The Stone and brick walkways and steps of the Bishop’s Garden are irregular and uneven. Stones were retrieved from abandoned plantations in Maryland and Virginia nearly a century ago to place here. When they were first used on those plantations in the early years of this country only hand methods of dressing stone were available. …
Making the Bishop’s Garden’s Ancient Stones Safer Read More »
August 1, 2019 Guild Provides College Interns To Horticulture Staff Again this year the Guild has the pleasure of sponsoring three college students who work with our horticulture and grounds staff for the summer. Alyssa Steele is a rising sophomore at University of Maryland in the Landscape Architecture program. She has learned that her academic …
All Hallows Guild Summer Intern Program a Two-Way Benefit Read More »
July 11, 2019 This garden next to Pilgrim Road, a memorial to Mrs Paul Nitze, former All Hallows Guild President, has been redesigned and replanted several times. Changing conditions of sun and drainage and even new plant discoveries and trends made us decide to replant parts of this area again. At this moment five new …
June 26, 2019 As we enter summer our new Pollinator Garden is coming into full flower and welcoming new visitors. We have featured this garden in earlier blog posts, but after planting early this spring, it is beginning to come into its own. The Pollinator Garden is located adjacent to the entrance to National Cathedral …
March 18, 2019 WHY POLLINATORS? The recent surge in scientific and popular interest in pollinators has spawned a new curiosity about the habits and cycles of the bees, moths, bats, hummingbirds, and other insects we had previously taken for granted. Bee colony collapse and the disappearance of monarch butterflies are topics once the province of …
March 15, 2019 the All Hallows Guild Carousel Caliola Since 1963 All Hallows Guild has owned the historic traveling carousel (circa 1890) that appears each year at Flower Mart. Before catching a glimpse of the carousel, Flower Mart visitors hear the music of the 1937 Wurlitzer caliola calling them to ride. The caliola itself, though …
February 5, 2019 stonework Repairs Needed in the Gardens From the very early years of All Hallows Guild, our visionary leader, Florence Brown Bratenahl, had as her watchwords, “Historic Trees, Boxwood, Yew and Stone.” Indeed Mrs. Bratenahl wrote a booklet with this title in 1932, highlighting examples of all these materials on the Cathedral hillside. …
December 30, 2018 The record-breaking rainfall of 2018 may have lowered water bills and minimized use of irrigation, but all that water took its toll on our landscape nonetheless. Increased runoff has affected the Olmsted Woods and at times overwhelmed the water-control measures we installed some years ago. We are addressing this with engineers and …
December 8, 2018 With holiday decorating in full swing it is tempting to reach for beautiful boxwood clippings to augment fir and hemlock greens inside and outside our homes. The fragrance and vibrant green of boxwood are wonderful additions to swags and garlands, table trees and wreaths. Unfortunately, the current spread of boxwood blight is …
Holiday Décor: Boxwood Blight and Safe Practices Read More »
November 6, 2018 Bas-reliefs embedded in Stone Walls The lovely and historic 15-century stone sculptures collected by Mrs. Bratenahl have given the garden a look of antiquity during the century since they were placed in the walls and planting beds. The wall behind the Upper Perennial Border, the Norman Court, and the Hortulus all are …
All Hallows Guild was founded in 1916 to provide for the care and beautification of the grounds of Washington National Cathedral. The Guild works closely with the horticultural staff to preserve this historic landscape and raises funds for renovation and renewal of the gardens.
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