By Kit Werner, Senior Director of Communications.

For more than five years, many watched nervously as the Lower Merion School District (LMSD) explored plans to build athletic fields on 13 acres adjacent to Stoneleigh: a natural garden. Instead, in August 2024, Natural Lands and LMSD entered into an agreement allowing Natural Lands to acquire 10 acres of the site—known as Oakwell—to expand Stoneleigh and reunite these properties that were once one. The remaining three acres will be sold to a separate non-profit organization that intends to conserve those acres and restore the historical buildings they contain.

The agreement of sale is the first step in what will be a lengthy process. “Conservation projects like this one have many moving parts and take time and patience,” said Natural Lands President Oliver Bass. “This is just the first step, albeit an essential one.”

Under the plan, the additional acreage would create space for expansive new garden areas at Stoneleigh and provide more opportunities to showcase the beauty and benefits of gardening in an ecologically sustainable way. Early 20th century landscape designs by the famed Olmsted Brothers span both properties and would be connected again for the first time since Oakwell was subdivided in the 1930s.

The buildings on the property would be restored and adapted, creating exciting improvements to the guest experience at Stoneleigh. As Stoneleigh is now, the portion that Natural Lands seeks to acquire would be placed under conservation easement with the Lower Merion Conservancy.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand Stoneleigh and immensely grateful to the leadership of the Lower Merion School District,” added Oliver. “They have worked diligently with us to explore options for the property. Together, we’ve identified a plan that, if successful, will preserve the important natural and historic resources—including the much-loved trees and mansion—and grow Stoneleigh from its current 42 acres to more than 52.”

VILLANOVA, Pa., August 20, 2024 – Natural Lands and Lower Merion School District (LMSD) announced today that the LMSD Board of Directors has authorized the sale of the 13-acre site in Villanova, PA, known as Oakwell. The property is directly adjacent to Natural Lands’ Stoneleigh: a natural garden. Natural Lands is the intended buyer for approximately 10 acres of the property, which would expand Stoneleigh and reunite two important landscapes. The buyer for the remaining three acres—including Oakwell mansion, which would be restored—is a separate non-profit entity whose use will be complementary to Stoneleigh.

LMSD purchased the properties at 1800 W. Montgomery Avenue and 1835 County Line Road in 2018 as a site for athletic fields for Black Rock Middle School. In response to community sentiment for preservation of those properties (“Oakwell”), in January 2023, Haverford Township, Lower Merion Township, and LMSD announced an agreement to allow baseball and softball teams from Black Rock Middle School to have priority use of two fields on the Polo Field, located at 109 County Line Road in the Bryn Mawr section of Haverford Township. With the addition of these fields, as well as continued use of Gladwyne Park, the District is confident that the needs of our athletic teams at Black Rock Middle School are currently being met.

The Board’s resolution makes way for an agreement of sale, the first step in what will be a lengthy process.  “Conservation projects like this one have many moving parts and take time and patience,” said Natural Lands President Oliver Bass. “This is just the first step, albeit an essential one.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand Stoneleigh and immensely grateful to the leadership of the Lower Merion School District,” added Bass. “They have worked diligently with us to explore options for the property. Together, we’ve identified a plan that, if successful, will preserve the important natural and historic resources—including the much-loved trees and mansion—and grow Stoneleigh from its current 42 acres to more than 52.”

Kerry Sautner, president of the Lower Merion Board of School Directors, said, “We are proud to have partnered with Natural Lands and the Township in a shared commitment to preserving the Oakwell site. This agreement reflects our dedication to environmental stewardship and our responsibility to honor the community’s and students’ desire to protect and cherish our natural spaces. Through collaboration, we can achieve outcomes that respect the environment and respond to the voices of those we serve.”

Under the plan, the additional acreage would create space for expansive new garden areas at Stoneleigh, providing a broader platform from which to showcase the beauty and benefits of an ecologically sustainable approach to gardening. Early 20th century landscape designs by the famed Olmsted Brothers span both properties, which would be connected again for the first time since the portion known as Oakwell was subdivided off in the 1930s.

