This is what the older section of our container yard looks like during the growing season. (There is a larger, newer section that is not yet in full production.) The “ceiling” is shade cloth, which is taken down in winter. (June 2007)

The same area shown in the previous slide, but seen from the top of a soil pile across the road. There’s an eight-foot clearance under the shade cloth, so it’s easy to work in there. (June 2007)

By the end of 2007, we had about 120 species in propagation, so there’s a lot of botanical variety in the container yard. Those wooden posts are remnants of an older and much shorter shade system. As the movement of our stock permits, we’re gradually clearing the old structures out of our growing space. (October 2007)

Keeping all these plants happy is a lot of work. Here, Lisa Bright tends a row of silky dogwood (Cornus amomum). Lisa is the Sangha’s Executive Director and our Dharma Teacher. (September 2007)

Most of our herbaceous (nonwoody) species are grown in raised beds, rather than containers. The riparian and moist-soil herbs are grown in shaded beds in our “herb corral.” During the growing season, we just let these plants grow as they will, so things get kind of “jungly” in here. In late fall, we cut the top-growth back and dig out root sections for planting, as needed. (September 2007)

Still in the herb corral. There are some woody plants in here too. For example, that arbor-like structure supports some of our native red trumpet honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens). (September 2007)

This is what the herb corral looked like just after the beds were built and filled for the first time. That’s Philip Latasa, our Nursery Manager, in the background. Philip filled most of those beds himself! (February 2006)

We also have a small greenhouse offsite, where we germinate species that are difficult to sprout in the more exposed conditions of the main nursery. That’s Matt Bright plus unidentified seedling. (March 2007)

We collect all of our seed ourselves, from local forests and meadows. We do this to insure that our stock reflects the genetics of local, wild native-plant populations. Some of the seed is sown shortly after collection, and some is stored in our Seed Fridge, shown here. That’s Matt again. (March 2007)

By far the most time-consuming nursery chore is watering. At the height of the growing season, our container plants have to be watered nearly every day. Here, Valerie douses a raised bed; the beds are a lot easier to keep moist than the containers. (April 2007)

In 2007, our nursery became a volunteer venue for clients of St. John’s Community Services. St. John’s works to create social opportunities for disabled people. This proved to be a great partnership. The St. John’s people seemed to have a good time out there and our plants benefitted greatly. (October 2007)

Philip (striped shirt) sets up a St. John’s watering detail. Watering takes a lot of patience. This section of our nursery has a capacity of 8,000 to 10,000 containers, and each one needs a drink on a regular basis. You can see why we like having the St. John’s people around. (July 2007)

Tommy Ventre, our Tree Bank Project Manager, helps with another essential nursery chore: Inventory. We are constantly counting plants—trying to keep track of what we have and where it’s going. We try to match our growing program, at least roughly, to our partners’ and our own planting needs. (September 2007)

One consequence of taking inventory: There always seems to be a better way to arrange the stock. Here, Kerry (white shirt) and Tommy shift pots around in the container yard. (July 2007)

Other nursery chores: Weeding pots … (March 2007)

Filling pots and transplanting seedlings out of flats … (September 2007)

Transplanting seedlings out of raised beds … (April 2007)

And mulching. We pack mulch around our pots to help keep them cool and moist, we cover some stock in mulch to overwinter it, and we mulch our work spaces to keep the mud down. We’re not sure where all the old mulch goes—but there always seems to be a need for more. (March 2007)

In 2007, we expanded our nursery by leasing additional land at the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Franconia Park, where the nursery is based. Here, Chris Bright, the Sangha’s President (beside pole) discusses our plans with Ed Batten (gray shirt), Harry Glasgow (green shirt), and Marcus Wadsworth (wearing tie). Ed and Harry are members of the Park Authority Board of Directors; Marcus works with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. (July 2007)

Fairfax County supported the nursery expansion by extending our water line into the new space. In the background, you can see part of our herb corral, practically wrapped in shade cloth. (October 2007)

Lisa with Joe Nilson, Park Operations Manager for the part of Fairfax County that includes Franconia Park, the home of our nursery. Joe organized the extension of the water line. He’s our rainmaker! (October 2007)

