If you are interested in what might be planted in the area between the VDOT soundwall and our townhouses, you have three opportunities to come see what the options are.  You may also bring any idea that you think could work or that you particularly like.

When:

• Friday, July 29^th, 2-3 PM    and/or
• Saturday, July 30^th, 2-3 PM    and/or
• Sunday, July 31^st, 2-3 PM

Where:

• 7902 Towerbell Court (Maureen Goodfellow, Landscaping Chair)

Maureen will have examples (photos) of plants approved by VDOT, Virginia Dominion, and recommended by Fairfax County Restoration Project and the Audubon Society.  She will also have examples (photos) of many of the recommended meadowland plants approved for our meadowland stormwater runoff plots.

Knock, ring the door bell and come on in on Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon … or all three afternoons.

Maureen Goodfellow:  mmmteg@aol.com

Three homeowners and two Raintree board members spent an hour Saturday morning to stake and tape plots for future stormwater control between the auxiliary parking area and townhouses.  The plots will undergo several steps before becoming beautiful “gardens.”  Ultimately these plots will be attractions for butterflies, birds and many pollinating insects.

Our next step is to place a layer of newspaper over the outlined areas and cover with three inches of leaf mulch-compost.  The combination of newspaper and mulch will allow the sun to heat up the plots and slowly kill the weeds, grasses and seeds.  If you are interested in helping, contact Richard Sun (richard.sun82@gmail.com) or Maureen Goodfellow (mmmteg@aol.com).

When it is cooler (mid-September or later), these plots will be planted with plugs and potted plants.  Our volunteers will plant right through the mulch and newspaper (which eventually decomposes) and combine soil and organic matter in the holes, plant-by-plant.  The planting holes will be generous to enable young plants to root without problem.  We will choose mostly native plants that are hardy and meet recommendations.  These plants will have root systems that extend well beyond or turf which extends 2-3” deep.  They will anchor the soil and slow the stormwater run-off.

Once the young plants are in the soil, they will need to be watered (usually daily if there is no rain) to keep the root systems alive.  We will need two volunteers to make their backyard water available.  Future information will be posted as well as explained during the monthly Board meeting.

For the smaller plots, some tried and true native species are:  Rudbeckia, coneflowers (Echinacea), bee balm (Monarda), a couple native grasses and shrubs to anchor then and provide cover for birds.  If you are interested in learning more about this project and other landscaping projects, contact Maureen Goodfellow (Landscaping Chair) (mmmteg@aol.com).

The three photos show our volunteers early on Saturday morning.  Anyone who may have a concern that dog walking areas are significantly reduced can see by photograph C, there is plenty of mowed area remaining.