Greening the Meetinghouse Committee 1/15/2016
In attendance: Keith Curtis, Margaret Fisher, Tim McDermott, Paul Murphy, Margaret Rogers
Goals for our outdoor space:
The committee identified several goals.
As expressed by the Greening Committee at St. John Neumann’s: get congregants outside, with nature, rather than dominating it.
Support the local wildlife.
Reduce run-off from the property to lessen the impact on our waterways
Demonstrate sustainable landscaping to our community and our neighbors
Provide a welcoming space for passersby and visitors
Adapt the landscaping style to harmonize with the formal, symmetrical lines of the building
We agreed that it would be desirable to include these landscaping elements
A rain garden (or vegetated swale) to capture run-off from the south side of the property
A place to sit and contemplate nature, near the sidewalk and designed in a way to welcome passerby, with a visual barrier between the bench and the building so people do not feel they are intruding.
Locally native plants that attract butterflies and bees.
A sign to explain that we are using the land and native plants to support wildlife. We recommend taking these steps for implementation.
Consult a professional landscape designers to help us produce a plan for the southwest quarter of the property with some rough ideas of how that could blend in with future landscaping of the northwest quarter.
Hire a professional to do the engineering of any rain garden or swale.
Apply for a matching grant from the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program
Pay for the landscaping from the capital improvement budget. If the Meeting for Business decides to limit that investment, seek separate donations to make up the difference.
We will present this proposal to the Monthly Meeting in February and ask for approval to hire a landscaper to draw up a plan, with the expectation that we would return for further approval once those plans have been created. We anticipate that it may be desirable to implement the project in segments over the course of more than one year.
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