When I was a kid, I proclaimed to be all about the Earth. It was the early 90s. Recycling, spotted owls and a certain superhero named Captain Planet were among my chief obsessions. Fully aware of this, my parents — bless their hearts — chauffeured me to all variety of environment-themed activities. There were tree plantings and litter cleanups and ecology club meetings and, of course, Earth Day celebrations.

As an eco-friendly kid, the garden center should have been my Shangri-la. I should’ve reveled in the opportunity each spring to browse balmy greenhouses and help my mom choose the perfect plants to fight those evils of stormwater runoff and air pollution. Alas, I did not revel in these trips. To be honest, garden centers bored the heck out of 10-year-old me.

Despite my love of nature, I simply wasn’t making the connection between plants and a healthy environment. I didn’t realize the special ability plants have to clean our waterways, even though my family lived just a few hundred yards from a stream. The concept of native plants for native wildlife never crossed my mind.

In fairness to 10-year-old me, these ideas were not in the conscience of most people at the time. I feel they’re only now starting to percolate into mainstream thinking.

Recycling and litter cleanups (and, I’ll be honest — Captain Planet) remain passions for 30-year-old me. But I’ve happily added plants to the list. Working on the Plant More Plants campaign this past year has fostered an appreciation for plants and gardening I didn’t have before. I enjoy visiting garden centers now. I'm jealous of other people's beautiful yards. Ten-year-old me would be so surprised.

In honor of Earth Day, April 22, add your name to the Plant More Plants pledge. Plant more trees, shrubs and hardy perennials. Don’t fertilize the lawn. Enjoy your yard — your own small piece of nature. Be truly all about the Earth.

Julie Buchanan is a public relations specialist for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. She lives in Richmond, Va., where she is just beginning to delve into the world of gardening.

The Teaching Garden at the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow, Va., is maintained by Master Gardeners of Prince William County. In this garden, Master Gardeners grow fresh produce for the Plant a Row for the Hungry project. It is also where they teach others how to grow vegetables, practice low-maintenance gardening techniques and demonstrate plants that grow well locally.

I’m proud to announce that the Teaching Garden is one of 15 finalists selected nationwide for the DeLoach Community Garden Award. The top five gardens that receive the most votes will be awarded $4,000 each. Winners will be announced in the December 2012/January 2013 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine.

If the Teaching Garden is a winner, funds will be used to install an educational kiosk and fencing to keep deer out. Volunteers also hope to enhance the garden's rain barrel system and parking area.

You can go to www.deloachcommunitygardens.com to cast a vote for the Teaching Garden. Voting ends Aug. 6, 2012. Your support is very much appreciated!

About the Teaching Garden
From March through September, you will find Master Gardeners at work in the Teaching Garden. During the growing season, classes are offered the first Saturday of each month. Topics range from turf, vegetables and ornamentals, to how to deal with pests and diseases using minimal pesticides. In addition, children’s programs encourage youths to take an early interest in nature. These programs are free, but registration is recommended.

The Teaching Garden is located at 9535 Linton Hall Road, Bristow. Call 703-792-7747 for information about programs or to schedule a visit with a Master Gardener.

Betty Truax is a Master Gardener and member of the Prince William Wildflower Society and the Lake Ridge Garden Club. She's the mother of four grown children, the daughter of a great lady who inspired her love of plants, and the wife of a wonderful man who's always willing to help dig holes for plants. Betty lives in Manassas, Va.

Natives are great for many reasons. But to give them a great start, they need to be planted in the proper environment. Whether you have shade, part shade to sun, moisture or a dry landscape, there is a group of plants that would be perfect for that site.

If you have a shady area, consider planting in layers. Woodland plants are suited for shade or part sun for the edges of the woods.

Here are some examples.

