Text and Photos by Cindy Robertson, Extension Master Gardener
All gardens evolve over time, both seasonally and through the years. As time passes, plants may grow too dominant, maturing trees may create more shade (or sun, if the tree must be removed), or the garden’s underlying purpose or vision may change. Shaping and assisting a garden’s evolution is one of the most rewarding and challenging gardening practices.
This article highlights the latest evolution of the Sunny Garden, a demonstration garden founded in 1991 by the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (MGNV) and located at Bon Air Park in Arlington, Virginia.
Since 2020, the Sunny Garden has more than tripled in size and community impact. We owe our thanks to a dedicated leadership team, which, with the support of Arlington County, has transformed a weedy, invasive, semi-forested parkland adjacent to the garden’s original footprint into several native-themed garden beds. Inspired by the recent changes, the garden’s team continues to dream of future evolution, including a multi-method composting station and even a fruit tree grove.
The Current Team
The Sunny Garden’s success is due to a core team that has worked the garden for decades. The garden is now co-run by Kate Donohue and Joe Kelly, who are well-supported by garden veterans Celia Denton (a key garden designer), as well as Alex Dickman and her husband Doug, whose wooden trellises, signage, and other structures enrich the garden’s beauty and educational value. Richard Derbyshire, a more recent regular, supplies ideas, materials, and labor to this already strong team. Other regulars include Peter Hickman, Sarah Hutchinson, Debbie Siegel, Mary Frase, and Pam Stratton, among others.
A Turning Point for the Garden
When the COVID pandemic struck in early 2020, it became a catalyst for thoughtful changes at the Sunny Garden. With fewer distractions, the leadership team took a fresh look at the space. They observed that nearly 75% of the original garden had become Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susans) and that the pollinator plants on the pathway facing Bon Air Park had become quite tall, blocking much of the garden’s beauty from passersby. Also, several Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry) trees planted by the county had died. Finally, the team recognized that the garden included fewer native plants than desired.
Immediate goals included adding additional color, moving the pollinator bed to a new location, and increasing the number of native plants. As you will soon read below, the team more than met their goals!
Change 1: The Native Shrub Garden
The garden’s leadership also wanted to showcase more native shrubs, which benefit our local ecosystem by providing food and homes for insects, birds, and other animals. The team designed a bed to feature these plants along the path to the pollinator garden. The space includes a variety of native cultivars bred to be smaller and more compatible with compact yards in our region. Several specimens were donated by team members. Kate donated a lovely Rhododendron prunifolim (plumleaf azalea) and Alex provided a gorgeous Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’ (summersweet or sweet pepperbush).
As an encouraging sign of the bed’s success, the team noticed over 20 different kinds of bees and wasps visiting the Hydrangea arborescens ‘Haas Halo’ (wild or smooth hydrangea). Visitors will also find Ilex vomitoria (yaupon holly), Fothergilla gardenii (witch alder), Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry), and Physocarpus opulifolius (common or eastern ninebark) displayed among other native shrubs.
To ensure the shrubs’ survival from deer damage, the team protected the tender, smaller plantings with cages. As the plants grew larger, cages were replaced, when needed, with tall wooden stakes to prevent deer browse. The native shrubs now thrive with minimal attention, requiring only sporadic watering and light pruning, even during the hot, dry spells of summer. Thankfully, the space had rich soil that was full of organic material. As the shrubs have grown, their size helps curb the unwanted weeds between them.
Change 2: The Pollinator Garden
With the support of Arlington County, the garden’s leadership received permission to expand. In October 2022, the Sunny Garden team created a new bed for native pollinators, moving the tall beauties from the front of the garden to a spot previously occupied by invasive weeds. To ensure the public understood the bed’s contents, the team developed and installed a large educational sign, which was funded by a 2023 microgrant offered by Virginia Cooperative Extension, thanks to Alex. The new pollinator bed is linked to the original garden with wide woodchip paths, with the materials kindly donated by a local arborist/tree removal company.
The county had, prior to the creation of the new pollinator garden, replaced the serviceberry trees with an equal number of Magnolia virginiana (sweetbay or swamp magnolias), which have grown considerably since installation, adding a beautiful border to the path.
Change 3: Enhancing Color & Native Plantings in Original Garden
The garden team added a variety of annuals and native perennials to enhance the overall palette of the original Sunny Garden. Zinnias, as pollinator favorites, were selected for their bold pops of color. The garden team also added several kinds of salvias, often described as a tender perennial. Salvias bloom in a wide range of colors, including purples, pinks, reds, whites, and oranges, which nicely offset the yellow Rudbeckias. The garden team has been pleased to find several of their salvias returning in the spring, likely a sign of climate change. In the fall, native Symphyotrichum spp. (asters), in white, pink, and purple, also enhance the garden’s palette, among a variety of other autumn-blooming plants. The team also added Solidago spp. (goldenrods), Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea), Liatris spicata (blazing star), and Eutrochium dubium (joe-pye weed).
