All posts by steve lescure

September Beauty Spot

Driving through Country Club Hills, you see some neighbors out working in their yards on a regular basis. Such is the case with the owners of the home at 9909 Broadview Drive. Congratulations Andy Pachuta and Jackie Santana: We are delighted to award you the September 2019 Beauty Spot of the Month! 

Andy and Jackie have created an oasis on their corner lot at Broadview and Country Hill Drive. The yard is well-maintained and inviting. Passing along the Broadview side of the property, the color red pops out and carries the eye across the yard, from the barn-style shed (at the top right of the driveway) to the seating area decorated with red Adirondack chairs (to the left of the driveway).  The landscaping features mostly trees and shrubs. Several older maple trees throughout the property provide lovely shade. To the right side of the driveway is a Japanese red maple, ringed with liriope at its base. To the left of the driveway is a beautiful red bud tree. The yard has a slope to it; the retaining wall, while serving a structural purpose at the base of the red bud tree, also adds a wonderful textural hardscape interest.  

Along the Country Hill side, a variety of evergreens (holly, acuba, euonymus, and yews) act as a privacy screen for the patio with another sitting area with benches that Jackie painted black. Another hardscape feature—a stacked stone wall at the left corner of the patio—provides more textural interest to the yard. A beautiful row of arbor vitae will eventually grow to be a lush privacy screen to border the property. 

Stop by and see this beautiful yard! 

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Judelsohn

Joyce Skoglund

Nancy Lebow

Country Hills Garden Club

 

Homecoming Parade – Old Lee Closed

The FHS Homecoming parade is this Friday. See below….


I am reaching out to you with information about the Fairfax HS Homecoming Parade and expected road closures. The FHS SGA would be grateful if you can share this with your community association. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Road Closures begin at 3:30 pm on Friday, September 27. All neighborhood entrances along Old Lee Highway for Country Club Hills and Old Lee Hills will be blocked by the Fairfax City Police Department and manned by school volunteers. We anticipate roads will re-open by 5pm. 

Thank you for your support of this great community event! We hope you will join us! 

Fairfax High School SGA President

 

Beauty Spot – August 2019

This August, look for the Beauty Spot of the Month at 3421 Brookwood Drive, where Elvesia and John Cesarini live. The Country Hills Garden Club praises their masterful use of line, form, color, and texture in their unique landscape design. During the hot, humid days of summer, the terraced front yard remains refreshingly cool beneath a bower of tall evergreen and deciduous trees.   Flower beds have been added along the straight property lines and the house base.  Raised island beds enclosed by stacked stones contribute balance and movement to the layout.  The summer spectacle in the yard stars a mix of blooming perennials. Pink crepe myrtle, roses, and geraniums flanked by golden coreopsis and black-eyed Susan flash their vibrant colors in shafts of sunlight that penetrate the tree canopy. Several varieties of the shade–loving hosta are thriving in this environment.  Hosta plantaginea, also called the August Lily, flaunt fragrant, bright white trumpet-shaped blossoms. Other hosta, though not in full flower this month, form a showy mass of overlapping, heart-shaped leaves. The lemon-lime and blue-green foliage lends a tropical tone to the garden.  John takes pride in his craftsmanship in creating and restoring garden ornaments which he artfully arranges at different heights. At the center of the yard, butterflies cut and decorated by hand perch high on a maple tree trunk. Midst the hosta below, a life- like white swan he painted with precise detail creates the illusion that it is serenely floating in a blue lagoon.  This gorgeous garden oasis enhances the aesthetic appeal of the Cesarini yard and the CCH neighborhood!

Respectfully submitted,

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

Country Hills Garden Club

 

Commons Work Day – 8/10/2019

Hello CCH Community, 

We will be holding a work day down at the Commons on Saturday, August 10th starting at 9:00 am. We will mostly be spreading mulch.

The Commons is looking better than ever; come be a part of the solution. Stay as long as you can, every bit helps.

Please bring any gardening tools you can:

      – gloves

    – shovel

    – wheelbarrow 

    – garden cart

    – bucket 

Or anything else that might be helpful.

Bring some water, it could be hot. 

Hope to see you there!

Steve Lescure CCHCA President 

 

Beauty Spot – July 2019

This July many CCH neighbors have creatively decorated their landscapes with patriotic stars and stripes and richly colored flowers just in time for holiday visitors. At 3420 Park Hill Place, Pam and Steve Caruso have made major changes to their landscape giving it a new look. The Country Hills Garden Club chooses their ambitious DIY garden project as the Beauty Spot of the Month.  The updated design has kept several established plants in place.  Curbside barberry and crepe myrtle bushes define the front edge of the garden. Beyond these, a hillside rises to mature holly and azalea bushes and a sturdy maple tree close to the house. After their research for plants of differing foliage, flowering displays, and growth habits, the Caruso’s added rows of hardy evergreens, perennials, and ground covers to prevent hill erosion and to ensure eye-catching colors season to season.  During this month, their front yard shows off many of Virginia’s best-loved flowers, including the scarlet rose, lavender hosta, mauve hydrangea, blue spiderwort, pink crepe myrtle, creamy sweetspire, and orange daylily.  A new flagstone path leads to more visual delights in the lower side yard. At a tranquil corner, an American flag unfurls in summer breezes and butterflies flutter near pale purple blooms on a buddleia bush. Much pleased with their accomplishments, Pam and Steve say their dream garden is still a work in progress.  They won’t be hanging up their garden hoses and tools yet!   

Respectfully submitted,

Anita Johnson and Nancy LeBow

 

 

New Stop Signs Installed

The City has installed three stop signs along Farmington Drive. 

From the City Public Works Department:

The City utilizes the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official (AASHTO) standards to determine whether an intersection meets a warrant for stop signs.  What AASHTO says is that unless the approaching vehicles on opposing approaches to an uncontrolled intersection can see each other for the entire recommended sight distance (115 feet for a 25 mph street) prior to the intersection then some form of stop control is needed.  These sight distance requirements are not met for the Farmington Drive intersections, which is why we are recommending the installation of stop signs.