Understory layer
Amelanchier canadensis (Serviceberry)
Asimina triloba (Paw paw)
Cercis canadensis (Red bud)
Chionanthus virginicus (Fringetree)
Hamamelis virginiana (Witch hazel)

Shrub layer
Cephalanthus occidentalis (Buttonbush)
Cornus stolonifera (Red osier dogwood)
Hydrangea arborescens (Wild hydrangea)
Lindera benzoin (Spicebush)
Rhus aromatica (Fragrant sumac)
Sambucus canadensis (Elderberry)
Virbunum dentatum (Southern Arrowwood)

Perennial layer
Anemone virginiana (Tall thimbleweed)
Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard)
Asarum canadense (Wild ginger)
Cimicifuga racemosa (Black cohosh)
Dicentra eximia (Wild bleeding heart)
Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple)
Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon’s seal)
Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot)
Sedum ternatum (Wild stonecrop)
Stylophorum diphyllum (Woodland poppy)
Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower)
Trillium grandiflorum (White trillium)

If you have sun to part shade, low medium or very moist areas, the prairie native perennials can give you a full season of color. You can add some exciting perennial beds, make large sweeping meadows or, if space is limited, you can do an urban meadow.

Low to medium moisture
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Aster novae-angliae (New England aster)
Baptisia australis (Blue wild indigo)
Baptisia tinctoria (Yellow wild indigo)
Coreopsis verticillata (Threadleaf coreopsis)
Helenium autumnale (Sneezeweed)
Liatris spicata (Dense blazing star)
Phlox paniculata (Summer tall phlox)
Rudbeckia fulgida (Black-eyed Susan)
Monarda didyma (Beebalm)

Medium to moist areas
Chelone glabra (turtle head)
Geranium maculatum (Wild geranium)
Iris virginica (Virginia blue flag)
Hibiscus moscheutos (Eastern rosemallow)
Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower)
Lobelia siphilitia (Great blue lobelia)
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient plant)

Come visit Garden Gate Landscape and Design, where all of these are available. There will be more in late summer and fall! I’d love for you to visit.

Beth Hellmer has been a landscape designer for three years. She owns Garden Gate Landscape and Design, based in Montpelier, Va. Her love of nature and the environment led her to native plants and she enjoys educating people about sustainable landscape practices. When she's not working, Beth's usually on the golf course. 

Warning: Bloodroot can be extremely toxic, even fatal.

I'm not going to discuss the medical uses for bloodroot. There is plenty of information on the web (and from professional herbalists, which I certainly am not) explaining its benefits and dangers. Just let me say do your research very well. Also, consider pets and children before planting it in your landscape. As beautiful as this plant is, it is not worth risking loved ones’ health or possibly even lives.

I want to talk about the non-medical attributes of this lovely plant. Sanguinaria canadensis is a member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae). This native plant is endangered in some areas. In 2003 the National Park Service started monitoring bloodroot populations, as well as other threatened species such as ginseng and black cohosh, because of the reduction in population due to poaching. Poaching is illegal in all national parks.

Luckily, bloodroot can be shared if you know someone who is growing it in his or her gardens. It spreads both by rhizomes and by seed. Wait until the leaves have turned yellow to divide it. The first couple of times I tried to grow it, I was unsuccessful. Then in one year I had two different friends give me share plants from their gardens and I planted them in two separate places and both survived. In both cases, the plants appeared to die immediately but lo and behold the following year I was rewarded with charming white blooms and amazing leaves. I think I actually screamed the first time I noticed they had emerged I was so excited.

Bloodroot gets its common name from the reddish sap that will pour from its stalk and rhizomes. If fact, it will even clot like blood. I suggest wearing gloves whenever handling this plant. I found some information that stated the sap could harm skin cells.

I am not at all surprised to find out that Bloodroot was named the 2005 Virginia Wildflower of the Year by the Virginia Native Plant Society. Although only 6 inches tall when in bloom, it is a real charmer.

In early spring, stalks with single buds are completely encompassed within a rolled leaf. During the day when the sun is out the leaves unfurl and then at night they curl up again. The flower itself doesn't last very long, because it drops its petals within one to two days of being pollinated. The lovely 1 1/2 - 2-inch wide bright white flowers (rarely double) are a real joy to behold when little else is in bloom. Bloodroot has a sweet fragrance that it uses to attract pollinators such as various bees, flies and beetles. Ants that are attracted to the flesh around the seeds often disperse them.

