Public invited to tour sustainable gardens

The Carosella residence.

If you’ve always wanted to create a backyard oasis that focuses on sustainability, the annual Sustainable Garden Tour, hosted by the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, is a great way to see some examples.

The 2018 tour, on Sunday, June 10, 1-5 p.m., features homes, a church, and a school in the Annandale/Falls Church/Fairfax area. The sites include rain gardens, native plant landscaping, rain barrels, edible gardens, backyard wildlife habitats, and composting.

The Booker residence.

The tour is free and open to the public. There is no need to register. Visitors can explore as many, or as few, gardens at they want at their own pace. The sites are indicated on an online map.

Here are the locations:

Carosella residence, 2903 Rosemary Lane, Falls Church – The homeowners created a beautiful garden heavily shaded by an old stand of tulip poplar trees with hostas, azaleas, native ferns, and spring ephemerals. Roof runoff feeds several water features.

Booker residence, 3442 Surrey Lane, Holmes Run Acres, Falls Church – The stormwater challenges of this hilly property are mitigated by a rain garden, rain barrels, water-diversion logs and channels, a permeable walkway, and extensive plantings. There is a small meadow and multiple shady bird-viewing areas.

Sawhney residence, 4212 Saint Jerome Drive, Annandale – This Certified Wildlife Habitat is a chemical-free garden sanctuary with extensive landscaping, shade-tolerant plants, and several water remediation efforts, including a backyard swale, to mitigate runoff from the road.

Belvedere Elementary School, 6530 Columbia Pike, Falls Church – An outdoor classroom
and courtyard feature native plants, paths with permeable pavers, and a rain garden that filters runoff. There’s a “timeline garden” in front of the school with native and edible plants from various historic periods and a meadow on top of a slope with milkweed to attract monarch caterpillars studied by second-graders. Last year, the caterpillars were raised to butterflies, tagged, and released as part of the Monarch Watch initiative.

Daniels Run Peace Church, 3729 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax – This property has several gardens, including a fenced 800-square foot organic garden with raised vegetable beds, a rain garden with plants that attract pollinators, and edible landscape beds.

King residence, 4023 Roberts Road, Fairfax – There are two sustainable gardens here, including a rain garden with native plants in the front yard that receives water runoff and a backyard garden with native plants.

Chesterfield Mews Community Association, 3170 Readsborough Court, Fairfax – The shared garden area has two erosion control and drainage management projects. Residential downspouts are linked to a large infiltration trench to slowly release rainwater runoff. A permeable-paver walkway over a French drain redirects additional runoff to the trench system.

Meara Residence, 7211 Arthur Drive, Falls Church – A rain garden captures rainwater diverted from the roof via a reconstructed downspout system and has an under-drain as a precaution against future loss of permeability. The lawn has been replaced with native plantings.