>>We wanna know, "This is how much success we have had, this is how hard it was for us to do these things."

And then we really want to figure out the best way before we go onto other parts of the property and say, "Okay, we've got a successful model over here, let's apply it there."

Will there be an easy way?

No, but I am sure there will be harder ways than others.

>>Definitely a habitat community suitable for the wetter conditions with bald cypress, native Virginia switchcane as a mid story and less-dense understory, because typically it's wet.

Under normal precipitation, even in the summertime, there would still be surface water.

>>Production funding for Virginia Home Grown is made possible by... (forest birds vocalizing) (lively uplifting music) Welcome to Virginia Home Grown.

Today, our focus is on conservation.

Virginia contains amazing natural resources, and their stewardship is up to us.

First Serome Hamlin takes us to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk.

For a tour with Refuge manager Chris Lowie.

With 113,000 acres protected, did you know the Dismal Swamp is one of the largest wilderness areas on the eastern seaboard?

Let's take a look.

>>Can you tell us a little bit about this trail that we are on now?

>>Yeah, so we're on the Washington Ditch Trail which is an old logging road and it's named after George Washington.

Yep, when he arrived here on the swamp, sort of as a land surveyor in 1763, he saw the landscape with fertile soil, good for farming and to do that, you have to get some of the water out of the swamp and so the Washington Ditch was dug to get water out of the swamp and also irrigate, log the forest and then farm the land.

>>And there's many trails throughout the refuge and we're coming up on a boardwalk now.

>>Yeah, so the boardwalk that goes into the forest off of this road is called the Dismal Town Boardwalk because when George Washington and his partners had the company here, the Dismal Swamp Land Company, they established Dismal Town.

This was their hub for their operations.

And so the boardwalk will take you through the forest a little bit, give you a better feel for the different habitat types that exist in the larger refuge area.

>>Yeah 'cause right now I'm looking and it looks more like a hardwood forest instead of what you would think a swampy area would be.

>>Yeah, that's right and when you say the great Dismal Swamp, it isn't like a typical southern swamp like you'd find in Florida and such.

It is a forested wetland and so there is slight elevation changes and the higher ground has more of a deciduous forest and then you can see areas where it's more swamp like.

>>So the ecology changes as you're walking along.

>>That's right, absolutely.

>>Oh Chris, you can really see the transition here now and now and it's starting to look like what I would imagine a swamp being.

Can you tell us a little bit about the trees and everything here from the transition?

>>Yeah, so a little bit different forest community, a lot of bald Cyprus, more ferns, as a ground cover, the native Virginia switchcane as an understory vegetation.

And so yeah, it's definitely more swamp like and less dense understory because typically it's wet.

>>Oh yeah, and yes, I can definitely see how dry it is, but it does still look and feel like a swamp.

And I know the great Dismal Swamp has a ecological significance, but I understand it also has a great historical significance.

Can you tell us a little bit about what happened from years ago?

>>Certainly, first off, the indigenous peoples lived off the swamp for food and resources, but at one time, we had generations of freedom seekers, enslaved people that came and lived here in the swamp for several generations and this was freedom for them.

>>Yes, so the swamp was no man's land so they found refuge here.

>>Correct, yep.

>>And I hear there is one other feature that a lot of people come here to see.

>>Oh, you must be talking about Lake Drummond.

>>Can you show us the lake?

>>Oh, absolutely, can take you right out there.

>>Okay, let's go.

Wow, Chris, we finally made it out to the lake and it is magnificent.

>>We call it the heart of the swamp.

It's so important for the ecological integrity of this ecosystem to keep the water in the lake for ecological purposes to try to keep this piece soil wet.

It is a swamp and so the water is the driver.

>>So how large is this lake?

>>It's 3,100 acres, about three miles across any way you cross it 'cause it's almost perfectly round.

>>And another thing I noticed too though is the unique color of the water.

Can you give us some insight on why it is this color?

