Category Archives: Focus Service Projects

Potomac Overlook Park Native Shade Garden’s Second Spring

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By Sue Dingwell

The Potomac Overlook Park Native Shade Garden is growing up! ARMN members have been carefully tending this little niche, encouraging the natives, discouraging the weeds, and doing battle royale with the deer. This is the garden’s second spring. Volunteers were greeted on Tuesday, April 23 with colorful blooms and  vigorous green shoots as preparations continue for the Open House at PORP on May 11.

It has been fun to watch the progress and evolution of this space, which was created to  provide education for homeowners by showcasing native plants that thrive in the shade. Joanne Hutton, who is one of the the garden’s moms, says that the Packera aurea, commonly known as Golden ragwort, has done a marvelous job of filling in, making a dense patch that keeps out weeds. In fact, ARMN volunteers had to remove some of it from the pathways and surrounds of other desirable groundcovers!

If you visit the site this week, you will be welcomed into the garden with sunny ragwort blossoms gracing the entrance.

Golden ragwort & tools.

Golden ragwort & tools.

Ragwort buds

Ragwort buds

Ragwort rhizome

Ragwort rhizome

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Homeowners save wildlife by creating a green network across Northern Virginia

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By Leigh Pickering

In the past month, seven local properties have joined the ranks of homeowners creating a green network for wildlife in Arlington and Alexandria. This critical work is intended to blunt the impact of habitat loss in our area by providing small sanctuaries desperately needed for the survival of wildlife in our increasingly urban environment. The properties range in size and style from a narrow lot in Old Town Alexandria to a wooded ravine and intermittent stream just above Chain Bridge.

The Audubon at Home program seeks to make every home a wildlife sanctuary by certifying that each property works to achieve the goals stated in the Healthy Yard Pledge. The Healthy Yard Pledge is an amalgamation of many of the topics covered in our Master Naturalist Training. The five points of the pledge include:

1. Remove invasive exotic plants.
2. Reduce or eliminate pesticide and fertilizer use.
3. Conserve and protect water, waterways and water quality.
4. Install native plants to support the local food chain.
5. Support wildlife with water, cover and food to the extent possible.

Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is a great evergreengroundcover for a hot sunny area. Here, on a south- facing slate patio. groundcover for a hot sunny area. Here, on a south- facing slate patio.

Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is a great evergreen groundcover for a hot sunny area, shown here on a south- facing slate patio.

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Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party April 20

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By Marion Jordan

Join us for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party on Saturday morning April 20th at 9:30 am. For the first time, we will focus on tagging invasive shrubs for treatment by Arlington County’s contractor, IPS.  We will have an opportunity to use and learn plant ID skills to identify the invasive shrubs that have escaped earlier treatment. This event is sponsored by the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park at 9:30 am. 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 field guides if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools, and garbage bags for trash pick-up.

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.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see the results of the work done so far in Barcroft Park, and observe a park on its way to natural health. If you have worked with us in the past come see the results of your hard work and the significant investment by Arlington County. If you are new to Barcroft join us to see the park that has been designated as a top priority for Arlington due to its unique habitat.

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

Woodfrogs at Potomac Overlook Regional Park

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By Joanne Hutton

If you had been out volunteering with Meet Me on a Sunday on this glorious afternoon, you too might have enjoyed the chorus of woodfrogs spawning at the pond and in vernal pools.

MMOS

Thanks to Sherry McDonald for the great shot and for throwing herself into the Master Naturalist enterprise with whole heart!

Meet Me on a Sunday (MMOAS): Instituted summer of 2012, volunteers help set up and staff information or interest-area tables in Potomac Overlook Regional Park on Sunday afternoons for two hours, from 1:30 – 3:30, just outside the Nature Center. Volunteers work alongside Nature Center staff, and you are welcomed to set up your own display on a topic of your interest, or to use a range of interpretive materials already there. Most park visitors are families with young children. The Native Plant Garden is a new addition to the park, and ARMN has created a box of information and display materials on invasive and native plants to help with that.

Willing to talk with the public about most any subject of interest to you?
Want to help develop children’s activities to supplement our box?
Want to lead short nature hikes for mixed audiences – e.g. to see wood frogs in action?

If so, this activity could be for you!

Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party in March

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By Marion Jordan

Join us for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party on Saturday morning, March 16th at 9:30 am. Our focus will be to clear ivy off the trees and the ground in an area that the county’s contractor will not cover. Join us and enjoy the satisfaction of clearing one of the final areas infested with ivy in the park. This event is sponsored by the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park at 9:30 am. 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 as well as handsaws and pruners if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools, and garbage bags for trash pick-up.

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.

Come back to Barcroft and see a park on its way to natural health. If you have worked with us in the past come see the results of your hard work and the significant investment by Arlington County. If you are new to Barcroft join us to see the park that has been designated as a top priority for Arlington due to its unique habitat.

If you have questions, please contact Marion Jordan.

February Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party

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By Marion Jordan

Join  us for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party on Saturday morning  Feb 16th  at 9:30 am.Our focus will be to clear ivy off the trees and the ground in an area that the county’s contractor will not cover. Join us and enjoy the satisfaction of clearing one of the final areas infested with ivy in the park. This event is sponsored by the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists. The work party will be followed by a discovery walk as we review work that had been completed and look for signs of spring.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park at 9:30 am. 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 as well as handsaws and pruners if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools, and garbage bags for trash pick-up.

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.

Come back to Barcroft and see a park on its way to natural health. If you have worked with us in the past come see the results of your hard work and the significant investment by Arlington County. If you are new to Barcroft join us to see the park that has been designated as a top priority for Arlington due to its unique habitat.

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

Seed Cleaning Begins

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By Rodney Olsen

On Monday, Feb. 4, master naturalists and sundry others gathered at Long Branch Nature Center for the first Earth Sangha seed cleaning of the winter season. Fourteen people in all enjoyed conversing while preparing Common milkweed, Deertongue grass, and Virginia wild rye seeds for spring planting.

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For those of you who wish to become intimate with seeds, the next seed cleaning at Long Branch will be Feb. 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eight large bags of mixed Goldenrod seeds, Solidago juncea, Solidago graminifolica, Solidago rugosa, and Solidago nemoralis, will be awaiting you.

Cleaning Virginia wild rye.

Cleaning Virginia wild rye.

Photos by Rodney Olsen.

ARMN sponsors third annual seed-cleaning extravaganza

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By Rodney Olsen

On Feb. 4, Feb. 11, and Feb. 25, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm,

at Long Branch Nature Center,

ARMN will sponsor the equivalent of a quilting bee or a barn-raising.

THE EXTRAORDINARY THIRD ANNUAL EARTH SANGHA SEED-CLEANING EXTRAVAGANZA

ARMN-sponsored seed-cleaning event at Long Branch Nature Center. Photo by Rodney Olsen.

ARMN volunteers help with seed cleaning at Long Branch Nature Center.                      Photo by Rodney Olsen.

Please join the Monday gatherings of Master Naturalists for this vital service in support of our partner Earth Sangha.

  The experience will be educational and fun for all!

Join ARMN for MLK National Day of Service events

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Throughout the year, ARMN volunteers contribute to a myriad of service activities that benefit our neighborhoods and communities. For Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, ARMN inivites you to join our dedicated volunteers to honor Dr. King’s legacy by participating in two of our focus service projects to restore habitat in Barcroft Park and in Tuckahoe Park.

Barcroft Park
 January 19th at 9:30 am

Farrah and Brooke Alexander can barely be seen waving at the base of this "broccoli tree" that probably only had a few more years left before final choking.

Farrah and Brooke Alexander can barely be seen waving at the base of this “broccoli tree” that probably only had a few more years left before final choking. Autumn 2012, Barcroft Park.

Our main focus will be to clear ivy off the trees so that IPC (Invasive Plant Control), Arlington County’s contractor, will be able to efficiently treat the ivy remaining on the ground. After the clearing, Jim Hurley, ARMN Vice President and Chair of the Service Committee, will lead a walk to view the new plantings done in December and results of work done over the past year.

We will meet at the picnic pavilion in Barcroft Park at 9:30 am. If you park in the Barcroft recreational area  parking lot, walk past the soccer field, bear right and then cross the stream on the wood and steel bridge. Wear long pants and long sleeves. Bring gloves as well as handsaws and pruners if you have them. We will also supply gloves and tools, and garbage bags for trash pickup. If you are a little late and do not see us at the picnic pavilion, look for us near the bike path towards George Mason Drive past the power line. Continue reading →

Rod Simmons on ecological restoration

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By Monique Wong

How useful is the idea of planting on public lands as a part of ecological restoration? How do we create a solid conservation agenda for a natural area that is degraded in various ways? How do we know that we are getting it right? What are the pitfalls of using cultivars? What are the problems of planting to anticipate climate change, such as planting species from farther south?

These are some of the questions Rod Simmons addresses in a recent interview with Chris Bright, co-founder and President of Earth Sangha.

Rod Simmons explains the hierachy of priority in ecological restoration: preservation, stewardship, and full-bore restoration. He tells us that it is important to know the site and understand the reasons and disturbances we are dealing with. A failure to match the species to the site in a scientifically appropriate way can cause more harm. He gives multiple examples to illustrate that well-intended actions are sometimes misguided and can result in irreplacable changes.

Rod Simmons’ interview is featured in the November 2012 The Acorn, the newsletter of the Earth Sangha. A .pdf of the interview is also available here.

Rod Simmons is the Plant Ecologist for the City of Alexandria, a member of the Virginia Botanical Associates (a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to the study of Virginia’s flora), a board member of the Virginia Native Plant Society, and Botany Chair of the Maryland Native Plant Society. A life-long resident of northern Virginia, Rod has an encyclopedic command of the local flora.

Earth Sangha, a partner of ARMN, is a nonprofit charity based in the Washington, DC area devoted to ecological restoration. Many members of ARMN volunteer regularly at the Earth Sangha Wild Plant Nursery and help with Earth Sangha sponsored events such as plant sales, seed gathering, seed cleaning, and other ecological restoration events.