Mistakes Were Made …The Challenges and Successes of 2 Habitat Restorations

Volume 30 Issue 2, Spring 2025

by BJ Lecrone and Nan McCarry

Loudoun Wildlife has been an advocate of supporting wildlife in our yards and larger areas since its inception. In 1996, there was an article in the first issue of the Habitat Herald called “Have Your Own Habitat.” Over the years, members of Loudoun Wildlife have reduced their lawns and created habitat in their yards, and some of these have become certified properties with the Wildlife Sanctuary program (formerly Audubon at Home), which Loudoun Wildlife runs in partnership with the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance. In this program, trained volunteers visit a property to share advice on how to combat invasives, support existing native plants, introduce other suitable natives, and implement additional practices to increase the property’s ecological value.

As ambassadors with the Wildlife Sanctuary program, we’ve also been working for some time on transitioning our own large yards into what we hope will be native plant paradises. We thought it might be helpful for others to learn from our experiences: what went well and what we’d do differently. We both found ourselves living among three-acre lawns of mostly fescue — and we each were committed to transitioning away from the monocultural lawn model. Other things we have in common are that we work at Watermark Woods Native Plants and are Virginia Master Naturalists.

Writing this, we’re reminded of Paula Whyman’s recent book Bad Naturalist. She documents her journey attempting to restore 200 acres in Rappahannock County, Virginia, with self-deprecating good humor. So if this article is of interest to you, or if you have a really large property, you may want to delve into her book.

We started with different goals: BJ was inspired to convert her property to meadow, while Nan opted for an early successional forest. Despite the differences the outcomes have had similar challenges and successes.

BJ’s Story: 3 Acres Outside of Hamilton, Va.

I learned about native plants through Loudoun Wildlife’s ‘Bringing Back the Monarch’ campaign in 2017. With the joy and excitement of a first-time mother, I tilled the soil (which I would not do today) and planted hundreds of native plants into three pocket meadow gardens, thinking that I’d begun the journey of a perfect meadow. I expected each of those plants to thrive and spread to overcome the unwanted invasive plants nearby. I found out quickly that nature always has other plans and there is constant competition involving roots and seeds, with seeds being dispersed by soil disturbance, wind, or bird dispersal. Saying that, when I see native plants spread to another location, it is quite exciting in itself, but other intruders will show up in my “woman versus nature” reality show.

I’m happy that my property doesn’t have some of the bad-boy invasive plants like Mugwort, Teasel, or Spotted Knapweed, but I’m on constant alert for Callery Pear trees thanks to seed distribution by birds from local HOA properties. What’s interesting about my property is that I can clump sections into areas according to the most challenging invasives in each.

In the back quarter, I have a Chinese Bush Clover section. My first level of control is removing the flower heads and seeds in late summer, making sure the seeds don’t spread to other areas. The other existing non-native plants need to be dealt with by herbicide, though, and that is something I have not had the time or energy to deal with. In the front quadrant, I have a challenging area of fescue that grows tall, flops, and forms a mat that makes it a challenge for any other plants to grow there. Again, another herbicide is needed to tackle this.

My biggest problem spreading across the property is Japanese Honeysuckle. Not mowing two years ago gave it permission to spread into a very thick crawling mass across the meadow. Its only benefit is shelter for some wildlife, but that is no reason to be happy when it chokes out good native plants. Changing its direction involves a herbicide treatment at just the right time. Another interesting challenge is the native Blackberry shrub (Rubus allegheniensis), which is a successional species. The brambles spread fast and produce berries for the birds and myself, and a forest will begin growing slowly from within. That would be a fantastic treat to have in a native forest years later — but guess what trees have grown there? I don’t mind native Honey Locusts and Walnut trees popping up, but mostly I get Callery Pears that I have to keep on top of removing and treating. Blackberry brambles are very thick and spread quickly and have value for wildlife, so I let them be for now.

Within all that, I have many patches of thriving Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum spp.), Boneset (Eupatorium spp.), tons of Dogbane (Apocynum spp.), and Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca); and the fall is a glory of yellow Goldenrods (Solidago spp.), Asters (Aster spp.), and Tickseed (Bidens aristosa). It brings me joy as I watch the Brown Thrashers nesting and the Indigo Buntings flying amongst the blackberries, and the Woolly Aphids on Smooth Alder (Alnus serrulata); and to see the beautiful butterflies and common bumblebees on Mountain Mint. You can enjoy my meadow habitat with me on my flickr account, https://www.flickr.com/ photos/189576361@N05/.

We know life is not always easy, and that goes for the great outdoors, too. I would 100 percent do it all over again. The deadscape of mowed grass is just not the answer. We need to give back to nature, but that means we have to pay attention to invasives from the very beginning. Be informed about types of herbicide treatments to use early on, and find a landscaping company with expertise in native plantings to partner with. And don’t give up.

