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HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2016: RIVERVIEW FARM ALONG THE JAMES RIVER

April 28, 2016/3 Comments/in Featured Gardens /by mturner

A tip of the hat to Susan Robertson, who texted me yesterday afternoon to tell me to jump in my car and drive out to see Riverview Farm, on tour for the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week. At that moment, I was struggling with writing another Garden Week post, and it just wasn’t working. Happy for a diversion, I texted back, “yes ma’am” and took off. This post is a much too superficial and quick post about a fascinating, inspiring, beautiful and significant working farm along the James River.

The farm’s Greek-revival house was built in 1860 (the original home burned down) by John Pleasant Royall and his wife, Mary Howell Douthat. Above is the west facade, facing the river. Below is the east facade.

Looking east from the house is the largest Boxwood (below) I’ve ever seen.

I couldn’t believe this ginormous plant was born of one shrub, so I entered the Boxwood forest to check it out (below). It appears that it is, in fact, the outgrowth from one plant. Wow, what a time the Nordt kids must have playing beneath this canopy.

A Charles Gillette garden was installed along the riverfront in 1927.

A boxwood parterre and brick walkways are enclosed within a brick serpentine wall.

I ran into the Nordts while walking the grounds, and learned that Bill is crazy for trees. How lucky for Riverview Farm that he is! The property contains many old native specimens, such as the Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea), below.

The Nordts have planted more Yellowwood, as well as other native species, including Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) and River Birch (Betula nigra), below. He gets most of his trees from Bremo Trees, a fabulous nursery on another historic piece of land, further west along the James near Fork Union.

As Bill continues to populate his farm with native trees, the invasives that plague the Virginia landscape work hard to overtake the natives along the river bank. Below, Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altisssima) and Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) muscle their way onto the scene.

Both of those plants are in the Top 10 of invasive species that the James River Park Invasives Task Force, of which I’m a member, is working to control. For those interested in tackling the invasives in the park, many volunteer opportunities are posted on the brand-new website.

When the kids get tired of playing under the canopy of the Boxwood, they can climb into the canopy of this Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) where the penultimate tree house awaits them.

During last year’s Garden Week, I did a blog post on Westover Plantation, and was struck by the Erda family’s connection to the land, the history, and the natural beauty surrounding them. As today’s kids suffer from a nature deficit, these kids spend their days exploring, discovering, soaking in beauty, and putting in good old fashioned labor.

I was reminded of this when reading the Nordt Family Farm website, in which Dianne Nordt writes, “So now I’m a weaver, living on a farm, raising kids and sheep. Together with my incredible husband, we manage an old house and a 400 acre farm on the banks of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. I feel so fortunate to live my dream, to stay at home with my kids, and to practice the craft that I love to my core.”

About that weaving . . .

In Dianne’s words, “I appreciate a lifestyle that grounds me to home. My natural media, Merino wool and plant dyes, are nourished from the southern ground whose landscape inspires me. And my weaving mimics the pace of life here, slow and contemplative.”

Dianne found her passion for weaving while studying fashion design at VCU.How could the blankets Dianne weaves be anything but elegantly understated, when the sheep whose wool she shears live in a barn (above and below) which reflects that same aesthetic?

The Nordts tend a vegetable garden (below). Dianne uses plants grown on the farm to make the dyes for the wool.

The Nordts also grow soybeans, corn, cotton, wheat and hay. Below, Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) climbs a silo.

A barrel catches rain water from the roof of the stables, below.

I left Riverview Farm grateful for the Nordt family’s devotion to preserving this historic sweep of land along the James. By nurturing the plants that have thrived there for centuries, planting to ensure the habitat continues to thrive in the future, continuing the centuries-old practice of farming the fields, and reinvigorating the time-honored craft of weaving hand-dyed wool, the Nordts are instilling in the next generation a love and respect for this increasingly fragile environment, and hopefully, a desire to pass it on to future generations of Virginians.

For more information about life at Riverview Farm, follow owner Dianne Nordt’s instagram postings, found at #nordtfamilyfarm.

