Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia

By Christa Watters, Extension Master Gardener

Master Gardener Nancy Davis and her husband Stuart have been members of Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria for more than 30 years. Founded in 1856., Beth El purchased its current 5.5-acre site in 1955 in a residential neighborhood. Behind the temple and its parking area, the back of the wooded lot descends in two ravines to a valley.

In 2006, the members of the temple brotherhood created a Chapel in the Woods at the top of the ravines. “This retreat,” Nancy says, “serves as a place of quiet meditation, services, and prayer, a site for teaching children about nature, and a play area. It remains one of the few undeveloped private tracts in the area and still contains at least 15 species of native trees. This forest is on a slope, part of the Strawberry Run watershed that drains the entire residential neighborhood. There is a spring at the bottom of the hill adjacent to the property.”

When the Brotherhood member who used to maintain the Chapel in the Woods moved away some years ago, the area fell into neglect, resulting in its being taken over by more than 20 invasive species. Then in 2015, a small informal group started holding monthly work days to pull invasive species, and Nancy and her husband joined in.

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