>>Yeah, sure, we call it black water and it's really because of all the groundwater that filters its way through the soil, which is organic soil or peat soil.

So that acts like a teabag.

When you make tea and you put that teabag in clear water, it produces that darker color.

And probably the most logical, or at least scientifically speaking way that the lake was formed is actually from a deep burning peat fire.

This area might have been on fire.

It burned down through that peat soil down to the sand layer 'cause it is a sand bottom.

It's only maximum six feet deep and we have about six to seven feet of that peat soil that is actual fuel and can burn right down to the water table or down to the sand layer.

>>As far as conservation, how does this area get managed?

>>Our priorities are to restore the hydrology of the swamp, to try to slow the drainage, re-wet the peat soil for the benefit of the soil and the benefit of the forest.

And then with that, we can manage the water for specific diversity of habitat types, which then supports a diversity of wildlife.

That's what we focus on.

First, we protect it 'cause it is federal property, it's protected.

We conserve it and enhance it where we can.

>>And you've mentioned wildfires.

>>I'm glad that you brought that up.

I actually have folks on staff that are wild land firefighters.

And so if we have a wildfire out here on the refuge, they will go and attack that fire and try to put it out.

We also do controlled burns or called prescribed burns where we wait for the right weather, wind, humidity conditions so that we can actually set wild land fire on the ground and that's a tool we use also to manage our habitats.

The water management and the fire management are both tools to manage the habitat and sometimes we get wildfires that get beyond our capacity.

Folks that come out here will see there is not a mature forest bordering where we're standing right now and that's because a large wildfire came through last in 2011.

Fire is part of the natural ecosystem.

It's just a matter of how severe these fires get.

I mean, with the swamp being dried out, it's more susceptible to more catastrophic fire.

So what we're trying to do through restoring the hydrology to control burns is reduce that impact of wildfire when it comes.

>>And then now everything is starting to regrow so you're not gonna have the mature forest, but in the future, what do you expect this area to start looking like?

Is it going to get back to where it was or how do you see the park looking in the future?

>>So we are managing it for a forest.

The Dismal Swamp has always been a forest as far as any documents of it.

It's a forest as well.

And we want to always make it a forest for the wildlife, habitat for the wildlife.

And so we're managing it for it.

We've planted trees to try to stimulate the regrowth with species that we prefer.

And again, we're also managing the water to allow that forest to grow 'cause the trees aren't gonna grow underwater so we do actually try to keep the water a little lower to allow it to grow.

>>This is a really beautiful park and I'm glad we made it out to see the lake and I thank you again for taking us on this tour.

>>Yeah, thank you.

Hopefully this will give people some information that it's a refuge for wildlife, it's a refuge for people and it's not dismal at all.

Come on out and see us.

When I toured the swamp, I was impressed by the diversity of plants and wildlife.

Early efforts to cut timber and farm the land prompted the founding of the refuge in 1974.

I encourage you to visit the wildlife refuges and natural area preserves near you.

Next, Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger explains how pollinator gardens create good habitat in your landscape supporting insects, birds and other animals (bright music) >>Big-picture conservation needs to always start at the base level with your plants.

If you have the right habitat with your plants, then you can bring in insects, animals like birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.

One of the ways you can start is with a simple pollinator garden, and we're here at Staunton, Virginia in Montgomery Hall Park where they are trying to provide the right plants to conserve the insects and build habitat as part of an ecosystem.

One of the plants featured in this garden is hoary mountain mint, a very easy plant to find and grow in your garden.

You can even plant it directly in your lawn or with fescue grass, and it will compete against that very well, growing into a nice, mounded plant that will expand over time, providing the habitat for the insects.

The plant grows very nicely with these nice, green leaves.

This is where it gets its hoary name, the hoary white, and then has these nice, light purple flowers where the insects will land for their pollination.

It's a very easy plant to find and grow.

