Club Website

For official club information and news go to the website and Facebook page.

This blogspot is maintained for the the historic record from 2010 to 2014.

Who We Are

The Capitol Hill Garden Club brings together Washington area people interested in gardening, landscaping and the environment. Members enjoy lectures, demonstrations, workshops and tours.

We are a 501(c)(3) District of Columbia non-profit corporation. We undertake community projects and contribute to garden and beautification projects in our neighborhood. In past years the club donated thousands of spring flowering bulbs to groups and individuals for planting in public areas on Capitol Hill. Our income comes from membership dues and donations.

We are a member of National Garden Clubs, Inc., National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. and its District I, and the Central Atlantic Region of State Garden Clubs, Inc.

Monday, January 31, 2011

President Featured on WAMU

January 28, 2010: President Vira Sisolak was featured on a segment of Metro Connection on WAMU

MS. VIRA SISOLAK
13:34:39

I'm Vira Sisolak. I live on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. We're immediately east of the capital out to the Anacostia River. I first moved to this neighborhood in 1967 and a couple years later moved away, but moved back permanently in 1974. We live in a historic district. Most of the houses were built between 1860 and 1910. They're row houses and they're generally brick. I'm president of the Capitol Hill Garden Club. We have over a 100 members.

MS. VIRA SISOLAK

13:35:14

The focal point of this neighborhood is Eastern Market. And around the market, there are many things that occur. One of the things is that the garden club sells bulbs there every fall. We try to keep Capitol Hill as a unique neighborhood, even though we're very close to the capital and not far from downtown. People here feel that's it's a neighborhood that belongs to those of us who live here and as such, we try to maintain relationships with the people who own the stores and the restaurants.


For the entire segment go here.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Members Panel Perseveres

January 11, 2011: Though the weather outside was frightful-freezing rain, freezing sleet and then some snow, dozens of members braved the elements to hear three members discuss their successes and problems with Capitol Hill gardening.

The first order of business was mechanical:


















President Vira Sisolak welcomed the members (l); newsletter editor Wendy Blair introduced the speakers:














Sharon Ferguson discussed the death of a red bud in her 6 x 8 front yard and her redevelopment of the space with a crepe myrtle, various perennials and a black stone "fairy" path to nowhere. She retained a local landscape designer as a "coach" at an hourly rate. The first hour was a discussion of plants and the drawing of a schematic; the final hour was a post installation review with some tweaking.


Pat Taylor discussed three unresolved issues from 2010. The first was the fig thief who was taking the figs from her alleyway fig tree even though they were green. She netted against birds but it turned out to be squirrels. So back to the drawing board.

The second was a crepe myrtle which replaced a redbud in her enclosed back yard. With her drip irrigation, conditions were so good that the crepe myrtle grew beyond her 10 x 10 expectation and now she is resigned to a back yard shade garden.

The third is the pruning of her front yard Japanese maple. She had tried to prune it herself based on Japanese maple at the USNA Bonsai Garden but was unsuccessful. She saw a well pruned Japanese maple on a garden tour last year and learned that an expert pruner came twice a year to keep that specimen in shape. Her talk ended with an aside on the invasiveness of sea oats.

Ed Peterman discussed the multi-year redevelopment of his back yard. He started by relocating the back walk and installing a large patio adjacent to the house. He then joined 3 neighbors in having all their back fences replaced. Ed added a low fence walkaround to screen trash cans next to the garage at the far end of the garden. Along the brick wall on the east side in put a kidney shaped herb bed to take advantage of the heat from the wall. He put a perennial bed along the west fence and across the way he installed a large vegetable garden.

In honor of his grandmother, Ed anchored the yard with a sour cherry tree (which so far has produced 7 cherries all eaten by birds) and in the back a Stewartia tree. Ed discussed using lanterns along the western fence for candlelight, removing the crabgrass, improving the soil, the joy of laying sod, reserving a spot near the Stewartia for a small water feature to be heard but not seen, and plans for artwork, but not too much artwork, in the garden.










Monday, January 3, 2011

Greens Workshop 2010

December 15, 2010: