Home » Hopewell Valley: FoHVOS Garden Tour To Showcase Private Stewardship

Hopewell Valley: FoHVOS Garden Tour To Showcase Private Stewardship

by Ryan Kennedy

Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (“FoHVOS”) this Saturday is hosting a self guided garden tour, showcasing many examples of native plantings developed through the organization’s Private Lands Stewardship program. FoHVOS has helped preserve more than 4,000 acres of land throughout Hopewell Valley to promote ecological health and open space, but some of the most important environmental work is done in the backyards of its members. Privately owned land makes up 70% of Hopewell Valley, so having an ecologically-friendly property is a huge part of maintaining the health of the area’s environment. The FoHVOS Private Lands Stewardship Program (“PLSP”) extends active ecological management practices to landowners’ backyards, and is a free service to all FoHVOS members.

From 10:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, July 23 at various locations across Hopewell Valley, FoHVOS volunteers, staff and PLSP participants will be welcoming the public to get a sneak peak at some of the most beautiful native gardens, meadows and plantings in the area. Interested in the advantages of using local plants? Curious about how your own yard and garden can be part of maintaining the ecological health of Hopewell Valley? FoHVOS experts and hosts will be on hand to answer questions and explain the PLSP, including the upcoming member native plant sale.

The tour is self-guided, with a $20 charitable donation to FoHVOS at the time of arrival required for participation. Feel free to visit just one garden or all four.  Information about each property, and a street address is included in the slide show below. For more information about the tour or membership, contact Julia Snyder at [email protected] or 609-730-1560. Further information at FoHVOS and the PLSP is available at http://www.fohvos.org.

59 Moores Mill-Mt. Rose Road, Hopewell NJ

Property Size: 3.4 acres

This property is primarily restored meadow and woodland, featuring native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs. The majority of this property was converted from lawn.

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334 Hale Street, Pennington, NJ

Property size: 0.3 acres

The land steward at this site is a Master Gardener that has created a beautiful and diverse garden with many native plants. Her gardens are beautiful and serve an important ecological function for pollinators and birds.

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7 Sunset Drive, Hopewell, NJ

Property Size: 2.0 acres

These land stewards have utilized many environmentally-friendly practices on their property, including rain gardens, composting, green roofing, bee hives and solar panels. They have extensively planted native species in garden beds and meadow patches.

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9 Ringo’s Mill Drive, Hopewell, NJ

Property Size: 2.2 acres

This property’s residents started their stewardship through a multi-year effort to remove and control dense thickets of multiflora rose, autumn olive and honeysuckle which had taken over much of their property’s borders. They sponsored/executed the conversion of their Homeowner’s association 1-acre detention basin from mowed grass to a wildflower meadow. This not only greatly beautified the area behind their home, but it also reduced erosion and significantly lessened the Association’s annual expenditures. More recently they completed landscaping around their home using native species which was designed and installed by David Hughes of Weatherwood Design. Future plans include converting more lawn area to a meadow, building a rain garden for driveway runoff and installing another grove of trees.

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Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space is a nonprofit land trust that is dedicated to preserving the Valley’s character though open space and farmland preservation, and natural resource protection. Its mission is to promote conservation through preservation, informed land use, wise stewardship, education and outreach. Since its inception in 1987, it has partnered with landowners, government and nonprofit organizations to preserve over 4,000 acres in Hopewell Valley.

FoHVOS Trustee Chris Berry speaking about meadow restorations.

Note:  MercerMe contributor Ryan Kennedy is a Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space trustee, and MercerMe is proud to support the group’s preservation and stewardship efforts in Hopewell Valley.  

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