The buildings on the property would be restored and adapted, creating exciting improvements to the guest experience at Stoneleigh. As Stoneleigh is now, the portion that Natural Lands seeks to acquire would be placed under conservation easement with the Lower Merion Conservancy.  The nonprofit purchasing the subdivided portion intends to enter into a mutually agreeable conservation easement agreement with Lower Merion Conservancy

Andy Gavrin, Lower Merion Township Commissioner, added, ”Protecting this historically and environmentally important property while finding alternative solutions to the School District’s need for playing fields has been a major focus of mine for quite some time. This agreement, in conjunction with the recent partnership for the use of the Polo Field for the Black Rock Middle School baseball and softball teams, truly results in a win-win-win solution. I am grateful to Natural Lands and Lower Merion School District for coming together, as well as to the members of the Lower Merion community who put so much time and energy into this vital conservation effort.”

Stoneleigh is open free-of-charge to everyone, year-round and hosts myriad community groups, from students to garden clubs to nature enthusiasts. The 42-acre public garden celebrates the beauty and importance of the natural world and gardening with native plants. The public is invited to learn more at stoneleighgarden.org.

Natural Lands is dedicated to preserving and nurturing nature’s wonders while creating opportunities for joy and discovery in the outdoors for everyone.  As the Greater Philadelphia region’s oldest and largest land conservation organization, Natural Lands—which is member supported—has preserved more than 135,000 acres, including 40+ nature preserves and one public garden totaling more than 23,000 acres. Nearly five million people live within five miles of land under the organization’s protection. Land for life, nature for all. natlands.org.

Please note: “Natural Lands” is the organization’s official operating name and should be used instead of its legal designation (Natural Lands Trust, Inc.).

Lower Merion School District (LMSD) serves the 67,000 residents of Lower Merion Township and Narberth Borough. Established as one of Pennsylvania’s first public school districts in 1834, LMSD enjoys a rich tradition of achievement, innovation and community partnership and a longstanding reputation as one of the finest school systems in the United States. The District’s six elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools provide a challenging, multi-disciplinary academic program and dynamic, co-curricular experience to about 8,700 students. LMSD.org

Media Inquiries:

Kirsten Werner, Senior Director of Communications
610-353-5587 ext. 267
267-222-0072 (mobile)
kwerner@natlands.org

Amy Buckman, Director of School & Community Relations
610-645-1978
267-473-1131 (mobile)
buckmaa@lmsd.org

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Early spring is the season for removing Chinese mantis oothecae (or egg cases) at Stoneleigh: a natural garden.

Introduced to the United States in the 1800s. Unfortunately, these large predators are generalists with voracious appetites that will eat anything they can catch, including butterflies and bees. Considering Chinese mantids are nearly twice as large as our native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) and much more abundant, they can have a greater impact on our beneficial insect populations.
Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) are non-native insects that were accidentally

At Stoneleigh, we’ve been removing egg cases from our meadow and other perennial-dominated areas for several years. Our first year, we removed more than 350 Chinese oothecae from our meadow alone.

This year, volunteers and staff scoured several large garden areas and only found 68! By decreasing the population of this generalist, non-native predator and increasing the number of native plants, the garden is becoming more hospitable for our native butterflies, bumblebees, and pollinators every year.

At Stoneleigh: a natural garden, a magnificent London planetree towers near the Main House like a living picture frame. Although we don’t have any specific records of its planting date, this tree is estimated to be at least 150 years old. Photographs from 1913 show the tree standing dozens of feet tall. It has become a familiar sight over the years as guests explore Stoneleigh. Students have written poems about its branches, and many people have enjoyed a seat under the canopy of its leaves.  

Sadly, the London planetree is dying. This tree has sycamore anthracnose, a fungal disease that affects a tree’s ability to leaf out, thereby affecting its ability to photosynthesize. It also has sycamore canker stain, a more serious, frequently fatal pathogen caused by a different fungus. The tree was already in decline when Natural Lands acquired Stoneleigh in 2016. Our staff and expert arborists have been attending to it over the years, pruning dying branches, but we now must accept that the life of this tree is ending. 

For the safety of our guests and to protect the historic structures on the property, we needed to scale back the tree. Arborists from Shreiner Tree Care removed most of the branches and topped the tree, leaving the central trunk, called a snag. This will prevent injury or damage from falling branches. It will also allow the tree to continue to play a part in the ecosystem of the garden.