The leaves themselves are also very interesting. The leaves are palmate with 5 to 9 lobes. They are very unique and once you've seen them you will always be able to recognize them. They continue to grow after the flowers are gone. They don't disappear until sometime in summer. Rarely do animals or diseases bother bloodroot. It grows into colonies if left alone. This plant needs sunlight in very early spring, so don't plant it under evergreens.

No matter which of its common names you use (bloodroot, red puccoon, coon root, snakebite, sweet slumber, red root, corn root, termeric or tetterwort) Sanguinaria canadensis will capture your heart!

Betty Truax is a Master Gardener and member of the Prince William Wildflower Society and the Lake Ridge Garden Club. She's the mother of four grown children, the daughter of a great lady who inspired her love of plants, and the wife of a wonderful man who's always willing to help dig holes for plants. Betty lives in Manassas, Va.

I am the proud owner of a sailboat and a kayak and boat often in the lower reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Being a biologist and stormwater expert, I'm always aware of the quality of the water. My sailboat is moored at a marina on Chisman Creek, a tributary of the Poquoson River. The water in my boat slip is approximately 5 feet deep, and I have noticed during the last two years that I have been able to see the bottom of the creek just a couple of times. Most days, the water is cloudy (turbid), and I can see less than a foot below the water surface. Interestingly, the times that the water is clear occur mostly in winter.

The turbidity of the water is definitely stormwater related; the water in the creek is more turbid on days after storms. This became more evident after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee passed through the area and moved into Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Satellite photographs of the Chesapeake Bay showed a large sediment plume moving south through the bay starting from a point where the Susquehanna River flows into the bay. The tremendous amount of rain and the subsequent flooding released a lot of sediment in the watershed that flowed downstream into the bay. There were similar photos of the Delaware and Hudson rivers. I see this on a much smaller scale in my section of Chisman Creek. 

I see other phenomena during the summer. Turbidity seems to increase even when it doesn't rain. This turbidity is caused by algae blooms that look much like the turbidity we see after a storm. Algae are small floating plants. Warm, sunny weather and high nutrients in the water create an ideal environment for algae growth. This is why we often hear about algae blooms, or red tide, in the summer. Red tides can be very harmful to humans, fish, oysters and other aquatic life.

So what causes these algae blooms? A main cause is nutrients that are transported by stormwater into the rivers and eventually into the bay. These nutrients are attached to sediment particles in our stormwater, and once they reach the bay they become the main food source for algae. In addition, the sediment particles may have toxic substances attached to them such as lead, mercury or pesticides. This is why it is so important that we manage stormwater, minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides at home, and pick up waste from our pets.

It's also a reason to have vegetated buffers around creeks, streams, lakes and the bay. Vegetated buffers are not lawns. They are strips of land around water bodies that contain all kinds of plants, from trees to shrubs and groundcovers, that help filter the runoff and keep nutrients, toxins and pesticides out of the water by capturing them and breaking them down. These buffers are known as Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) in the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act of Virginia.

One Sunday afternoon last summer, I was kayaking in the area where the Chisman Creek flows into the Poquoson River. That area was party central. There were at least 40 pleasure boats anchored in a shallow area. Music was blaring and people were standing chest deep in the water talking, throwing balls, drinking and just having fun. This is what summer on the bay should be. Instead, we often must contend with the red tide.

Jan-W. Briedé is a stormwater outreach manager for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. He coordinates the erosion and sediment control training and certification program. Jan has worked in the environmental field in countries all over the world, including Uganda, Nepal and North Yemen.

My favorite shrub is oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia (querci- oak, and folia - leaf). This native plant ranges from Tennessee to Florida and west to the Mississippi River. In Virginia, we are a bit north of its native range but it grows very well here. It grows naturally in forests, along streams and on forested hillsides.

Oakleaf hydrangea is not a plant for a small garden since it can grow up to 12 feet tall and wide, although 8 feet is more likely. It has huge oak-shaped leaves larger than my hand. The sheer size of the leaves gives this shrub a bit of a chunky look, however, it somehow manages to look elegant. The beautiful clusters of blooms, which can easily be 12 inches, are cone-shaped instead of “popcorn ball”-shaped. The flowers alone would make this shrub worth planting. But that is just the beginning of the attributes of this plant. This is a superstar for all seasons!

