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The Heritage Garden

A Phase of the Cedar Hill Project

A Jamestown 2007 Legacy Project

The Nansemond River Garden Club

 

Suffolk is in the midst of a major downtown revitalization effort. The Nansemond River Garden Club has participated with rejuvenation and beautification of Cedar Hill Cemetery, the only greenspace in the historic district.

 

The Heritage Garden with berried/fragrant native and Victorian era plants and assessable to the physically and sight impaired faces the river and hotel/convention center, providing an ideal location to highlight the history of Suffolk during colonial and Civil War periods.

 

The Cedar Hill Project, NRGC’s civic project since 2001, began with the club’s $10,000 investment to:

  • hire an architectural historian

  • landscape the Veterans’ Monument Alley

  • replace cedar trees felled by Hurricane Isabel

  • create a Scatter Garden for the deposit of human ashes

  • participate in an archaeological dig in the cemetery

Club members volunteered hundreds of hours in planning, overseeing and executing this project. Besides planting, they:

  • designed  signage within the cemetery and brochures for self-guided walks

  • engaged  students to make birdhouses and brochure stands

  • inspired other groups’ involvement: The Daughters of the Confederacy planted a Victorian garden near the scatter garden, using the guidelines of our consultant.

  • urged City to apply for historic status: CHC was recently added to Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

  • purchased a steel and iron bench with the 2005 Runner-up Common Wealth Award

The implementation of the Heritage Garden, a legacy project for America’s 400th Anniversary, is a city-wide effort with many contributions and grants being given to NRGC.  The receipt of the prestigious Common Wealth Award will complete this phase by the addition of signage and fragrant/berried plants.