Catherine and David DeConcini, have created a delightful splash of fall color in their front yard at 3412 Park Hill Place, earning them recognition as the October Beauty Spot of the Month.

Dotted with mums, dahlias, and brightly colored seasonal gourds, the DeConcini yard celebrates the arrival of fall. A still-blooming hydrangea anchors the corner bed and the DeConcini’s have added scarecrows, witch hats, and vintage metal bicycle planters, combining to create a whimsical feeling of fall and Halloween. A neatly trimmed house-framing hedge provides a brilliant green backdrop to the playful collection of flowers, foliage, and fall décor.

Vintage metal bicycle planters add a further touch of whimsy, adding to the layers of color with pots of mums in full bloom. Catherine says she loves the old time feel the bicycles bring. And she’s not the only one loving the DeConcini yard. Bees buzz happily among catmint, salvia, and dahlias. Large gourds and a pumpkin nestle among the mums in the stone-rimmed bed.

As Virginia’s summer fades into the chill of autumn, take advantage of the warmth and sunshine, wander past Catherine and David’s yard to enjoy some fall color and whimsy.

Kim Leone and Kirsten Youngren

Country Hills Garden Club

(click picture to enlarge)

We are glad to present to Craig and Lingling Green of 3419 Andover Street with this month’s Beauty Spot Award.

The yard has been evolving so much in the last couple of years and it is a beautiful work in progress. When you come up Andover where it dead ends into Cornwall, you look directly at their front yard. A wonderful large boulder in a round bed is surrounded by Black-Eyed Susans and Coneflowers and adds a bright splash of color in the center of the yard. To the left is a Japanese Maple, a fuschia Crepe Myrtle and to the right a Cherry tree. All of these areas have had slate/stone walls built around them to define the round beds, which adds both height, depth and balanced dimensions to their yard.

Newer additions include 2 lovely Fig trees and 2 Japanese Snowbells close to the street in the berm area, and we can’t wait to see how they grow in the next few years!

A newer addition with great eye appeal in these days of going greener and growing our own food, is a beautiful arbor with Japanese pumpkins and cucumbers. A great new look as the vines are growing completely over the top!  To each side of the arbor are kumquats and tomatoes in pots.

Of course, the rose garden to the right of the arbor keeps more traditional beauty alive and well, with multiple varieties in the white fenced bed, while surrounded by Bearded Iris, Peonies, Lilies of the Valley, lavender Hydrangeas, and Black-eyed Susans. It has grown so beautifully since it was started!

The front of the house offers its own charm as well, with incredible hostas, whose stems and leaves defy gravity with their size! The diversity is impressive as well, with Nandinas, Cannas, Stargazer Lilies, and a Wisteria climbing up the middle of the wall in the front as well.

This yard is continuing to evolve and we look forward to seeing whatever they do next!

It is a pleasure to present Ray and LeAnne Worley at 3400 Country Hill Drive with the Beauty Spot Award for the month of June.

When you drive by Ray and LeAnne’s home you can’t help but pause and take a long look at the beautifully landscaped yard.  The Worley’s have been working on their yard for a number of years.  They had to deal with some water issues in the front and the back of the home.  They had French drains installed in the back, and in the front, they raised their flower beds and put in a swell to help with the water situation.  You can’t help but admire the raised beds which have stacked stone outlining them.  The swell is an added feature which actually accentuates the beds. You will also find some boulders throughout the landscaping.

On the eight side of the bed that is located across the entire front of the house, you will find a weeping Holly which anchors the corner of the bed.  In the center of the bed is a Japanese Maple and on the left side of the bed is a Pieris Japonica which is showing new growth.

Since the home is located on a corner lot, they have another bed that follows the corner with two native Dogwood trees with blooming Coreopsis underneath the trees.  On the lower side of the house, they have a very large Camillia which I am sure is gorgeous when in bloom.

On the right side of the driveway close to the porch you will find another bed with an attractive pot planted with a large hibiscus tree and lavender on the ground. 

Please take a look at Ray and LeAnne’s home.

Joyce Skoglund

and Joan Phillips

Country Hills Garden Club

The Country Hills Garden Club has selected Lori and Mike Salva of 10110 Farmington Drive for the May Beauty Spot.

