Planting for the Environment

The snow is gone...let's plant!  Here are some local and desirable groundcover, shrub and trees to consider:

• Shady Perrenials:  Aster divaricatus, Eastern purple coneflower, joe pye weed, cardinal flower and monarda spp for butterflies, Sedum "autumn joy",  Ginger, moss phlox, Christmas fern and bluebells for shady groundcover;
• Sunny Perrenials:  green and gold, golden coneflower and creeping phlox (get the rabbit proof version), foam flower, and sedum 'autumn joy' for sun.
• Vines -   Trumpet honeysuckle for climbing floral.  
• Shrubs - Witchhazel, spice bush, blueberry and cherry bush.
• Trees -   Paw Paw, red bud, arborvitae (evergreen).

These plants are beautiful, and local to the area, so they are more durable than non-native plants.  They are diverse in texture and character, and low maintenance.  The added benefit of these plants is that they don't attract rodents and rabbits for housing (like ivy and liriope), they don't change the soil constitution (like bush honeysuckle), and  by buying local, you are contributing to our native habitat:    if birds deliver the seeds from your plants to our local parks, it fosters native growth.  For a wallet sized guide of recommended landscape plants, contact us at info@LFWA.org and we'll put one in the mail to you or click HERE and we have lists online.  

Other Plant News:
Dinner and a Show (of sorts)
Montgomery Parks Weed Warrior Training
April 28, 5:30 to 7:30
Norwood Park, Chevy Chase, MD
Click HERE  for complete information and registration instructions.
Have you ever wished you could tell the native plants and trees from the invasive ones in the Park?  Join us, and get to know the difference!   Dinner will be served.  If you attend only one certification training this year, let it be this one.

45 New Trees and Shrubs!
What graces the Massachusetts Avenue entrance to Little Falls Park as of 3/15, thanks to the State Highway Administration (SHA).  SHA removed bamboo, bush honeysuckle, privet and vines that were making their way into the Park, and installed fir, holly, red bud, service berry, and viburnum.  Thank you, SHA, for being Park Stewards.

Little Falls Park Restoration
The Park's third deer exclosure is one month old, installed by volunteers.  The plan is to restore all three exclosure areas to native habitat.  Many remember when the Park was full of Virginia Bluebells, song birds and butterflies.  If you want to help Park restoration efforts:

•  plant native plants in your yard that birds, bees and butterflies love, and remove plants that invade the Park (most via birds) and crowd out natives, such as ivy, winter creeper, bush honeysuckle, bamboo, privet, multiflora rose, mile a minute, and wineberry;
• reduce the noise of lawn care in order to create a desirable habitat for native mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, butterflies;
•  trap rainwater in your yard (and get paid by the County to do it) to allow native aquatic life to survive in Little Falls Valley Stream;
• contact lfwa.org, "events" tab to participate in weed pulls, or contact lfwa.org to lead Park tours, give native plant talks, lead weed pulls, remove trash from Little Falls Stream;
• subscribe to the monthly e-letter at lfwa.org, the Park and stormwater management stewards of Little Falls Park, in order to stay informed.  lfwa.org has information on everything mentioned above.

Park history documentation –
Do you have photos of what the park looked like 25 or more years ago? Make copies and send them to us, or better yet, scan them and send a digital copy.

Spice bush is getting ready to bloom, so come enjoy the Park's beauty!
Little Falls Watershed Alliance (lfwa.org)

What to Do About English Ivy?

The Invasive of the Month for March is English Ivy, the ubiquitous landscaping plant that is taking over the forest.  Everyone loves English Ivy in their yards because it's fast growing,  crowds out weeds and adds green all year round.  Unforturnately these are the reasons that make it one of the most unloved plants in the Park and one of the most destructive invasives!   It forms a dense cover on the forest floor crowding out native plants including all our spring wildflowers.  Because it stays green all year, the perennial natives have no room to emerge in the spring.  If it is allowed to climb trees, it can damage the bark and the sheer weight of the ivy can break branches and topple trees in a storm.

Replace Your English Ivy with Native Ground Covers!

If allowed to grow in your garden, it can easily escape to nearby forest wreaking havoc to the local ecology.  You can help the park by using native ground covers.  You should always remove it from your trees both for your safety and the trees health.   

Replace your ivy with some of the following native ground covers:

A combination of Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride' and Christmas fern (Polystichum aristichoides) are nice in shade, and will tolerate some dryness.

Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pennsylvanica) or wild columbine are beautiful.

Other covers include Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), wild ginger (Asarum canadense) and foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia).

Local nurseries such as American Plant or Meadows Farms may carry these plants.  You just have to be very specific with them about the Latin names, so you know exactly what you are getting. The native plant sales are also good places to look for ground covers. Visit the Maryland Native Plant Society for a list of sales.

The National Park Service has an excellent list of natives that can be used as ground covers as well as a list of plants (like bush honey suckle) that should never be used in your gardens as they are so invasive and harmful to the environment.