NEPP grant funding bears fruit in Annandale
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| The current entrance to Camelot on Little River Turnpike |
County communities this spring are beginning to bear fruit.
Since the Board of Supervisors established NEPP in 2008, the program has
evaluated 153 applications and made 87 awards to community groups and
nonprofits.
One award was made this spring to the Camelot neighborhood in Annandale, and on
a recent sunny Saturday morning, Camelot
residents, including many children, a guitarist, and two dogs, stopped by the
King Arthur Road entrance to the neighborhood to talk, drink lemonade, have a
slice of watermelon, and choose from among three landscape designs submitted
for a new entrance garden.
Because the Camelot neighborhood lies along the Accotink Stream Valley, all
three garden designs—titled “Re-Use is Good Use,” “Winding Wetlands,” and
“Pretty Wild”—called for the capturing of storm water and the use of native
plants.
which netted the community a $1,000 grant. Other residents collected garden
designs from Merrifield Garden Center, Nature by Design in Alexandria, and a local
landscape architect who is a member of the nonprofit organization, Friends of Accotink Creek. Fifty-seven
percent of Camelot voters chose Merrifield’s “ReUse is Good Use” design.
As they evaluated the designs, residents offered several comments, such as
“Make sure drivers can see around that giant holly so they don’t run me over
when I’m walking the dog,” and “I like the watershed-friendly part of all of
these choices. Grass is like pavement.”
Camelot resident Brian Parr, a water conservation advocate, said, “We’ll plant
and landscape in September. Scout troops and students, the Garden
Club—everybody—can help in some way. The NEPP grant is designed to bring
communities together. We’re doing that now.”
amount in volunteer labor. That’s the key to promoting community involvement.
It’s all about Girl Scouts with shovels, the Garden Club with pruners, and
next-door-neighbors who have never met talking to one another.
harnessed 2,162 volunteer hours to develop six gardens, a path, and senior
citizen projects.
Fairfax County government representatives participated in the Camelot event,
too, including Mason Supervisor Penny Gross, who helped established the NEPP initiative.
Lily Whitesell, the education coordinator for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, offered insight on water conservation and
management.
