards.

The garden is adjacent to the Master Gardeners’ demonstration vegetable garden, across the driveway from the Native American garden. Next time you are at the park for a hike or to work on a volunteer project, please stop by to visit the garden.

Demonstration garden at Potomac Overlook Regional Park. Golden Ragwort blooming in mid-April.  Photo by K. Landis.

The Garden

The garden space inherited by the design team comprised both native plants such as American holly, dogwoods, spicebush, snowberry and sweetshrub and exotic plants such as thorny pyracantha, heavenly bamboo, boxwood, azaleas, and varieties of weeds. A lot of thought went into which plants to preserve and the decisions help make the point that it is possible to incorporate native plants into all gardens.

Azaleas, for example, were retained because they define the space well and are likely to be found in many of our shady backyards. A few other herbaceous exotics such as hellebores, lungworts, toadlilies also remain in the garden because they seem to be deer resistant and add interest to the design. Continue reading →

The State of ARMN in 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Monique Wong

In the ARMN 2011 Annual Report, President of ARMN Caroline Haynes shares a snapshot of ARMN volunteer effort last year. The numbers are impressive:  127 ARMN volunteers provided a combined 9,000 hours of volunteer service that reached out to over 10,803 individuals.

While the total number of volunteer service hours is often the first question we are asked about the ARMN program, the types of service ARMN members provide and the groups ARMN partners with are also significant.  ARMN volunteers engage on a daily basis in environmental education and outreach, in stewardship projects, in citizen science projects, in basic training, and in advanced training.   Dozens of ARMN partner groups include nature centers, county parks, public schools, Earth Sangha, National Park Service, National Aboretum, The Smithsonian, and The Nature Conservancy.

ARMN members are urged to report their volunteer hours, including the types of service and the partner groups for which the service is provided.  Those who have reached master naturalist certification levels recently will be recognized at the July 29 chapter meeting and cookout at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, Virginia.

Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration May Work Party

Posted on by
Reply

By Marion Jordan

Join us for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party on Saturday May 19th at 9:30 am. This event is sponsored by the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists. The work party will be followed by a walk led by Jim Hurley to view the natives that have come up in areas that we cleared over the past year. We will also look for the champion trees that are in the park. This is a great opportunity for those who have worked with us in the past year to see the results of your hard work.

We will not hold work parties over the summer and the next one will be on Sept 15th.  So please join us on Saturday May 19th as we finish this season in Barcroft Park.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park. If you park in the Barcroft recreational area parking lot, walk past the soccer fields, bear right and then cross the stream on the wood and steel bridge. Wear long pants and long sleeves. Bring gloves and any favorite weeding tools, especially pruning tools and shovels if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools.

This project needs you! Every pair of hands makes a difference for this valuable ecological site. Enjoy the satisfaction of clearing invasive plants to encourage growth of native plants which provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.

If you have questions, please contact Marion Jordan at mcjordn@verizon.net.

We Love Inflation!

Posted on by
Reply

By Jennifer Frum

During the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington’s celebration of Earth Month, they encouraged members to keep tires properly inflated, which saves money, gas and reduces pollution. This is a free service that My Organic Market provides to shoppers twice a year at their stores.

Jennifer, Andre and Howard at the tire inflation volunteer service.
Photo by Bob Denniston.

 

Advanced Botany

Posted on by
1

By Carolyn Semedo-Strauss

When I read on the Arlington Regional Master Naturalist listserv several weeks back about an advanced training opportunity on botany, “Let’s Scope it Out! Advanced Botany.” I excitedly signed up. A little bit too eager, I missed that the word “advanced” modified “botany,” though it also qualified as advanced training.

As the class began, I planted myself at a table with a microscope, various texts, handouts, and plant samples. Once our instructor, Emily Ferguson, began speaking, I realized immediately that I was in over my head.

While a lot of the terminology drifted in one ear and out the other and feelings of inadequacy washed over me, I confessed my error to my learned table-mate, who reassured me that we would all be learning something new. Indeed, I did!

While I was weak on plant ID and terminology, I let my curiosity by my guide. I grabbed the razor blade and a pair of tweezers and began slicing as directed. As one of my classmates put it, looking at anything under a microscope is fun. How true!