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HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK 2014: WESTOVER PLANTATION

April 28, 2014/3 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

Welcome to Historic Garden Week 2014, the Garden Club of Virginia’s spectacular week-long celebration of Virginia’s finest homes and gardens. Before immersing yourself in Richmond’s tours Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, treat yourself to a beautiful drive east on historic Route 5 and tour Westover Plantation Tuesday. Westover’s gardens are open daily, but the interior of the grand home is open rarely. This is your chance to see Westover’s gardens and interior.

Route 5 is home to several 18th Century plantations, none more spectacular than Westover. At the terminus of an allee of towering Hackberries (Celtis occidentals), perfectly sited along the north bank of the James River, is one of the most noteworthy examples of Georgian architecture in the United States.

Although William Byrd II (founder of Richmond) has long been believed to have built Westover, recent (dendrochonologic) testing of the attic beams’ tree rings produced evidence that the house may have been built circa 1750, which would make William Byrd III the home’s builder. Westover most likely was named for the West brothers, who were brothers of Lord Delaware, the first colonial governor of Virginia, and leaders of the first English settlements upstream along the James River.

The grounds include three spectacular pairs of 18th Century English wrought iron gates.

Native Dogwoods (Cornus florida) flank the north iron clairvoyee. An iron clairvoyee (claire – voie), in case you were wondering, is an ironwork gate or grille through which a vista can be enjoyed.

A series of carved stone finials atop the iron clairvoyee’s piers represents the icons of virtue: the acorn, pictured above, for perseverance (from small acorns grow great oaks), the pineapple for hospitality, the Greek key for wisdom, the urn of flowers for beauty, the cornucopia for abundance and the bee hive for industry.

Westover is still a working farm, producing winter wheat, soybeans and corn. Beyond the Dogwood is a field of winter wheat. Although the fields are not irrigated, Westover provides some of the best yields in the Commonwealth.

Pictured above are three of the hardest workers on the grounds: Henry, Cornelia and Wills Erda, leaning against one of Westover’s famed Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera). On a recent visit, the three were hard at work in the garden.

Westover was sold out of the Byrd family after the death of William Byrd III’s widow in 1814. The plantation was brought back into the family by Byrd descendant Clarise Sears Ramsey, in 1899. Mrs. Ramsey modernized the house and established the formal garden’s 8 squares. In 1921, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crane, the great grandparents of Andrea Erda (pictured above, with her kids Wills, Henry and Cornelia), bought the property.

Andrea grew up at Westover with her parents, Muschi and Frederick Fisher, and she and her husband Rob are happily raising their family here as well. Muschi and Andrea are both members of James River Garden Club. In the picture above, Andrea shows off their awesome new double-wide chicken coop.

The old one was built on a Ford Model T chassis!

Cornelia and her brothers love tending to the chickens and gathering the eggs.

Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) spills over the crushed stone walk in the formal garden. In the distance, beyond the Boxwood, the river beckons.

Willaim Byrd II’s tombstone lies on the central axis of the 8 square grid.

The garden beds are filled with Poet’s Laurel, Azaleas, Dogwoods, Spirea and swaths of the native Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica), above, and the native Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), below.

I have to confess that I have not been bitten by the Fairy Garden craze, not really understanding the concept of buying tiny objects to furnish the tiny gardens However, the Erda kids enlightened me on the nature of a true Fairy Garden. Using the ancient Tulip Poplars as their structure, the kids scavenge the plantation’s grounds in search of furnishings. In the picture above, Cornelia brilliantly used a Columbine flower as the fairy garden’s lantern.

Henry devised a contraption allowing the fairies to climb a ladder up the trunk then parachute to the ground.

Back in the garden, Tree Peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) are in full bloom for garden week.

One word of advice to those new to growing Tree Peonies: unlike herbaceous Peonies, do not cut Tree Peonies back to the ground in the fall. They bloom on the old wood, so leave those stalks alone for glorious blooms the following spring.

