By Mary Reid Barrow
You might say Cassie Hillian is a force of nature.
That LRNow has chosen her Cape Story by The Sea home as its Pearl Home of the Quarter is only the tip of the iceberg. Cassie, with the support of husband Mike Hillian, strives to protect and support nature in ways most of us would never think of.
Let’s start with their yard. It is a small lot, typical of homes in the neighborhood. Nine years ago, they started out with four handsome native trees along with lots of invasives like English ivy and liriope.
Now, with the removal of the invasives and the addition of many native plants, shrubs, trees and imaginative features to draw wildlife in, their yard is a wildlife haven.
The couple’s gardening for nature began in earnest three years after they moved in. Cassie took a class through LRNow. Taught by landscape designer Trista Imrich, the class was called “Landscape for Life.”
“And let me tell you, I came home and said to my husband, ‘We have to rip everything out.’ He said, ‘I don’t think so, but we can add.’ And add I did! We now have over 80 species of native plants.”
A pollinator garden in the front and shrubs and trees like cedars, hollies, bayberries and beautyberries all around not only attract pollinators but also are a real magnet during migration season, Cassie said.
“One spring my merlin app picked up 37 different species of birds in four minutes,” she said.
The Hillians went so far as to remove half their driveway to make room for the pollinator garden. The remaining driveway area was then redone with permeable pavers, thanks to a VCAP Conservation Grant.
She created a tiny wildlife pond from nothing more than a plastic storage bin and a small circulating pump. The pond is planted with lizard tail and iris and stocked with shiners.
Nearby is a tree frog “hotel”, made from tubes in the ground, just the right hidey-holes for little green tree frogs. Around the side of the house and out back are two rain barrels. The list goes on and on.
Cassie wears her heart on her sleeve and makes sure the world knows where she stands on nature. A “Pollinator Habitat” sign is visible to the neighbors and so is a colorful sign that warns that mosquito spraying kills butterflies, lightening bugs and so many other insects.
Give Cassie an idea and she’s right on it. Take the “Green Wagon” in front of her house. The wagon is an invitation to passersby to learn about native plants, caring for pollinators and to take a native plant home. She hopes to spread natives around her neighborhood.
The Green Wagon Project was begun by a group of people in Media, Pennsylvania who upcycle old wagons, paint them green and build shelves. The shelves are stocked with free native plants, and information about the harms of lawn chemicals.
Cassie attended a conference in Pennsylvania recently to learn about the Green Wagon Project. She returned with a grant and in in no time, built her own green wagon.
“For me, the best part of gardening with native plants is the true feeling of connection to nature,” she said. “I see a particular bird or bee and I know I am giving them exactly what they need to survive.”
Actually, maybe Cassie is not as much a force of nature as one with nature.
