Historic House Gardens
Virginia Beach Master Gardeners maintain historically-based gardens at three historical sites within the City of Virginia Beach. The gardens are open to the public and there are no admission fees. Volunteers maintain regular hours at each garden and are available to answer questions and assist the public. Hours are subject to change due to weather or other events. Please see each historic site’s page for details.
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Thoroughgood House
The Thoroughgood House formal gardens and Herb gardens are maintained by the Virginia Beach Master Gardeners, meeting on Tuesday mornings from mid-March to mid-November. The formal gardens are kept true to the original design by Alden Hopkins donated by the Virginia Council of Garden clubs in 1960. The Herb Garden represents herbs used by residents over the generations of house occupancy. Thoroughgood House is open to the public for tours free of charge from Thursdays through Sundays. |
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Francis Land House
Vegetable, Flax and Herb Gardens
The Francis Land House gardens include an heirloom vegetable garden, demonstration gardens (cotton, flax, and 3 sisters), and herb garden.
The vegetable garden consists of 36 raised beds that are crop-rotated. Typically, the VBMG volunteers plant and harvest about 150 different varieties of heirloom vegetables, which are grown organically. The herb garden includes a wide variety of medicinal and culinary hers that represent what would have been used in colonial times. The demonstration beds feature the flax bed (for linen that the museum has used to demonstrate the use of the spinning wheel), the cotton bed, and a 3 sisters bed (corn, squash, and runner beans) practiced by Native Americans and adopted by colonists. The Pollinator Garden is both beautiful and functional - the bees and other pollinators that are attracted to the flowers pollinate the vegetables in the garden.
We donate the majority of the harvested produce to the Eastern Shore Chapel Food Pantry and Samaritan House, both in Virginia Beach. In 2021, we donated over 1500 pounds of produce.
Vegetable, Flax and Herb Gardens
The Francis Land House gardens include an heirloom vegetable garden, demonstration gardens (cotton, flax, and 3 sisters), and herb garden.
The vegetable garden consists of 36 raised beds that are crop-rotated. Typically, the VBMG volunteers plant and harvest about 150 different varieties of heirloom vegetables, which are grown organically. The herb garden includes a wide variety of medicinal and culinary hers that represent what would have been used in colonial times. The demonstration beds feature the flax bed (for linen that the museum has used to demonstrate the use of the spinning wheel), the cotton bed, and a 3 sisters bed (corn, squash, and runner beans) practiced by Native Americans and adopted by colonists. The Pollinator Garden is both beautiful and functional - the bees and other pollinators that are attracted to the flowers pollinate the vegetables in the garden.
We donate the majority of the harvested produce to the Eastern Shore Chapel Food Pantry and Samaritan House, both in Virginia Beach. In 2021, we donated over 1500 pounds of produce.
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Francis Land House Apple Tree Project
This newly designed and installed fruit and berry garden is a project of the Tree Stewards who had previously worked over twenty years with the old apple orchard that had to be removed due to disease. The replacement apple orchard contains historical apple tree varieties that were grafted on a semi-dwarf rootstock. The dwarf stock is used to keep the trees within bounds for pruning, spraying, and picking. The berry garden has four sections separated by a crushed clam pathway and features several types of blueberries, currants, native beautyberries, pawpaw trees, and perennial ground covers. The project is overseen by the Master Gardener Tree Stewards and is open to the public.
This newly designed and installed fruit and berry garden is a project of the Tree Stewards who had previously worked over twenty years with the old apple orchard that had to be removed due to disease. The replacement apple orchard contains historical apple tree varieties that were grafted on a semi-dwarf rootstock. The dwarf stock is used to keep the trees within bounds for pruning, spraying, and picking. The berry garden has four sections separated by a crushed clam pathway and features several types of blueberries, currants, native beautyberries, pawpaw trees, and perennial ground covers. The project is overseen by the Master Gardener Tree Stewards and is open to the public.
Gardens and Apple Trees at Francis Land House
Lynnhaven House
The historic house’s herb garden is an interpretive tool at the ca.1725 home of middle-class plantation owner Francis Thelaball. Herbs grown here were used in cooking, medicine, dyeing and strewing on the floors of the home for odor control. There are four 8’X8’ beds in all. The strewing and insect-repellant bed and vegetable bed were added in 2014. The gardens are located on the grounds of Lynnhaven House at 4409 Wishart Road and are open to the public. Volunteers are on site on Wednesday mornings from April to November.
The historic house’s herb garden is an interpretive tool at the ca.1725 home of middle-class plantation owner Francis Thelaball. Herbs grown here were used in cooking, medicine, dyeing and strewing on the floors of the home for odor control. There are four 8’X8’ beds in all. The strewing and insect-repellant bed and vegetable bed were added in 2014. The gardens are located on the grounds of Lynnhaven House at 4409 Wishart Road and are open to the public. Volunteers are on site on Wednesday mornings from April to November.