By early summer the clusters go into full bloom. I’ve read that some people have had trouble getting them to bloom until they are established, but I’ve planted lots of them in several different beds and have never had a problem. They have always bloomed the first year for me. The oakleaf hydrangea actually has two flowers, larger, white sterile flowers and smaller, creamy fertile flowers. As the summer progresses, the blooms start to turn a light pink and by August they turn rose-colored.

By autumn, the blooms have turned tan but still manage to look good. You could cut them at this point and add them to dried arrangements indoors. But it’s the leaves that are the most impressive part of this shrub at this time of year. They turn various shades of wine, red, bronze, yellow and gold. The more sunlight this plant gets the more varied the leaf colors will be. Additionally, the leaves “hang on” well into November and sometimes even into December.

In winter, once it drops its leaves, you are in for another treat. This shrub has great bark. The cinnamon-orange colored bark of the larger stems has a shredded look while the younger stems have soft copper colored fuzz on them.

Believe it or not, we still haven’t covered all the attributes this plant has to offer — I find it very easy to grow. I have never had any disease issues or insect problems. It is very drought resistant once it is established. It blooms heavily in shade and the white color really pops in a woodland garden. This plant never needs pruning, but you can prune it if you want to shape it or even prune in spring to limit the amount of blooms and make them larger.

With all those wonderful attributes you have to forgive this plant’s few problems. Deer can be a problem. It does tend to form colonies using underground shoots once it is established. It may take two or three years to really come into its own. But with all that said this plant carries its weight all year round in a garden — shining from one season to the next.

"Dragoons, I tell you the white hydrangeas turn rust & go soon.
Already mid September a line of brown runs over them.
One sunset after another tracks the faces, the petals.
Waiting, they look over the fence for what way they go."
-Carl Sandburg
(1878-1967)

 

Betty Truax is a Master Gardener and member of the Prince William Wildflower Society and the Lake Ridge Garden Club. She's the mother of four grown children, the daughter of a great lady who inspired her love of plants, and the wife of a wonderful man who's always willing to help dig holes for plants. Betty lives in Manassas, Va.

The idea couldn’t be simpler. You have seeds left over from last year’s garden but, this year, would like to try some new plants. Somewhere nearby, a fellow gardener is in the same boat. The two of you attend a neighborhood seed swap organized by one very ambitious person or group and — voilà — you both have new seeds to plant.

The more I read about seed swaps, or seed exchanges, the more enthused I become about the whole process. Seed swaps are green, they promote a sense of community, and they enable gardeners to preserve heirloom plants. What’s not to love about all that?

Seed exchanges have become so popular that the final Saturday in January has been declared National Seed Swap Day in the United States.

For those of you in the D.C. area, the 7th Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges will be a great opportunity to experience this for the first time. Sponsored by Washington Gardener Magazine, the exchanges will be Jan. 28 at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md., and Feb. 4 at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Va. Both events will start at 12:30 p.m. and end at 4.

In addition to the swapping of seeds, the day will feature gardening talks and door prizes. Attendees will leave with gardening swag (look for the native plant brochures and bumper stickers we donated!). You're also encouraged to bring used or new gardening books and seed catalogs to trade.

A registration form and instructions on how to package your seeds to swap can be found at www.washingtongardener.com. The registration fee is $15. Subscribers to the magazine and members of either garden receive a $5 discount.

By the way, you don't have to bring seeds to participate. Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener, sums it up nicely, saying seed swaps are, “an act of giving and the ultimate form of recycling.”

They also sound like a lot of fun.

If you're not near D.C., check out these seed exchanges happening in the Chesapeake Bay watershed:
Jan. 28 — State Arboretum of Virginia at Blandy Farm, Clarke County, Va.
Feb. 2 — Chesterfield Historical Society, Chesterfield County, Va.
Feb. 18 — Sustainable Living Fair, Norfolk, Va.

If you know of others, please tell us about them in the comments below.

Happy seed swapping!

Julie Buchanan is a public relations specialist for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. She lives in Richmond, Va., where she is just beginning to delve into the world of gardening.

For most people, gardening is an at-home activity, a hobby for the weekend or a way to unwind after a day spent sitting behind a desk.