Nan’s Story: 3 Acres in Lucketts, Va.

Our house was on three acres of mostly lawn, so I felt a moral mandate to convert it as quickly as possible to “a more sustainable ecosystem,” whatever that was going to mean. I wanted to do this with my own labor without spending much money, which was probably not realistic.

I’d been enchanted by a permaculturish approach to gardening since my days doing thesis research on “dooryard gardens” in a village in Guatemala. Also, at the time I began thinking about converting our property, I was teaching a class series called “Landscape for Life” on sustainable landscaping, so this was a chance to put into practice those concepts, such as protecting soil, slowing down water so it can seep into the soil, and planting for wildlife.

I first tried letting areas of the yard remain unmowed to grow up into meadow. The tall (and mostly nonnative) grasses were a delight until neighboring deer herds moved in, bedding down nightly, which trampled the grasses, and eating any native plants I’d planted. I fenced things, but unless you are good at fencing, the deer just push into the fence and forage on the plants, leaving pathetic looking fences askew.

After several years of feeling overwhelmed, I decided to get professional help and jump-start the process. In 2015, I had a deer fence installed. The next year, I hired someone to put in 700 native bare-root trees and shrubs. Meadows are beautiful, but I decided to try a small reforestation project for several reasons: I love shade in the summer, it feels like our landscape “wants” to be a forest, and meadows need to be continually managed with fire or bushhogging. A “successional forest” felt right — allowing nature to progress through the stages that might naturally happen in this region, and hopefully shading out the fescue lawn.

We chose early successional species, or the pioneer species that move in naturally if you stop farming or lawnmowing. They can tolerate growing in full sun and in grass, and some of them fix nitrogen. We also emphasized some fruit and nut trees that I would enjoy as well as the wildlife. The species planted included Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), Burr and Red Oak (Quercus macrocarpa and rubra), American Hazelnut (Corylus americana), and Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana). Other native tree species, such as Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), volunteered once the deer were fenced out.

The first summer, it was beautiful to watch the fescue grow tall and know that many of the trees and shrubs were slowly making their way. We mowed beautiful paths through the tall fescue. That stage was rather short-lived.

I was pretty aware of invasive plants when I started the project, but I still hadn’t counted on how quickly Bittersweet, Mile-a-Minute vine, Bradford Pear trees, and others would move into the sweeps of tall fescue. I now was faced with moving through the tall fescue and other vegetation, full of ticks, to cut and treat each invasive with herbicide. It was going to be years before my trees would grow enough to shade out the fescue so that I could easily do this. After a year or two, my husband returned to dutifully mowing the lawn, even though our plan had been to leave that behind.

It is a wonderful thing that so many in our society are now moving beyond the monocultural lawn. But I think property owners need to look at their own situation, and how much they will be able to manage without mowing or burning. Most people, unlike me, probably have the good sense to start small with putting native plants in one corner of their property.

I have also gone back to mulch: native gardeners are often told to move away from mulch and “fill it with plants!” I now realize that can be my ultimate goal, but cardboard covered with mulch can be one way to help me transition to that goal, because there are so many weeds in the seed bank.

I am currently experimenting with native groundcovers, especially with using them along the edges of mulched beds and spreading into the lawn (which we still have a fair amount of). Some of these native groundcovers, once established, can be mowed over, and thus I no longer have the mower sending pieces of mulch and shredded cardboard everywhere. I’m experimenting using several plants this way, including Pussytoes (Antennaria spp.), Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata), Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), and Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum). The nonnative Mock Strawberry (Potentilla indica) also works well.

Sources for Advice and/or Funding

`A deer’s-eye view of a deer-fenced area on Nan’s property. Photo by Nan McCarrySome of these resources are aimed specifically at protecting water quality, so are only available for those homeowners and landowners who have a water resource. Unfortunately, I did my project before these programs became available for the homeowner.

• PEC’s Plantings for the Piedmont: https://www.pecva.org/plantings-for-the-piedmont/

• Riparian Forests for Landowners Program: https://dof.virginia.gov/water-quality-protection/water-quality-protection-landowner-assistance/

• Alliance for the Bay: Administers the above program and others. Contact: Shannon Gaffey (sgaffey@allianceforthebay.org)

• Clifton Institute: Free landowner consultations as time permits; https://cliftoninstitute.org/restoration/landowner-outreach-program/

• Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District: http://www.loudounsoilandwater.com/tree-planting. Contact: Chris Van Vlack (chris.
vanvlack@lswcd.org)

• More about deer fences: Here’s a resource on deer fences that I wish I’d had before having mine put in: https://awaytogarden.com/just-saying-no-to-deer-with-fencing/

Both BJ Lecrone and Nan McCarry are Virginia Master Naturalists and Wildlife Sanctuary Program Ambassadors