Change 4: The Lawn Alternative Garden
One of the crowning achievements of the new and improved Sunny Garden is the garden bed now dedicated to lawn alternatives. Doug (Alex’s husband) cleverly created a faux home façade by adding faux window and door frames at the back of a red tool shed that borders the Sunny Garden. Richard Derbyshire completed the look by adding large square stepping stones to create a path to the front door. Garden members were pleasantly surprised one day to find a black metal clock artfully installed between the windows. The mystery continues as to who donated it!
Once the “house” was complete, the team designed a delightful “front yard” that includes numerous types of native lawn alternatives, from ground covers like Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge), Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower), and Packera aurea (golden ragwort), to native perennials and small shrubs, including those that thrive in shade. All are nicely identified with signage. A sturdy, permanent sign explains the value of creating a nature-friendly yard, and suggests numerous native plants to achieve that goal, most of which are visible nearby.
Changes 5 & 6 in Progress: Small Native Tree Grove and Hügelkultur Garden
Small Native Tree Grove:
At the back of the expanded Sunny Garden, the team is in the process of creating another bed to showcase a variety of smaller native trees and large shrubs that would even fit nicely in tight quarters, such as alongside a patio. While many native trees can grow 40+ feet, others such as Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry), Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry), and Swida alternifolia (alternate-leaf or pagoda dogwood) are more compact. This bed will operate as a managed woodland. The team is currently pulling invasive or other unwanted plants in this space, and are finding many native saplings as they go. If these native saplings cannot be used in the Sunny Garden, they are potted up for plant sales or giveaways.
Hügelkultur Garden:
At the back of the Sunny Garden, you will also find a newly formed mound of wood and plant debris. This mound is an example of Hügelkultur (“Hoo-gul-culture”), which is a German word for a gardening method that involves building a raised garden bed from the bottom up with wood, topsoil, and other organic materials. This new site, Richard’s pet project, provides a perfect place to deposit some of the unwanted growth in the garden, while providing the added benefits of slowing and capturing rainwater and improving soil fertility. Visitors will see this mound transform into an equally beautiful showcase of native plants as time goes on.
Keys to the Sunny Garden’s Success
The Sunny Garden’s success is owed to the hard work and thoughtful expansion by the Extension Master Gardeners and interns who volunteer there. The following additional factors have helped the garden evolve effectively:
First, the garden’s leadership team intentionally chose native plants that require less work so that the expanded beds would not exceed the team’s ability to maintain them.
Second, the team did not tackle all the new beds at once; instead, they proceeded step-by-step to allow adequate attention where it was needed.
Third, the team has an excellent relationship with their surrounding community. The public is enchanted by the beauty of the garden – some neighbors make a point of visiting every day. These visits show how much the garden “gives back” to the community. In addition, the team holds plant giveaways that are literally more popular than Black Friday, even when it’s raining! Another sign of community interest was the Sunny Garden’s popularity during the Green Homes Tour recently held by EcoAction Arlington. The garden’s team thrives on the joy they provide their community.
Fourth, the team has built trust with Arlington County, which supports the garden by providing resources and services to assist the garden’s evolution.
Fifth, the team has ensured public education remains at the core of the garden’s mission.
- Excellent signage:
- Plant identification signs help visitors get ideas for their own gardens. Temporary plant identification signs are created when new plants go in. Only after the plant survives for an extended period of time does the plant receive a more permanent sign. Yet, by ensuring the plant is labeled immediately, the team guarantees the public is always educated about the plants in the garden. Additional, informational signs educate the public about the current work being done in the garden, helping visitors understand the garden’s evolution.
- Large, permanent signs educate the public about the purpose of certain beds, such as those featuring pollinator-friendly plants or native lawn alternatives.
- Unique and Varied Beds
- As identified above, the Sunny Garden has evolved to include a number of unique demonstration beds to meet a variety of goals. As a result, visitors are treated to a wealth of different ideas for creating and maintaining their own gardens.
Final Thoughts
The Sunny Garden’s latest evolution is sure to impress all who visit, especially those who have not seen the transformation on a gradual basis. When you visit, be sure to thank those you find working in the garden for their hard work and imagination. Their efforts, so beautifully displayed at the garden, will no doubt inspire other gardeners to dream big!
If you are interested in the Sunny Garden’s history and all those who have contributed to its development through the years, please see these additional articles, which trace the garden’s evolution since 1991.