Fern Photo by Deb Stevens.
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Linda Rieger of River Falls Drive gave a tour of her conservation garden on Monday, Sept. 12. Run-off difficulties were solved with terracing, rocks, grasses, ground cover and ferns.
Since it is located in a high-density deer area, she experimented with different plants to finally find a way to live with the deer and still have an interesting garden with a succession of blooms.
In the sunny area she has an herb garden. In a front garden she had her husband fence in a small sunny area which to save for purposes of reminding them of their childhood. The rest of the yard is open to the wildlife including the deer.
The plants in the Rieger garden:
• Provide for sequential bloom in the garden,
• Manage the deer in a high density area,
• Encourage wildlife with water, food, cover, and places to raise their young,
• Blend with the conservation area,
• Provide privacy,
• Incorporate perennial natives when possible, given the deer population,
• Contain run-off and help the water quality in the Potomac,
• Protect plants that are nostalgic to the Riegers,
• Maintain small amount of grassy area for games,
• Provide an area for naturalistic outdoor entertaining,
• Prevent the invasive plants in the conservation area from spreading.