And in this garden, we also have some other nice natives, including wild basil, yarrow, the Rudbeckias, or black-eyed brown-eyed Susan complex, and whorled rosinweed, another nice, yellow flower that blooms a little later in the summer.

As you start to look and think about what you'd like to conserve, think about the plants that will build your ecosystem.

You can then get the seeds locally or the plants from a native nursery.

Local nurseries and native plant nurseries really have changed over the last few decades and constantly think about the ethics of where they source their material.

If you're concerned at all, just ask your local nursery provider where they get their seeds and plants, and they will explain how they use best practices.

That is just standard operating procedure now in most native plant nurseries.

Also, sometimes you can find a friend who might have some plants or seeds to share.

Just make sure before you take anything from someone else's property that you get permission for the seeds or for the plants.

So as you think about what you'd like to conserve in your garden, whether it's birds, reptiles, amphibians, or insects, think about what plants you can add to provide the ecosystem that they need to grow and thrive.

Even a small number of native plants can make a difference for supporting wildlife in your landscape.

Substituting a few non-native with native plants is a good way to begin.

And now I travel to the state Arboretum of Virginia to meet the curator, Tai Roulston, and talk about their work studying rare native trees and combatting invasive plants.

Let's get going.

>>It's been a long time since I was able to stand next to a butternut tree, and I just marvel at this one.

I know conservation is one of the primary goals of what I call Blandy Farm.

>>Yeah.

>>And so many people don't know we have a state arboretum.

So how many acres is the Orland E. White Arboretum?

>>So the whole property of Blandy Experimental Farm is 700 acres which is really one square mile.

>>Okay.

>>And the arboretum in the middle occupies the central 180 acres.

And we are right in the edge of that arboretum acreage right now.

So we have massive plantings of ginkgos and pawpaws and then these little known plants like the butternut here that is of conservation importance.

But most people really don't know anything about it.

>>Yeah.

>>And so this gives us a chance to talk about some of the roles that the arboretum has here in plant conservation.

>>Here is this very important tree, this rare tree almost.

And it's right by the entrance.

I can hear 17.

>>Yeah.

>>So it's a stark difference between the highway and then coming here to this beautiful open meadow that we're at.

>>Yeah, it is kind of like coming from behind the curtain backstage where everything's going on and suddenly the world changes.

Once you step in here, that sound quickly goes away.

And the arboretum opens up here and you get to immerse yourself.

And we have 5,500 trees and shrubs.

>>Fantastic.

>>That are out here, and over 500 species that are distributed all across the arboretum.

So lots to explore.

>>I call arboretums living libraries for trees.

>>Yeah, it's absolutely true.

And we like to try to figure out how you can open those books and figure out what's in each of those trees.

>>Yes.

But this tree here, you're actually in a conservation program focused on this tree.

>>Yeah, so there are a lot of trees that are declining, and there's a movement through the country to go ahead and look and recognize what trees might be declining, and then try to get as much represented in living collections as possible.

So everyone might know about seed collections and frozen somewhere in Norway.

>>Yes.

>>Or other places, or in Colorado, but this is really having a living collection.

And to know what botanical gardens, what arboreta are growing trees that came from where.

>>Yes.

>>And so we are trying to build up a collection now with butternuts to represent Virginia.

So we really want to go around Virginia, collect seeds from known locations of butternut, plant them here and try to keep them going.

We are kind of at the southern, near the southern and eastern range of the butternut.

And so the butternuts in this region are really experiencing some of the warmer temperatures that they do throughout its range.

And so the ones here are probably more adapted to those higher temperatures than they are say in New York.

>>Yes.

>>And other places further north.

So it becomes more important to make sure those genes are staying in kind of a living gene pool rather than just say, okay, well there are a whole bunch of 'em in New York.

Let's just let New York send seeds all over the place.

>>Right.

>>You need to keep those living collections all around.

>>Interesting.

And this tree, from our perspective here, looks good but it really is failing.