But for several employees with the Virginia Department of Health, the joys of gardening are part of the daily work routine. They participate in a program called Plaza Planter Adopt-a-Box at their department’s headquarters — the Madison Building in downtown Richmond.

The program allows employees to tend one or more of nearly 100 state-owned planter boxes surrounding the building. The employees provide their own soil, plants and, of course, labor. They can garden during breaks or before and after work. Some employees share boxes with fellow workers.

See more photos of the planter boxes on the Plant More Plants Flickr page.

The program began in 2008 after the Virginia Department of General Services — former keeper of the 8-by-2-foot cement containers — gave the OK.

“It was just very well received by the staff,” said Sarah Hinderliter, an adopt-a-box participant and workforce development coordinator for the department. “We have folks that grow flowers, herbs and vegetables.”

I can attest to the beauty of the planter boxes because I work right next door. Looking out my office window now, I see mini-gardens in all their winter splendor, with splashes of yellow, purple and pink. Whether they intend to or not, the volunteer gardeners are creating a more scenic environment for other workers and visitors downtown to enjoy. They also might be providing some wildlife habitat and reducing a bit of stormwater runoff in the process.

What I like most is that each box represents the individual personality of its caretaker. Some boxes display hand-painted garden art or inspirational thoughts carved on stones. A walk around the plaza adds a dose of whimsy to my workday.

Something else at work here is the wellness aspect of gardening. Gardening provides a host of benefits listed in the prevention of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and even osteoporosis, according to Sandra Mason, an educator with the University of Illinois Extension Office. Mason cites additional benefits such as spurring creativity, recovering from illness or injury, and connecting with other people through gardening.

A recent Texas A&M study tells us older Americans who garden report being more satisfied with life than non-gardeners. I believe most Plant More Plants friends would agree with this finding.

Hinderliter appreciates the opportunity to garden during the day. The program lets her grow plants that otherwise might not flourish in her shady yard at home. She’s also aware of gardening’s impact on mental health.

“It provides a lot of camaraderie and morale building,” she said as she looked out on the colorful plaza one fall day. “It’s cheap therapy. If I’m having a really rough day, I can come down here and pull weeds.”

The program hosts a semiannual plant sale that enables gardeners to purchase seasonal annuals that are delivered right to the building. Money raised benefits the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, the state employee workforce charitable giving effort. Many gardeners also share cuttings with one another.

A highlight of the program is the Golden Trowel Awards, given each fall to those with the best-maintained boxes. Winners of the 2011 awards are:

Healthy Garden #1
Plot 18
Lisa Martinez
Sonya Balthrop

Cactus Garden
Plot 26
Kathleen Sergent

Butterfly Garden
Plot 27
Laura Stokes

Cohesive Garden
Plot 29
Brenda Mayes
Jane Moore
William White
Suzanne Keller
Margaret Tipple

Cohesive Garden
Plots 30 and 31
Keith Pinney
Elizabeth Marschak
Lindsey Oliver

Healthy Garden #2
Plot 38
Adrienne Stokes

Splash of Color Garden
Plot 42
Margaret Tipple
Marshall Vogt

Spice Garden
Plot 43
Margaret Tipple
Marshall Vogt

Sustainable Garden
Plot 49
Joanne Boise
Karen Day

Cascading Garden
Plot 51
Sarah Hinderliter

First Lady Garden
Plot 61
Tonya McRae

Julie Buchanan is a public relations specialist for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. She lives in Richmond, Va., where she is just beginning to delve into the world of gardening.

Iris is one of my favorite perennial genera consisting of over 300 species. When growing iris it is important to determine the species. Some like sun others like shade and some want wet. Others can't tolerate wet feet at all. They can be 4 inches or they can grow to be over 3 feet tall.

I’ve never met an iris I didn’t like, but my favorite is Iris cristata, a native woodland plant. It makes a wonderful ground cover. In time, its “strappy” sword-like leaves droop gently down and can form clumps so dense weeds don't penetrate. It will grow relatively quickly in rich woodland soil. Given enough moisture it tolerates quite a bit of sun. It is often found on shady rocky hills in its native environment.

