Maria Van Dyke, director of the Smithsonian's VA Working Landscapes program assists with the farm's controlled burn, along with Shawn Bradley and Joe Lehnen (VA Dept of Forestry
The White House Farm Foundation is pleased to have been accepted into the Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes project. With 52 acres adjacent to the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, we have a typical mixture of native and invasive species.
Japanese hops, sweet annie and fescue compete with Indian grass, big blue stem, little blue stem and switchgrass.We are managing this area to increase the native plant species to provide habitat, food and shelter for our native insects and animals.
On May 12-13, volunteer Brenda Kiessling visited the farm and conducted a pollinator count. These mainly included native bees and bumblebees. Additional surveys will count butterflies and birds and native plant species.
Click on thumbnails to view full size images.
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- Maria Van Dyke, Luke Browne and Lorien Lemmon at the riparian area
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- Healthy stand of Sorghastrum Nutans or Indian Grass in the riparian area.
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- Smithsonian volunteer gathers pollinators in the riparian area
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- Brenda Kiessling gathers a native bumblebee – an important pollinator
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- Brenda Kiessling, Smithsonian volunteer, collects bees, moths and butterflies to determine the number and diversity of pollinators