Continue reading →

Native Plants Demonstration Garden Dedication

Posted on by
Reply

By Joanne Hutton

Variety of ground covers, ferns at the Demonstration Garden, Potomac Overlook Park.
Photo by K. Landis.

We look forward to seeing as many of you who can come to the dedication of our new demonstration garden showing off native plants suitable for backyards on Sunday, May 6th, at the annual May Day Fair at Potomac Overlook Regional Park.  The dedication will take place tentatively at 2:30 p.m. with Mary Hynes, Chair of the Arlington County Board, in attendance and doing honors.  We hope to have a tree planting as part of the ceremony and celebration of our new ARMN focus project.

To prepare the area for this high-profile event, please come out on Friday morning, May 4th, 9:30 – noon or as long as you can, for a work party and training about the plants we’ve included in the design.  We have invasives to remove, mulching, and raking to do.  When we’re done, I will show off the box of informational materials on invasive and native plants developed for Meet Me on a Sunday, and we’ll talk about how to interpret the garden or host a short tour even if you don’t consider yourself an “expert.”  This will be especially appropriate for any of you folks in training as Audubon at Home Ambassadors. Continue reading →

Everyday is Earth Day for ARMN Volunteers

Posted on by
1

By Monique Wong

“Everyday is Earth Day for ARMN volunteers,” Robin Davis, ARMN Outreach Committee Chair, remarked at the April ARMN Board Meeting.

How right she is! Since ARMN’s mission is to provide environmental education, research, citizen science, outreach, and stewardship of Virginia natural resources and public lands, everyday is indeed Earth Day for all ARMN members.

Wherever you are volunteering your time on Earth Day 2012, enjoy your day, rain or shine!  E-mail armneditor@gmail.com to share photos, including the name of the photographer and a caption of your Earth Day 2012 volunteer service.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Digging Native Plants

Posted on by
Reply

By Suzanne Dingwell

Digging native plants. Photo by S. Dingwell.

What could be better than to spend a beautiful spring day in the woods doing something you love to do? For several weeks, ARMN volunteers came together at Long Branch Nature Center to help them get ready for their Native Plant Sale Day. Workdays like this one not only provide opportunities to give something worthwhile to the greater community, but they also give volunteers the chance to connect with each other in low stress ways, and to share knowledge with each other. I am always both interested, and heartened, to hear the incredible variety of reasons that drew people to the Master Naturalist program. And the learning part is like reading historical fiction. Because it’s part of a story, it’s fun! Continue reading →

Alexandria Neighborhood Presentation on Choking Hazard Campaign

Posted on by
1

By Christine Matthews

My neighborhood in Alexandria (Beverley Hills), which borders Monticello Park, is known for its beautiful mature trees. Unfortunately, storms, age, and construction have claimed many of them and English ivy threatens to overtake many that remain. So, I was happy to be able to put my training from the Choking Hazard campaign to good use at the April meeting of our citizens’ association (http://northridgecitizens.org). Using the Powerpoint template on the TreeStewards.org website as a guide, I created a presentation incorporating photos and details from our neighborhood. Given the casual nature of the meeting and the evening’s prior presentations, I opted not to set up my computer and projector and just talked about the Choking Hazard campaign using the handout as a guide.

The 30 or so people in the room were highly receptive and most were aware of the damage ivy can do to trees. Continue reading →

Barcroft Park Earth Day Work Party

Posted on by
Reply

By Marion Jordan

Celebrate Earth Day by joining us for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party on Saturday April 21 at 9:30 am. This event is sponsored by the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists. The work party will be followed by a natural history program on Freshwater Stream Ecology presented by Arlington Regional Master Naturalist Michelle Ryan.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park. If you park in the Barcroft recreational area parking lot, walk past the soccer fields, bear right and then cross the stream on the wood and steel bridge. Wear long pants and long sleeves. Bring gloves and any favorite weeding tools, especially pruning tools and shovels if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools.

This project needs you! Every pair of hands makes a difference for this valuable ecological site. Enjoy the satisfaction of clearing invasive plants to encourage growth of native plants which provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.

If you have questions, please contact Marion Jordan at mcjordn@verizon.net.