The canopy is thinning, it's starting to get a lot of insects coming in.

And one of them unfortunately is the spotted lantern fly.

>>This particular tree is definitely having a lot of problems.

In the arboretum, there are only a few trees that the spotted lantern flies really seem to be going after.

So number one of course, the tree of heaven.

>>Yes.

>>Nobody cares if the lantern flies were to wipe wipe 'em all out.

>>Enjoy.

>>Unfortunately, they're not doing that.

>>Yes.

(chuckling) >>But the other ones they really go for, they go for black walnut.

And then I discovered last year they were really picking on butternut.

And when you look into this tree now, you not only see the dead branches, but actually a lot of little witches broom in some of the branches.

Whether that's from spotted lantern fly damage or that combined with the drought.

>>Yeah.

>>We are in drought here.

>>It's a one-two punch.

>>Yeah, it's at least a one-two punch.

And I mean, the main thing that seems to be influencing the distribution of butternut and causing it to retract is actually an introduced fungus that was called butternut canker.

>>Ah.

>>And that is what seems to be hitting it over much of the range.

>>Yeah.

>>And that seems to be a real problem for it.

>>And its fellow family member black walnut is also dealing with a thousand canker disease.

So these trees, our native trees are dealing with, again, not just invasive plants but invasive diseases and pathogens coming in.

>>Yeah.

>>As well as pests.

>>Yeah, and very, very hard to control for that.

I mean, we can't go around the forest inoculating trees.

>>No.

(chuckling) >>You really just have to hope that you get enough resistance in the population that there is something to draw on for the future for these plants.

>>Yeah.

Community programs are so important for any arboretum or botanic gardens.

So tell me about what is offered here at the arboretum.

>>So we have one area here that we call the community forest.

And we have planted about 400 trees.

>>Oh wow.

>>In there.

We've had school groups from all the regional schools come in and plant these trees.

And so they're out there with their trowels.

>>Oh wonderful.

>>And their hands getting all dirty and putting the trees in the ground.

>>Yes.

>>And there's another area too that I'd like to like to show you to see some of the ongoing research that we have right now.

>>Okay.

>>In a totally different context.

>>Sounds great.

>>Let's go take a look.

>>You know, T'ai, you said you were bringing me to another community forest project but this is a forest of tubes.

What's going on?

>>I know, I could've taken you anywhere in the arboretum, any of the beautiful places, and I pretty much took you to the leaky basement.

>>Yes.

(chuckling) >>And to look and appreciate what we have here, you have to think both what it's been, what it's come from.

>>Right.

>>And where we're hoping to get it.

So what it was, was a completely entangled invasive shrubs like you see across the street.

>>Oh, that's a mess over there.

>>Yeah, completely dark underneath.

No plants coming through.

There's not gonna become a forest over there anytime soon.

>>No way.

Absolutely no way.

>>And then what we're trying to get here is a forest.

And how do we get a native forest out of that invasive shrub patch?

>>Right.

>>And so what we did was we brought in a forestry mulcher to go ahead and wipe everything out.

And the only native trees in this whole six acre area were those sparse trees that you still see standing.

And so what we did was we got a whole bunch of tree seedlings and then we came out here, we had a whole bunch of volunteers.

So over four days of planting with about 80 different volunteers.

>>Fantastic.

>>Came out here and then helped us plant here.

>>So what's the purpose of the white tubes?

>>So the white tubes are to protect from deer.

>>Ah.

>>So.

>>Okay.

>>We have a very robust community of deer out out here that will feast on any of the trees that we planted.

So we've planted oaks and pawpaw, we've got walnuts out here, we've got maples and dogwoods.

And we even have our white walnuts around here.

>>Yes, our butternuts.

>>Our butternuts are out here.

But this is not just a single planting as like we know what we're doing.

This is really, this is an experimental planting to figure out how to do this.

And so we have plots in which we've taken off the mulch and put grasses in hoping the grass can suppress.