Lori and Mile live on a corner lot.  Of course, this means that you can see their home from a couple of different directions.  They have made sure that you when you approach from Farmington Dr. and Newbury, your eye is immediately drawn to the bright red bench underneath a magnificent pine tree which is surrounded by hostas, azaleas and resplendent ferns that were from Lori’s grandmother.  They are over 25 years old.

From the front of the house, you are welcomed by chartreuse little gem spirea which follows the hillside of the front yard.  You will also notice day lilies that will be blooming shortly.  Behind the bushes you will find a crepe myrtle that will look marvelous later this summer.

When you walk up the drive toward the front door, you will see a dogwood on the left side of the drive and two adorable bunny figurines on the right.

Lori and Mike have lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and we are so glad they choose Country Club Hills.

Joyce Skoglund

Country Hills Garden Club

Congratulations to our neighbors Jean and Dave Bever at 3408 Park Hill Place! They are the winners of the Country Hills Garden Club Beauty Spot Award for October 2020. The grounds around their CCH ranch-style house feature an enviable landscape that draws compliments throughout the year. A lustrous, green lawn borders the driveway which leads to a medley of shrub shapes in linear planting beds along the house walls. Rhododendron, azalea, euonymus, and laurel bushes next to their compact companion plants of nandina and blue star juniper display reliable color and texture even during Virginia’s grayest, coldest days. For spring and summer seasons, the Bevers add pizzazz to the view with the continuous blooms of annuals and roses and the unique foliage of lamb’s ear and liriope plants.  This month the front yard captures the excitement that comes with the start of autumn and the anticipation of harvest-time holidays. A banner with a bright–eyed owl dressed in Halloween costume leads a parade of seasonal flowers. A pattern of alternating yellow, white, and blue pansies embellished with glossy, orange pumpkins and a glowing yellow chrysanthemum brings movement and rhythm to the scene. This landscape’s lineup of garden favorites guarantees a star-studded grand finale for the growing season.

Happy Autumn!

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

Congratulations to Marcie and Chad Sands the recipients of the Country Hills Garden Club Beauty Spot Award for September 2020. Their home at 10100 Spring Lake Terrace rests in a clearing at the edge of the forest that borders the Accotink Creek.  A camera with a wide angle lens is necessary to completely capture the broad landscaped grounds with numerous ornamental bushes and trees and a lawn that extends to a hedgerow shared with the CCH Commons. In the front yard, a Japanese maple in prime form with its dome shape and bronze foliage draws attention as a dramatic contrast to the surrounding green turf and woods. Pyramidal hollies growing at the house corners frame the distinguishing architectural and floral features across the two story facade.  Picture windows with sky blue shutters overlook flowerbeds and containers with profusely blooming yellow and red zinnias, peach gerbera daisies, and pink begonias. Lush liriope plants add texture with spikes of tiny, purple flowers nestled between narrow, lime-striped leaves. The fancy banner near the classic doorway reflects the colors of the beautiful flowers irresistible to birds and butterflies. A quick switch to a zoom setting on the camera just might catch that magic moment when a goldfinch arrives at the scene!

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

August 2020 Beauty Spot of the Month

The Country Hills Garden Club Beauty Spot Award for August 2020 goes to Noelle and Matt Toskovich at 3512 Spring Lake Terrace. The trees, shrubs, and flowers across the yard are flourishing after weathering this summer’s record-smashing number of days above ninety degrees. The Toskovich family has a commanding view of their beautiful landscape from the Adirondack chairs on their brick patio. Close by are containers filled with marigolds, scarlet salvia, and cascading purple petunias. A lofty conifer’s pendulous branches offer a cooling cover for the hosta plants, bushy azaleas, and well-maintained lawn in front of the house. Noelle has cultivated an island flower bed at the sunny side yard. Radiant rainbow-colored zinnias and flamboyant fire-red canna lilies shine against a dark background of large, forest green rhododendrons.  A prominent place in the garden has been cleared for a butterfly plant acquired at the garden club’s June plant sale and the Toskovich children’s painted rocks.  Tiny garden fairies have a home in this planting bed, too!  Their charming scene with a seaside theme rests at the garden’s edge. It displays a miniature heart with powerful words of inspiration-“In the garden Love grows.”  

