Tag Archives: community outreach

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

Continue reading →

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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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!

Turtle Talks

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By Esther Massey

… and frogs and toads and snakes. O, my! Showing the Gulf Branch reptiles to the birthday party attendees has been an absolute blast for me. As a former teacher, I really appreciate being able to enjoy the instructional part without the daily toil. Each party is different, as are the parents and the children. The children vary in ages from 3-6 and sometimes their older siblings come along as well.

Before the children and parents arrive, I decorate the room with posters and pictures availablable at the center and put up the “Private—Birthday Party” sign. I gather the materials that I intend to use for the talks on a table in the front of the room and place a cloth over them to keep the children from playing with them. The center provides puppets, skeletons, models, and other audiovisual aids to help the kids learn about the life cycle of the different reptiles and amphibians. The one they seem to like the most is the frog croak identifier. Pushing a button elicits the different calls of the specific frog. I let the kids take turns pushing the buttons. Continue reading →

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.

Power of Passion and Persistence

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By Sue Dingwell

The power of passion and persistence brought to life a new wetland last Saturday at Campbell Elementary School, a Title One, alternative school bordering Long Branch Park in Arlington. Two and a half years in the planning and fund-raising stage, the garden was installed by an all-volunteer crew at an event they called “The Big Plant.” The sun seemed to shine with a special brilliance as proud students threw their energy into the myriad tasks needed to get plants correctly placed and tucked safely into the spots marked for them.

That little girl dug tenaciously for a long time to get hole big enough for long-sleeved oak tree.

One of this fall’s Master Naturalist training class members, Pat Findiklogu, a teacher at Campbell for many years, formed a small committee three years ago to set the project in motion. She was on hand Saturday to help with the work despite the fact that she had retired from teaching last spring. The story of the permitting and permissions process  was an epic indeed. There were many times when regulatory hurdles almost brought the project to a halt. I heard from a committee member, though, that every time they thought they were at a dead end, Pat would rally the troops: “They’re not going to stop us now!!” Continue reading →

Flowers Come to Tuckahoe Park

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By Mary McLean

Thanks to Eagle Scout Jacob Heidig, Tuckahoe Park now has beautiful blue, red, and yellow flowers to admire. These plants (listed below) provide the best natural source of food and nectar for beautiful butterflies, goldfinch, and hummingbirds.

Blue lobelia planted at Tuckahoe Park by Jacob Heidig for his Eagle Scout Service Project.

In June, guided by a plan he developed, Jacob led a team of high school Boy Scouts, two younger brothers, and the Eagle Scout’s dad. After pulling out weeds, they planted the flowers in the “No Mow” zone of Tuckahoe Park. You can recognize the area by the logs surrounding it.

Kevin Stallica, the Parks Manager for Tuckahoe, approved the plan and chose just the right kinds of plants to provide beautification to the park. Arlington Parks donated over 60 plants. Earth Sangha grew these native plants that originated a similar spot in northern Virginia.

The Master Naturalist volunteer for Tuckahoe, Mary McLean, coordinates community volunteers who want to help these beautiful flowers. Volunteer neighbors worked this September 13 from 9:00-1:00 to remove weeds choking the flowers. Now the flowers are easier to see and enjoy. Continue reading →

ARMN Invasive Plant Species Education Volunteer Opportunities Intersect at PORP

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By John Bernard

Several endeavors by Arlington Regional Master Naturalist (ARMN) on education of invasive plant species and alternatives converge at Potomac Overlook Regional Park (PORP). One is the ARMN Audubon at Home (AAH) focus summer project which had its kick off meeting on June 24 at ARMN’s native plant garden after “Meet Me On A Sunday” at PORP. The program included AAH ambassadors and potential future ambassadors with a schedule of site visits to ARMN member yards.

ARMN members gathered to hear from Joanne Hutton (ARMN, MGNV),
Kathy Landis (ARMN, Landscape Designer), Alan Ford (President, Potomac
Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, Terry Liercke (Audubon Society of
Northern Virginia), and Cliff Fairweather (Long Branch Nature Center) about
ways to create habitat-friendly yards using native plants.

Garden creators Joanne Hutton and Kathy Landis gave an overview of the AAH focus project and a tour of the shade garden to show ways to enhance habitat.

Good table top display and training references for the program.

Continue reading →

Demonstration Native Plant Garden for Shady Backyards

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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 →