Events Archive

Alexandria Sites
409 East Alexandria Avenue, Alexandria, VA. Visit a City Council member’s home, featuring three rain barrels, a grass driveway, a compost area, a large rain garden, and extensive use of water loving plants to reduce water run-off into nearby storm sewers.
114 West Alexandria Avenue, Alexandria, VA - This home features a brick walkway set in sand to filter rainwater, a rain garden that receives drainage from the sump pump, channels to direct drainage planted areas, and a woodland environment with extensive use of native plants.
NEW! Parkfairfax Condominium, 3478 Gunston Rd., Alexandria, VA. This condominium complex has undertaken a major invasive plant removal project in the wooded areas on the property. The property also features a shady-slope garden, a sunny-slope garden, a small rain garden, and a woodland edge garden.

Arlington Sites
NEW! The Arlington Condominium, 2655 S. Walter Reed Drive, Arlington, VA. This condominium features two rain gardens and a native plant restoration on a hillside, featuring over fifty species of native plants and twenty fern species. There are also bird friendly gardens and rain barrels.
NEW! 429 N. Lincoln St., Arlington, VA. This property features wildlife habitat, a gravel driveway, a large pond, shrub borders, and mixed planting areas in both shade and sun that are maintained organically, without the use of chemicals. Additionally, there is no lawn of any kind.
NEW! 501 N. Kenmore St., Arlington, VA. This property features a stone aggregate patio and paths, a pergola seating area, three raised vegetable beds and screened compost area behind the kitchen garden. Sixteen trees have been added for wildlife, privacy and habitat restoration.
NEW! 515 N. Jackson St., Arlington, VA. This wildlife habitat includes a variety of native plants on all four sides of the house. An ephemeral stream borders a section of the back plant beds, serving as an attractive drainage feature. The yard has full sun, partially shaded, and shaded areas.
NEW! 3659 N. Harrison St., Arlington, VA. Backyard wildlife habitat, shade garden, pond and stream feature to enjoy while sitting with nature. A rain garden at the rear of a yard. A cistern to collect stormwater that is screened by fencing.

Fairfax County Sites
NEW! 515 Alabama Dr., Herndon, VA 20170. Visitors will see the use of three rain barrels to collect stormwater runoff from a residential home. The home also features a native plant garden.
NEW! 718 Springvale Rd. Great Falls, VA 22066. This residential property has a conservation easement and an extensive native plant garden. The house is situated on 5 acres and features a spring-fed pond.
NEW! Hidden Pond Nature Center, 8511 Greeley Blvd, Springfield, VA 22152. Visitors will see a rain garden built and maintained by a Girl Scout troop. The rain garden was constructed four years ago to collect stormwater runoff from the park’s parking lot. The project was funded through a grant from Fairfax Water.
NEW! Green Spring Gardens Park, 4603 Green Spring Rd, Alexandria, VA 22312. Green Spring Gardens is a 28-acre Fairfax County park, public garden, and National Historic site. The over 20 demonstration gardens include an organic kitchen garden with a rain barrel, a native plant garden, a swale garden designed to slow down runoff, a waterwise garden that groups together plants with low irrigation needs, and a wildlife garden maintained by the Green Spring Master Gardeners.
NEW! Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, VA 22182. Participants of the watershed-friendly garden tour should proceed to the Visitor’s Center and ask for Keith Tomlinson, who will be guiding tours. Meadowlark Botanical Gardens showcases a collection of native plant species called the Potomac Valley Collection. The collection was developed to foster conservation of native plants and their habitats through public education and display.

Falls Church Sites
109 W. Westmoreland Road, Falls Church, VA – This home features a complete yard makeover, a wide variety of native plants, two cisterns (one vertical, one horizontal), a backyard wildlife habitat, and metal roofs on the house and garage that eliminate toxic runoff associated with asphalt shingles. This property has been lawn-free for 18 years.
1101 Seaton Lane, Falls Church, VA – This property features a cistern and a backyard makeover that includes an innovative stream and pond system using rainwater from the cistern.
604 Langston Lane, Falls Church, VA. This site has two cisterns, a driveway made of porous pavers, a metal roof, and a yard makeover that includes rain gardens, a butterfly garden, and native plants. One of the cisterns is the only known above-ground cistern in the region that collects both rooftop runoff and basement sump pump drainage.
NEW! Falls Church City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA. This municipal facility features two low-impact demonstration areas in the parking lot: permeable grass pavers and a large rain garden.
304 N. Virginia Avenue, Falls Church, VA. Visitors to this property will see a yard makeover, native plants, and a backyard wildlife habitat. The homeowners are experienced in extensive English ivy removal.

The Baltimore Checkerspot (like the Baltimore oriole) was named for the orange and black colors of the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore and is Maryland's State Butterfly. This beautiful butterfly has seen its numbers diminish in Maryland in recent years through loss of habitat (it prefers damp meadows) and because growing herds of deer enjoy browsing on its favorite host plant, the native turtlehead (Chelone glabra). The butterfly also feeds on English plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and nectars on other plants.
Under the direction of Keith P. Tomlinson, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia became active in butterfly restoration as part of its Potomac Valley Collection of native plants. The philosophy behind the garden was to reintroduce native species of plants common to the Potomac watershed. A deer fence was also built around the perimeter of the Gardens. The number of butterflies seen in the Gardens has grown from around 20 in 2000 to 46 species in 2005.
Three years ago the Gardens began planting large numbers of native turtlehead; initially to help provide host plants for neighboring Maryland entomologists in their efforts to raise Baltimore Checkerspots in captivity. The larvae are voracious eaters and it was anticipated that extra sources of turtlehead would prove useful. Several hundred native turtleheads have been planted in three different regions of the 95-acre property which is administered by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.
In 2004, the Gardens submitted a formal application to the U.S. Government to bring larvae across state lines for raising in Virginia. Formal permission was granted in 2005 and the first caterpillars were delivered to Mona Miller, a butterfly grower and a member of the Washington Area Butterfly Club and the Association for Butterflies, in April 2006.
It will take many years before a local population can successfully become established at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. Eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, and butterflies must survive a slew of hungry predators—from ants and wasps to spiders and hungry birds (the Baltimores are noxious to birds, but a bird does have to learn not to eat them). Weather conditions also play a role in a successful year. Ultimately, however, with some luck (and hard work), a native population will survive and flourish.