In the fall of 2007 we constructed a big shade structure on the additional property. We needed 86 upright pipes for this structure, and for each of these, we had to install a socket, which is what Tommy, Philip, and Joe Whitehill are doing here. Compacted, stony clay made this chore very difficult, despite the use of a jack-hammer, a power augur, and manual post-hole diggers. (October 2007)

The structure itself was assembled by Dylan Drake, a local high school student who adopted this phase of the work as his Eagle Scout project. Here Dylan and company are attaching the horizontal pipes at the top of the structure. That’s Dylan facing the camera. (This photo was taken from the top of a nearby mulch pile.) (November 2007)

This view gives a sense of the new structure’s size. It covers 6,800 square feet. A substantial Eagle Scout project! (November 2007)

Dylan and his troop did an outstanding job. Here, Dylan (in back) and a friend demonstrate their ladder management skills. (November 2007)

Earlier in the year, our nursery benefitted from another Eagle Scout project—that of Andrew Frank, shown here measuring for his dryland raised-bed construction project. (April 2007)

Andrew and his crew built three very large raised beds next to our herb corral. Like the herb corral, these beds are for growing herbaceous (non-woody) species, but Andrew’s beds are for dryland flora—species that tolerate poor, upland soils in full light. A supply of such species will allow us to restore degraded areas where tree-planting isn’t feasible. (April 2007)

A view of the completed beds. Andrew and his troop substantially expanded our ability to work with the native grasses and forbs that we are now growing here. (April 2007)

Another 2007 nursery improvement: A shed! We can now store our tools and overwinter our shade cloth on site. And that, of course, is Philip in front of the shed. (November 2007)

Our initial nursery construction project in 2007 was the building of our first, eight-foot-high shade structure, which went over the older section of our container yard. Work here was much more complicated than with the new section, because this space was already in production. (April 2007)

Bruce Engelbert, a member of the Sangha’s Board of Directors, begins trimming the final pipe of that initial shade structure. (April 2007)

We sense the arrival of an historic moment as Bruce saws away. (April 2007)

The structure is complete! Although Bruce’s saw appears to be somewhat the worse for wear. (April 2007)

This is what our container yard looked like before we installed the eight foot shade structure. Those wooden frames supported shade cloth during the growing season, and deer netting all year round. (March 2007)

The low clearance of the old structures limited the height to which we could grow our stock and—as Philip inadvertently demonstrates here—made it hard to work with the plants. (March 2007)

Our nursery attracts a large number of both volunteers and visitors. Here, Lisa (in straw hat) gives Gail and Bob Weigl a tour of the container yard. Gail and Bob are on the Sangha’s Board of Directors. (September 2007)

Here, officials from Arlington County’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources visit our nursery, to explore ways in which the Sangha could collaborate with Arlington to grow native trees from wild and historic specimens in that county. (October 2007)

A group photo of our Arlington colleagues, along with Chris (far left), Lisa, and Tommy (directly behind Lisa). (October 2007)

We occasionally do presentations at the nursery as well. Here, for example, Chris discusses our nursery program … (July 2006)

… with the Master Gardeners of Arlington. We are trying to use the nursery as a means of building more public interest in our native flora. (July 2006)

Of course, many nursery visitors come to collect plants. Here Tommy and a nursery intern load a Fairfax County Park Authority truck with stock for a planting that the Park Authority’s Bruce Williams was organizing along the Cross-County Trail. That’s Bruce kneeling on the tailgate of the truck, talking with Tommy and Lisa. (November 2007)

In addition to our nonprofit and government partners, we work with some private businesses as well—such as our highly talented colleague Susan Abraham, a landscape designer who specializes in the use of native plants. Here Susan and canine assistant pick up a batch of plants for a client’s landscape. (November 2007)

We’re especially grateful to partners who invite us to work with them on very sensitive sites. Here, Lisa chats with Greg Zell, a naturalist with Arlington County. Greg is picking up stock for his work at Arlington’s Barcroft Bog, home to two rare wetland plant communities. Greg chose our stock because he wanted to avoid introducing extraneous genetic material into the plant populations that make up these communities. (April 2005)