We have plots in which we have the tubes, we have plots without tubes where we put electric fence to try to keep the deer out.

>>Okay.

>>So we've got a long ways to go.

But if you look closely, you'll see some of the trees are coming through the tree tubes already.

>>Yeah, already.

>>And hopefully everything is good for them to continue going and get above deer height.

And then maybe in 10 years it starts to look forest ish.

>>Yes.

>>Out here.

>>Yes.

>>20 years, hopefully it really looks like a forest.

>>Excellent.

>>But we are just trying to figure out how to do this for ourselves and for other people to learn how to take care of invasives.

>>I applaud the support that UVA has given to this project and I thank you and the others for taking on such a huge endeavor.

Having such horrible invasively covered spaces, this is so challenging and we need to find a tool, a method to be able to control them.

I wish this nothing but the best success.

Thank you for taking it on.

>>You're welcome.

And thank you for coming out and sharing the story of what we're trying to do here.

Invasive plants spread quickly, choking out the native plants that are important to the environment.

The research being carried out by our state arboretum will provide valuable insight as communities take steps toward ecosystem restoration.

Next, Shana Williams has a tip to share on how to install a drip irrigation system for the garden, using solar power to water your plants.

(electronic music) >>Today we're going to talk about conserving energy by using solar power to water your plants.

When you're going away, it's a great way to water your household plants and not have to worry about someone coming in the house to do it for you.

You just need to have some sunlight.

We have a solar panel kit, which has a on and off switch.

It also has a timer attached to it.

We have a filter here.

We have our drip-line tips, we have our T's.

We also have the stand and our water hose lines.

Now as we're assembling this, this is hot water and it's important that you put your tubes in hot water.

It softens the tube on the end, so when I go to attach it, I'm not struggling to put that on.

It'll slide on very easily.

So, I'm going to simply take this into this tube here and I'm going to attach it to my out line.

Slide that on.

I also have my tube here, which has already been softened and I'm going to attach it to my filter.

So, as this is in the water, and this is our sensors that tell us what our water level is.

And when these are in the water and the water level is low, it'll start to beep.

Add more water to your container.

So, have these attached.

Make sure this is in a sunny place.

Poke those near the root system of my plants.

Make sure it's turned on.

And voila, this is a great way for you to water your plants at home.

But here at the farm, we can use that on the small level.

We also will use it on the medium level by attaching the water hose lines to our small plants that are growing.

Or we'll use it on the large level, which is high pressure, larger batteries, larger solar panel.

Try this at home.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it and it'll give you a lot of freedom.

Have fun.

What a great use of technology in the garden to help save electricity and conserve water.

Consider using this system in your containers too.

I've enjoyed sharing different conservation efforts going on across the state today.

Making a difference can start in your own yard or garden by just taking a few small steps toward sustainability.

See you soon.

And until then, remember gardening is for everyone.

We are all growing and learning together.

(electronic music) There's all types of growing mediums you can use when getting your garden started.

Jeremy, as a new gardener, he wants to know what's a good mixture when growing common vegetables.

Well, Jeremy, take what you have and make it work.

I use a little cocoa coir mix in some perlite or vermiculite.

This will help with drainage and moisture.

Throw in a little fertilizer.

Mix it all together and you're on your way to getting your garden started.

Good luck, Jeremy.

You got this.

Mulch is very beneficial in the vegetable garden, but sometimes too much mulch will create too moist of an area and the slugs will move in.

Jocelyn wants to know how to organically control those slugs.

The first step is to pull the mulch away to create a different environment that dries out.

The second is to put boards down to be able to trap the slugs underneath, and you can hand pick them off and put them in saltwater.

But what I find helpful is using beneficial nematodes and you can do an internet search for a retailer local to you.

Happy gardening.

>>Production funding for Virginia Home Grown is made possible by... (forest birds vocalizing) (lively uplifting music) (upbeat tone)