Silver Spring resident Carole Ann Barth started Heal Earth Gardens, a sustainable landscape consulting business, to help people answer, “How green can you grow?” She will give a lecture on conservation landscapes at the U.S. Botanic Garden on Aug. 22. For more information, go to usbg.gov/education/events.
Is there any hope for planting in the late summer?
It makes more sense to plant in the fall — fall is an ideal time for planting. The soil is still warm, but the temperature becomes cooler and we usually have fall rains. The roots can grow and take good hold, then they’re able to get through the winter.
How do you garden more green?
Traditionally, people were taught to change the conditions of their garden to seek the plants they want to grow, but I want to work with nature and seek the plants that fit a garden’s conditions.
D.C. is sometimes a stressed-out city, even in the summertime. Are there any plants especially good for stress relief?
I think what’s important is to have things that engage all of your senses. … I find some of the native grasses very soothing. River Oats has little dangling seed heads — it dances with the least bit of wind. … And it certainly has wonderful scents.
Can native plants help wildlife?
Maryland’s state butterfly, the Baltimore checkerhead, needs the turtlehead plant for a place to grow. We have an overpopulation of deer right now and they’re eating the tops off of the turtlehead. If you have a place where the deer can’t get at it, you can provide a home for that butterfly wildlife.
Where are the best places in the area to enjoy a garden if you don’t have one of your own?
Right now the U.S. Botanic Garden has a fascinating exhibit all about sustainability. Maryland has Brookside Gardens, and Virginia has Greenspring Gardens Park, and of course there’s the National Arboretum.