This rustic arbor and seat are draped in Wisteria and throw off some pretty spectacular shadows.

The Wisteria was just beginning to pop when I was at Westover last week. It was preparing to be in full bloom for Garden Week.

Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis), if not heavily mulched, will drop their heads in mid to late spring and scatter their seeds, producing lots of baby Lenten Rose. When I was visiting Westover last week, Andrea and the kids were putting down mulch made from composted leaves: a PERFECT medium in which those plants will thrive!!!

A shrub the Erdas call Jet Berry (not sure of the botanical name) flanks one of the walkways leading to William Byrd II’s tombstone.

A butterfly hangs out in a stand of Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata) and Primroses. The Fishers call these Primroses, an old fashioned variety, “Cow Slips.”

Wills helps prepare the vegetable garden for planting.

Buttercups and a few remaining tulips cover the ground east of the 8 squares in the formal garden.

A peak from the formal garden through the Boxwood reveals the James River.

Thaddeus, who helps the Erdas take care of the property, cuts the buttercups growing along the bank of the river.

In keeping with one of the six virtues set in stone on the iron clairvoyee, Jones Tyler takes care of five bee hives. One of the hives produces 5 gallons a year — very industrious!

I cannot leave you without a peak at The Necessary House, the cadillac of outhouses with 5 holes and a fireplace. It’s been written up in Privy Magazine!

Virginia is fortunate to have the Erdas, and the Fischers before them, as hard working stewards of one of this country’s most significant homes, architecturally and historically. Moreover, they are leaders in efforts to preserve the James, our founding river. As is evident from watching Wills, Cornelia and Henry work hard and play hard on these grounds steeped in historical and ecological lessons, they will pass along their love for this place to the next generation, thus ensuring the preservation of these vital assets for generations to come.

Please take the opportunity to visit Westover this Tuesday, as part of your Garden Week pilgrimage.

NEW YORK GARDEN DESIGNER LYNDEN MILLER CHALLENGES RICHMOND

January 26, 2013/0 Comments/in Landscape Design, Plants & Horticulture, Public Spaces /by mturner

Cooling off on the rocks at Belle Isle

Richmond’s location at the fall line of the James River has put it on the map as a destination for those seeking the raw natural beauty of the river’s banks, rapids and trails. Retiring James River Park director Ralph White devoted his career to restoring the James and the parkland bordering it.

Anne Rusbuldt chilling on the James

Nathan Burrell, head of Richmond’s extensive trail system, has built on that success, spending years working with colleagues and volunteers to carve out miles and miles of trails on both banks of the river. Currently, he is spearheading a trail-building project on Chapel Island.

Anne Wallace Tazewell, Will Tazewell, Ford Turner and Amanda Johnson hiking the Buttermilk Trail

Richmond is also home to some grand and historic parks, including Byrd, Bryan and Monroe, and many smaller pocket parks and green spaces. Some public spaces, due to lack of funds, receive only the most basic maintenance. These spaces sit waiting to be restored to their former glory.

Kids enjoying a day at beautiful Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, a wonderful source for those wanting to learn about plants.

Capital Trees (a joint project of the Boxwood, James River, Three Chopt and Tuckahoe Garden Clubs) is partnering with the city to restore beautiful green spaces and increase a healthy tree canopy throughout Richmond.

Capital Trees’ first challenge was to turn a busy, concrete-choked block downtown into a lush green avenue that also collects and filters storm-water runoff.

Ginkgos, Grasses and Irises grow in bio-retention wells on the east side of 14th Street

Designed by Capital Trees’ partners 3north (led by Jay Hugo) and Water Street Studio (led by Keith Whipple), the block of 14th Street between Bank and Main is planted with a triple allee of Ginkgos and Swamp White Oaks. On the east side of the street the trees, along with grasses and irises, are planted in engineered bio-filtration wells that capture and filter polluted storm-water.