The blooms are white, blue and lavenders with gold (or sometimes white) crests on the falls, hence its common name, Dwarf Crested Iris. It blooms late April/early May from the previous year's growth. It may not bloom the first year but don't give up ... it's worth the wait! The adorable blooms are very short-lived but I think its value as a ground cover or as an edging in a shade garden outweighs this drawback. Once established, Iris cristata is also drought tolerant. 

Plant the rhizomes at ground level — don't bury very deep and don't use fertilizer. My rhizomes are actually mostly above the ground, which makes this iris an amazingly easy plant to share — just snap a section off. You don't even have to get your hands dirty. Maintenance wouldn’t be easier. The only thing I do is remove excessive tree leaves in the fall (I use it under trees where is it very happy) and gently mulch with compost once or twice a year.
 
Native columbine or ferns make great companion plants. Snails and slugs can be a problem but deer and rabbits usually leave this plant alone. This is an incredibly easy plant to grow — give it a try!

In your neat garden iris grows
Bright yellow, mauve - in stately rows.
This one you’ve picked’s a lovely thing,
I know it brightens up our spring.
But in the forest, springtime’s child,
A purple iris growing wild,
Can melt my heart as spring melts snow,
It’s spoilt me for the sort you grow!
- Jude, Wild Iris

Betty Truax is a Master Gardener and member of the Prince William Wildflower Society and the Lake Ridge Garden Club. She's the mother of four grown children, the daughter of a great lady who inspired her love of plants, and the wife of a wonderful man who's always willing to help dig holes for plants. Betty lives in Manassas, Va.

When I was in my mid-20s, I accepted a job in Nepal, working on a natural resources project. We were going to live in a village without roads, electricity or running water and manage a project that partially involved reforestation. We were to set up tree nurseries, replant forests and distribute some plants to the villagers.

In preparation for our assignment, I bought a book titled, “More Other Homes and Garbage.” The book showed me for the first time how you could use landscaping to minimize the energy requirements of a home. For example, planting deciduous trees to the south and southwest of the house shades it from the sun in the summer, while letting in ample sunlight and some heat in during the winter months when there are no leaves on the trees. Planting evergreen trees and shrubs to the north and northeast of the house keeps cold winter winds at bay and keeps your home warmer in the winter. In other words, we can use plants to make our lives more comfortable.

In Nepal we saw different uses for trees and shrubs. Villagers would climb trees to cut off branches with leaves to feed to their livestock. This gave the forests a very strange appearance. The countryside was so overgrazed that constantly pruning trees was the only way to carve out subsistence. Because of this, trees and shrubs were slowly dying. This is where stormwater came in.

It became evident that the hillsides where trees had disappeared were much more susceptible to erosion. Major landslides occurred on the denuded hills during the rainy season. In addition to this, during a storm, rainwater would run off the hillside, while in the areas that were still forested rainwater would flow down the trunks of the trees and slowly infiltrate in the soil. The organic matter from dead leaves and the understory would also improve the infiltration and very little runoff was seen in the woods. 

As a result of the deforestation, we also saw that streams and creeks in the denuded area would rise very quickly and were full of sediment. These flash floods and the cloudy water were a major hazard during the rainy season, and people were routinely swept away by the streams (remember: there were no roads and all travel and transport of goods was done by foot). I actually saved a woman’s life by pulling her out of a swollen stream just in time before she was swept away. In the wooded area where water infiltrated, the stream ran clear and did not rise as quickly. Moreover, these streams stayed wet longer, and people living near the woods had a more reliable water supply than people who lived near denuded areas.

These lessons I learned in Nepal can be transferred directly to our area. As I mentioned in my previous posts, areas with plants experience less runoff and more water infiltrates the soil. Denuded areas and areas with a lot of impervious surfaces generate more runoff.  While putting more water into those roadside ditches, creeks and streams might be good for us locally, the people downstream will be receiving more water that is probably also dirtier. More water can result in flooding, and dirty water results in contamination of lakes, rivers and bays downstream. As you can guess, planting more plants benefits not only the people and wildlife living upstream, but also those living downstream.

Jan-W. Briedé is a stormwater outreach manager for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. He coordinates the erosion and sediment control training and certification program. Jan has worked in the environmental field in countries all over the world, including Uganda, Nepal and North Yemen.