Planting of the Greens

Some “Christmas” trees are cut and some are planted. Thanks to the Yacht Haven Garden Club (YHGC), there are now two new ones to the left of the entrance of Sherwood Regional Library. Before the winter weather really starts, the YHGC hopes to add a few more plants. Library staff and observant customers are delighted with the changes to our entrance area.

The Garden Club planned this to be a garden that would not require a lot of upkeep, so they have donated some wonderful low-maintenance shrubs. The pleasures of this garden will be in the interesting textures and shades of green. Each of the seasons will bring different pops of color. 

The new garden contains stately arborvitae on each side and Nandina domestica in the center. Once established (like the plants on the other side of the entrance) Nandina will have lovely red berries this time of year. The border of liriope has been in the garden and survived well over the years. Late in the summer, it will have some pretty spikes of blue flowers. There are two varieties of spirea which should give us delicate sprays of pink blossoms in the spring. 

The old garden had become overgrown with English Ivy and Japanese honeysuckle, which overpowered the original plantings. Ivy and honeysuckle are invasive and should be contained. Ivy climbing up a tree is very dangerous as it weakens the tree bark which is a part of the tree’s defense system, much as your skin is to your body. That’s why gardeners never pull ivy off the tree but cut it at the tree roots and let it die in place. 

You can learn more about invasive species in Northern Virginia from the Virginia Natural Heritage Program (http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/invspinfo.shtml).

If you have a specific question, you might want to ask the Fairfax Master Gardeners. They participate in the Mount Vernon Farmers’ Market during the season but you can reach them at their website (http://fairfaxmastergardeners.org) all year.