Gardens in spring

Clara Aleman, RLA, ASLA 

Oh!  The gardens we saw!  Not ONE, not TWO, but THREE  gardens! 

One... The Marshall House in Leesburg, Virginia
Two... Watermark Woods Native Plants Nursery
Three... Ashburn Village pollinator gardens

​On Saturday, June 1st, our LDG team came together with APLD and celebrated Spring with a morning of garden visits. 

ONE… The morning started at the historic Marshall House in Leesburg, where we met for a light breakfast and a lecture from Leslie Solitario, landscape architect with River's Edge Landscaping on the history of the house, it's owners, and the garden.  Afterwards, Leslie  graciously headed a tour of the house grounds.  The Marshall House, a Federal style house was built in the 1920s. For approximately two of decades (1942-1959), George C. Marshall and his family made it their home.  Hence, why we now know it as the Marshall House.  In the 80s, the house fell under harsh times until a non-for-profit made it their mission to restore the home and by 1996 the house received National Historic Designation.  Currently, this simple, yet elegant home is entirely supported by volunteers who donate time and money.      ​

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TWO… we stopped at Watermark Woods, where owner, Julie Borneman along with fellow co-workers Laura and Celest warmly greeted us, introduced us to their nursery, and their passion for all things native. ​ 

Visit her!  She is a great source for native plants! 

THREE…  off we went to Ashburn Village to see the award-winning native gardens of designer and podcaster John Magee. In 2016, the Ashburn Village Board decided to do pollinator gardens around their lake.  After a failed attempt, the board brought in John Magee, an expert in native landscaping.  John's concept includes 5 organically elongated shaped planting beds.  These native planting beds are now going on their second year of installation.   

It is a misunderstanding that native pollinator plantings are easy to maintain.

,John left us with one very important piece of information.  He says that most people think that native planting are low maintenance.  Rather their importance is part of a much larger ecological conversation.  So, if we are serious about being stewards of our environment, we need to do the right thing!
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​These are a few of his favorite native pollinator plants.
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Blackeyed Susan - Rudbeckia maxima
Blue Stem – Andropogon geradii
Coneflower - Echinacea cordatus
Elderberry – Sambucus nigra
Flowering Spurge - Euphorbia corollata
Fox Sage – Carex vulpinoidea
Goldenrod - Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’
​Wild Quinine - Parthenium integrifolium
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