Ginkgos and Liriope grow on the west side of 14th Street

The 14th Street project was so successful, Capital Trees and the city have since partnered on several more projects. 3north is Capital Trees’ design partner, and Water Street Studio provides design and engineering assistance. These projects include:

Renovation of the RMA Plaza

Capital Trees, in partnership with the City and 3north, is renovating this dilapidated park (across from The James Center on Byrd Street), adding trees, rain gardens, seating and public gathering spaces.

Lynden Miller encourages us to incorporate lush planting beds when building the new park at the RMA Plaza. Susan Robertson, Scott Ukrop, Melinda Hardy and Jill Nolt listen to Lynden’s suggestions.

The Jefferson Greenway

The proposed Greenway, following 10th Street south from the Capitol to the canal, is inspired by Jefferson’s original vision of a hilltop capitol, broadly facing the fall line of the James. The Greenway will provide a strong natural thread that will visually, symbolically, and physically reconnect Richmond’s Capitol Square with the James. The plan will include green spaces, trees and storm-water remediation. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Capital Trees are partnering to make the Greenway vision a reality.

Jill Nolt and Scott Ukrop give Lynden a tour of Great Shiplock Park.

Great Shiplock Park

Great Shiplock Park is home to locks, dating to the 1850s, that carried ships into the canal at the east end of the falls of the James. The sleepy park is about to get a major facelift as the future site of the Virginia Capital Trail’s Eastern Trailhead. Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, has brought together her foundation, the City, Capital Trees and other constituencies to go beyond the mandate of building a trailhead. Plans are in place to make the park into yet another beautiful public garden space where cyclists, hikers, kayakers, birdwatchers, runners and picnickers will come to soak in the park’s history and natural beauty. Landscape architect Jill Nolt (3north) has designed the space to be beautiful and functional, with shaded lawns and lush rain gardens to trap and filter storm-water.

Riding the Virginia Capital Trail with friends

Seizing this momentum, Capital Trees (led by Jeanette McKittrick) and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (led by Frank Robinson) decided it was the perfect time to bring back the garden designer and advocate who inspired many in the community during a visit in 2008.

Lynden Miller, the woman who transformed Central Park’s Conservatory Garden and Bryant Park, among many other public spaces in New York and beyond, swept into Richmond last week and succeeded in bringing together our city, corporate, foundation, civic, horticultural and design leaders — people who care about the quality of life in Richmond. She called on us to “create and support well-planted parks and gardens as essential urban oases that reduce crime and have positive effects on the economic welfare of Richmonders.” She spent a cold rainy day touring the Capital Trees projects (see pictures above), gave an inspiring talk to the Richmond garden clubs and another rousing presentation to a group at the botanical garden, advised Bon Secours on healing gardens and conducted a workshop for community leaders.

Scott Ukrop and Jill Nolt from 3north, in conjunction with Randee Humphrey from Lewis Ginter and Jeanette McKittrick from Capital Trees, organized the workshop, and it looks to be a pivotal moment in Richmond’s movement toward reclaiming its public spaces. They brought together a group of creative thought and design leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges we face in transforming our city. Using two of the Capital Trees projects and Monroe Park as case studies, folks bounced ideas off each other, received invaluable advice from Lynden (see some of her design principles below), and left the meeting with a sense that this city’s businesses, residents and municipal leaders are ready to shake up the status quo and nurture the budding green renaissance.

Lynden says, “make it gorgeous and they will come. Keep it that way and they will help.”

Lynden challenged us to harness the meeting’s energy and continue to collaborate to reach our potential. She “demonstrated the power of plants to soften and civilize public life, and showed how beautiful public spaces, planted and maintained to high standards, have the power to transform the way people behave and feel about their cities.” Parks, Plants, and People, by Lynden B. Miller. I think we’re up to the challenge.

A FEW FUNDAMENTAL GARDEN PRINCIPLES

Here are some of Lynden’s principles of garden design that can be applied to public gardens as well as your own private patch of earth. I’ve thrown in a few of my own guiding principles as well:

PLANT TREES TO CREATE A CANOPY, SHADOW AND SHADE