Happy gardening!

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

The Beauty Spot of the Month award for July goes to Betty and Bill Crawford at 3415 Andover Drive. They are longtime residents of CCH. In fact, Betty has been a member of the Country Hills Garden Club for forty-five years! Betty knows well the challenges and rewards of keeping garden areas looking their best in Virginia’s acidic, clay soil after temperature and precipitation stressors. The lush greenery surrounding her home is the result of her savvy care of a host of perennials, shrubs, and trees that she planted. Dogwood branches above front windows gracefully bow with brilliant blossoms, berries, and leaves as seasons change. Large azaleas growing beneath are abloom for weeks at springtime.  The shoulder-high evergreen acuba shrubs standing nearby started as just small cuttings! This July the garden areas burst with excitement!  Flowering stalks of lavender honeybell hostas and sun-kissed orange daylilies add their pops of color to the right fence line. To the left, a bank of profusely blooming hydrangea bushes steals the limelight.  They are topped with stunning Lacecap powder blue pompoms, Annabelle white snowballs, and Oakleaf creamy fronds. Not to be upstaged, geraniums in decorative planters at the home entrance flash fire-red to complete a celebratory patriotic theme in the gardens for the 4^th of July holiday. Unlike a short-lived fireworks display, the red, white, and blue summer flowers will last into autumn adding new rich tones to the landscape. The Crawfords enjoy watching the birds and butterflies drawn to their splendid garden sanctuary. They hope you find pleasure in it, too.        

Happy 4^th of July from the Country Hills Garden Club!

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

The Country Hills Garden Club awards the June Beauty Spot of the Month to Erma and Richard Guerrero for their marvelously well-kept landscape at 9918 Broadview Drive. The Guerrero’s shared love of gardening is plain to see in the lush lawn and attractive plantings surrounding their home.  For color during spring and summer seasons, the Guerreros have selected perennials well -suited for their flower beds. A row of shade-loving astilbe with cotton candy-pink plumage softens the dark wooden privacy fence at the property’s left side. Three spiking arborvitaes add vertical accent to the shorter plants in the sun-filled gardens in front of the house.  The white brick walls provide a bright backdrop for showcasing the unique colors and forms found in clusters of green and cream striped hosta leaves, mounds of pink kisses dianthus, and upright stems of lavender phlox.  With a glance at the yard, the casual observer feels the cooling, restful effect of pastel blossoms. A closer look at the garden near the front door prompts a change of mood. The Guerreros increase interest and excitement with a surprising switch to the warm, energetic tones of the dwarf emerald holly and red maple, maroon coral bells, and luminous yellow lilies. You must see the recent remarkable transformation of this CCH landscape!

Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years. 

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

Country Hills Garden Club

The Country Hills Garden Club is delighted to honor Kim and Tom Horn’s eye-appealing corner lot at 9920 Farr Drive as May’s Beauty Spot of the Month.  Over several years the Horns have expanded their outdoor living space and garden areas. They have added flowering perennials and shrubs to their shaded yardscape which beautifully complements their home’s style and color. Pointed yellow hosta leaves and varieties of heuchera, often called coral bells, with lemon-lime and lipstick-pink frilled foliage brighten the flower beds under two sturdy sycamore trees. Glossy green skip laurel, burgundy barberry, and a crepe myrtle bring natural tones and shapes to the long vertical plane formed by the house façade and side yard fence.  The stamped concrete walk leading to the front door and adjoining patio is bordered by low-growing rounded boxwoods and mounds of star-shaped spring flowers carefully positioned not to obstruct the garden view for a family gathering al fresco. A red mandevilla plant, multi-colored annuals, and ferns in containers coordinate with comfortable outdoor furniture to create a feeling of warm, relaxed hospitality. During the first week of May, frequent showers have kept many of us indoors planning to resume activities when Virginia’s usual sunny spring weather returns. Come rain or shine, this unique landscape design with special attractions promises not to disappoint visitors!

Happy gardening, everyone!

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

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