Long-awaited landscape improvements to the historic Mathews Court Green are finally coming to fruition, thanks to collaborative efforts between volunteers and county staff.
Dennis Baker of the Court Green Task Force of the Mathews Main Street Committee said that all of the improvements were paid for with private funds, and that no county money was involved, but that the work engine of the effort has been Mathews County Planning and Zoning Director Thomas Jenkins.
The largest benefactors to the project were David and Ann Norris, said Baker. “We shared our vision we have with them for the Court Green,” he said, “and they have been financially committed to it.”
The project has involved creating design and engineering plans to detail what needed to be done, then raising the level of the lawn on the green, providing sod, and creating rain gardens with plantings that will help absorb moisture. Funding for the project was placed in the Mathews Community Foundation’s Main Street Beautification Fund.
The most recent piece of the project was taken on by Dr. H. Alexander “Sandy” Wilson and his wife, Dr. Anne Leddy Wilson. It has involved selecting and installing the plants for the rain gardens. Although they own a small landscaping company that they established after retirement, LeddyWilson LLC, the couple volunteered to do the work.
Sandy Wilson said the two spaces allocated for the rain gardens are completely different, and so required different types of plants. The center of the Court Green has a drainage area that is shaded by mature oak trees and enclosed by municipal buildings, he said, so the concept was to create a more formal garden such as might have been planted by 18th or 19th century plant enthusiasts “with the most wide-ranging specimens they could acquire.”
The plants for this site were chosen to create splashes of color to stand out in the shade. They include aucuba, illicium, camellias, ferns, and carex cultivars. Wilson said that hybrid magnolias were planted at the top of the sloped area to enclose the space and screen out views to the parking lot.
Although the couple has made a substantial start on the garden, it can’t be completed yet because of a broken drain pipe in the middle that’s slated for repair. Baker said that grant funds are being sought to pay for the repair.
The second site, along the roadway, is in full sun and “physically proximate to the stunning marshes at the headwaters of Put-In Creek.”
“Here the obvious and compelling idea is to relate the plantings in this rain garden to the edge of the marsh,” said Wilson. “The area will be dry a lot, so the plants need to be versatile and be happy in wet or dry conditions.”
The plants in that space include black chokeberry, yaupon holly, and winterberry holly as a backbone, with juncus and switch grass filling in.
Both areas will also have a selection of flowering plants that will have sequential blooming times, said Wilson.
Wilson said that he and his wife started acquiring plants from growers around the Southeast about 20 years ago, and their interest developed into leadership positions in plant societies and attendance at nursery trade meetings and courses. They formed their landscaping company about 10 years ago and have mostly done projects for museums and other nonprofit organizations.
“It is not hard to recruit talented professionals for these endeavors,” said Wilson, “so we have had the opportunity to work with very accomplished landscape architects and plantsmen.”
The most recent projects the couple has undertaken have been design and plant installation at the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown and the landscape design for the Mathews Family YMCA.
The ultimate goal for the court green and surrounding area, said Baker, is to have connecting accessible walkways from Main Street and the court green to Put-In Creek Park. He said he envisions an outdoor classroom on the green, with Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners putting together the educational component.
“They have put together incredible resources to enrich people’s lives and give them ideas to take home for their personal landscaping,” he said.
The county will provide ongoing maintenance for the green once the project is completed, said Jenkins.