Master Gardener Lagniappe

One I remember clearly was riding past the home of Stanley Walker, on a point of land across from Lake Taylor Hospital. Those who have resided in Norfolk for some time will remember Stanley Clay Walker as an influential politician who represented this area from 1971 until 2000. He became president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate from 1988 and 2000. He died in 2001.

As for me, every week Mother and I would take the long ride down Kempsville Road for my piano lessons. I remember being fascinated with his house. Well, the house was ok (as viewed from the car), but, the property was wonderful! It was over an acre with many trees, flowering bushes, bulbs, and flowers everywhere.  Near the dock on Lake Taylor, I remember millions of cat tails.

Fast forward to me as a Master Gardener:  recently a Facebook request came in from a Navy/Marine family. They had rented their house out for the past eight years while away on various service assignments. Now back home again, they found the grounds were a mess. They specifically asked for help returning the camellias and azaleas to their previous glory.

Mimi Rosenthal is the resident NMG camellia expert and as luck would have it, she asked me to accompany her on the home visit.  Imagine my thrill when I realized we were visiting Stanley Walker’s property! After all these years, I found it is still glorious.

The tree canopy on the grounds contains mimosas, sycamores, mulberries, loblolly pines, cedars, and oh the oaks!  There are live oaks, water oaks, pin oaks and the largest willow oak I have ever seen. The camellias and azaleas are old and fairly healthy with forsythias and hollies along the driveway.  There is a nice buffer filled with grasses between the lawn and the water. We walked the perimeter of the property two times just trying to see everything that was there and still I’m sure we missed a lot.

Ultimately we recommended that they start by removing the invasive plants which have flourished during their absence – the English ivy, wild grape vine, poison ivy, greenbrier and honeysuckle. There is a lot of Wisteria along Kempsville Road, but the family loves it, so it is staying for now. Other invasives to be tackled include ligustrum, privet and mimosa.