Master
Gardeners Woodland
Garden
at Linton Hall Teaching Garden
Directions to the Teaching
Garden
Located at 9535 Linton Hall Road in Bristow, Virginia - the Master Gardener's teaching garden is behind the school near the old chapel.
Other Gardens at
the Teaching Garden to visit
- Drought
- Cook/Biointensity
- Children's Garden
- Butterfly Garden
- Native Garden
- Study in Pinks & Blue
- 4 Season Interest
- Deer Resistant
New Updates/Upcoming Events
12/09 - The Winter Newsletter is now on-line.
9/13/09 - Photos from our Fern Identification Workshop have been posted in the forum (hit the contact us button to the left)
About the Woodland Garden
This garden was started in November of 2006; with the objective of establishing a low maintenance garden in a semi-shaded area that would demonstrate to home owners’ some alternatives to growing grass in a treed area of a yard. The team began by putting down a layer of compost to prepare the area for planting. With the tall trees already on the site, a few initial plants were installed to begin the process of creating a woodland garden based on the 5 layer concept. The 5 layers that make up a woodland garden are: tall trees, under story trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and ground cover.
In addition to using mostly native plants, one major objective in plant choices was to provide some sort of visual interest in the garden during as much of the calendar year as possible. As early as March, we are treated to hellebores in bloom, followed by woodland poppies and woodland phlox. In April, masses of epimedium, iris cristata, and jack in the pulpit put on a glorious show of colorful blooms and beautiful foliage. Beginning in May and carrying on into July, we find a carpet of green and gold, airy coreopsis, and delicate looking Jacobs ladder. A variety of ferns have been added to the garden to enjoy from the first emerging fiddle heads in spring to the bronze colors that emerge as winter draws near.
When the colder weather starts to creep into the area, we can find color in the in the fall blooming toad lily, as well as in the wonderful foliage of the Solomon seal, native ginger, pieris japonica and flowering quince. Even in the late fall, and into the winter months your eye will be drawn to the wonderful evergreen foliage of the hellebores as well as the colorful bark of the red and yellow twig dogwood.