THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511160727
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Year-round, the wild thicket on a hill that runs the length of my driveway is alive with creatures, from small birds to box turtles, from crickets to green snakes.
The greenery, grown up over many years, is up to 20 feet wide in spots. It holds the remains of an ancient dune in place and keeps it from tumbling into the long driveway that leads from the road back to my house. The undergrowth is a mass of intertwined vines that include wild grape, blackberry, honeysuckle, greenbrier and periwinkle. Long before I came, someone must have planted the periwinkle to add a note of civility to the wilderness, but it fits right in.
There's never a dull moment in the thicket.
In early fall, the wild persimmons that have grown up among the vines and the wild grapes are food for raccoons, possums and fruit-eating birds. Crickets jumping away from my footsteps on the drive rustle the vines, giving them a voice.
Now what's left of the persimmons along with the brilliant reds of the sassafras seedlings' leaves lend splashes of color to the thicket. Both yaupon and American holly growing in a wild clump at the middle of the driveway lend their own shades of red.
In cold weather I can hear small birds, like wrens and finches scratching around under the vines for food or settling into warmth and safety for the night. Come late winter, robins and cedar waxwings assault the hollies until every berry is gone.
In spring, the hill looks like an Easter basket with blue periwinkle and white blackberry blooms against the spring-green of new leaves. In spring, too, rabbits nest in the protected undergrowth and like Peter Rabbit, the young come out to dine on my bed of tender new flowers at the end of the driveway. Also, the rabbits have a safe and easy escape right back into the briar patch.
In summer, the undergrowth is a haven for fledgling birds. And although I haven't actually seen a nest, I think that ground-loving birds, like towhees and thrashers, set up housekeeping in there. When I work around the thicket, I often see box turtles crawling among the greenery or am surprised to come upon a camouflaged green snake draped among the vines, just like a vine itself.
Holding the thicket at bay is easier than dealing with the blueberries that line the other side of the driveway. All I do to maintain the thicket is to run the hedge clippers, willy nilly, down the side of the driveway to keep the vines from encroaching on the drive. My neighbors at the top of the hill control the wild growth with a lawn mower along their edge of their lawn.
Blueberries must be pruned, watered, fertilized and mulched. The undergrowth never needs watering, fertilizing or mulching. It's always green and beautiful except in the driest weather (and then only the periwinkle wilts).
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I can hear some of you saying. Keep the greenbrier and honeysuckle away from my yard! But you really can have a thicket on a smaller scale that accomplishes the same thing mine does and it can be part of a more formal garden.
You can learn more about wild areas and how to integrate them into your garden when the South Hampton Roads Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society meets at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Francis Land House. The meeting is free and open to the public.
Jocelyn Arundel Sladen of Warrenton will speak on the All-American Hedgerow. Sladen is a co-author of ``Hedgerows and Other Corners of Natural Diversity in Our Countryside and Gardens, a publication of the native plant society's Piedmont Chapter.
``Most people's conception of a hedgerow is what they see on a country road, places that have grown up between fields'' said Holly Cruser, program chairman for the meeting.
``We have expanded that and you can have one in the corner of your garden and it looks nice, looks like a garden,'' Cruser added.
Try it. The rewards will be well worth it.
SHOP FOR THE HOLIDAYS at an Arts and Craft Weekend Faire 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at historic Lynnhaven House. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY REID BARROW
A hedgerow along a driveway on the North End holds the remains of an
ancient dune place. The hedges, along with yaupon and American holly
growing in a wild clump at the middle of the driveway, provide a
variety of color throughout the year.
by CNB