Photo: Maggie Starbard
There can never be enough habitat for birds, wildlife, and pollinators in Northern Virginia! Thus, the Conservation Committee of ASNV administers grants to support native plant gardens throughout the region.
This year we have awarded 14 conservation grants, including one at Jamestown Park and one at Upton Hill Regional Park, both in Arlington, one at Haymarket Gainesville Library in Prince William County, and one at Lake Accotink Park in Fairfax County. The other 10 are for schools throughout Northern Virginia, including Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William.
Removing invasive plants and installing natives in their place will improve foraging and cover for birds, insects, and other wildlife at Upton Hill Regional Park. Upton Hill consists of 26 contiguous acres spanning Arlington County and Fairfax County. It is a natural oasis in a very urban corridor located in the midst of single-family housing, multi-family housing, an assisted living facility, and the Seven Corners shopping area.
Upton Hill’s steep geological formation results in numerous seeps, springs, and rivulets that feed Reeve’s Creek, a tributary of Four Mile Run and the Potomac River. According to a 2007 report, the naturally occurring waters at Upton Hill are among the cleanest in all of Arlington. This native habitat supports the only Fan Clubmoss (Lycopodium digitatum) that grows in Arlington. However, this and other rare or significant plants have been impacted by the spread of English Ivy, Five-leaved Akebia, Bush Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose, Linden Viburnum, and Japanese Holly, among other invasive species. Nevertheless, Upton Hill is a birding hotspot on eBird, hosting many migratory warblers, woodpeckers, Eastern Towhees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and many other species of birds.
The Jamestown Park project involves converting several acres of sod into a wildflower meadow. The park is located next to Jamestown Elementary School. It consists of a long turf grass field (50 by 200 yards) connected to about 5-6 acres of woods. A large portion of the sod area is perpetually soggy. Within living memory there was a creek that ran down the length of the field, but the County buried the stream except for about a 40-foot section. The reclamation plan is to daylight the creek, remove the sod, and create in its place a meadow area populated by native sedges, wildflowers, shrubs, and understory trees that would be especially well suited to our local pollinators and be low to no-maintenance.
The Haymarket Gainesville Library native plant garden for pollinators is meant to reinvigorate the return of birds, bees, and butterflies to the Piedmont region. They have already planted native trees. The next step is to plant native shrubs that provide berries for birds and masses of flowers such as yarrow, coneflower, and others to attract pollinators. Finally, benches and boulders will be placed in the area to provide seating for library visitors.
At Lake Accotink Park, a major problem is deer browse, so we will pay for wire fencing to protect native plants from the deer.
The other 10 projects all involve small native plant gardens at local schools. We include seven public elementary schools, one public middle school, and two private schools. We will provide an update on the school projects in a future newsletter.