When a tree dies, its death can serve a purpose as vital as its life. As the tree is dying, some insects, such as metallic jewel beetles, move into the tree creating tunnels and openings for fungal spores and bacteria. Over time, the central part of the wood core of the tree, known as the heartwood, will begin to soften. As the heartwood decays, more insects arrive, burrowing and building, while woodpeckers tap on the softening wood to feast on the bugs. Mammals crawl into open holes, taking shelter in the heartwood against the winter’s chill or building nests to rear their young in spring. Native mushrooms sprout from the bark like open fans in orange and white. New plant species thrive in the newly available sunshine, offering food and shelter for myriad species.  

Our beloved London planetree will still be a part of the garden. This spring, staff will plant a selection of native vines at the base of the tree, including American wisteria, which has impressive lavender blooms. These vines will be trained up the tree and along the remaining limbs over the next several years, creating a beautiful floral display every spring. The reduced canopy will also provide an opportunity to add more sun-loving native plants to the surrounding garden spaces, which will increase the biodiversity in this area. 

The London planetree is a hybrid of the American sycamore. While it shares many traits of the sycamore, it is not a native species to our region. This transition will allow us to plant a variety of native, sun-loving species in the absence of the once dense and leafy canopy, a continuation of our commitment to planting native species as nonnative plants come to the end of their lifecycle.  

Every gardener knows that change is part of tending a garden. In nature, endings are intimately tied with beginnings, decay nurtures new growth. We invite you to visit to see our progress this spring as we transform the tree to a snag, and to come back to watch how we grow, change, and bloom. 

It just got a little easier for guests of Stoneleigh: a natural garden to learn the native plant species that comprise the beautiful, biodiverse, and beneficial landscapes there. Chris Polidore, the Stoneleigh summer intern for 2021, installed a whopping 501 plant identification labels during his internship.

“Stoneleigh is a botanical garden, which means we display documented collections of plants for public education as well as for their important place in the ecology,” said Stoneleigh Director Ethan Kauffman. “Plant labels allow our guests to note information like the genus, species, and cultivar so they can know what to look for when shopping for plants for their own backyards. They help our guests learn more about the world of horticulture.”

A grant from the American Conifer Society funded the labels for Stoneleigh’s conifers and a portion of the installation time. The Garden Club of Philadelphia provided additional support.

The intern program was funded in perpetuity with an initial gift from generous donors who wish to remain anonymous and has been augmented with a meaningful contribution in memory of longtime Natural Lands member and volunteer Dr. Martha Turner-Leonetti.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GreenWeaver Landscapes Donates Time to Natural Lands During COVID-19

MEDIA, Pa., February 16, 2020 – Last month, GreenWeaver Landscapes sent a team of professionals to Natural Lands’ headquarters, Hildacy Preserve in Media. Over three days, the crew removed invasive plants and cleaned up the extensive gardens around the headquarters building. GreenWeaver donated these valuable services thanks to receiving a Paycheck Protection Program Loan from the federal Small Business Administration.

“We were fortunate to receive the Paycheck Protection Program Loan so that we could keep all of our valued workers employed during the pandemic,” said Jennifer Nichols, who owns GreenWeaver Landscapes with her husband, Greg. “So, we had the money to pay our staff but wanted to keep them busy as well, and our workload had dried up considerably when COVID-19 hit. That’s when we thought of donating time to Natural Lands. It was a win-win.”

GreenWeaver professionals tackled a number of projects during the three days of work at Hildacy Preserve. They weeded and mulched the garden beds around the buildings and removed invasive plant species in the natural areas of the preserve. They targeted problem species in the meadow, including mugwort and thistle, which can choke out native species like milkweed and other beneficial pollinator plants. The team also cut back invasive shrubs like burning bush and barberry in Hildacy’s woodlands.

Hildacy Preserve is a 55-acre property located along the banks of Crum Creek in Delaware County. Donated to Natural Lands in 1980, the nature preserve serves as the headquarters for the nonprofit conservation organization. Hildacy is one of 44 properties that Natural Lands owns and cares for; this network or nature preserves and a public garden totals 23,000 acres of protected open space stretching from the Pocono Mountains to the Delaware Bayshore.

“I can’t thank GreenWeaver Landscapes enough for their generosity and skilled work,” said Oliver Bass, president of Natural Lands. “The Coronavirus health crisis has impacted us all… small businesses and non-profits alike. What a wonderful positive outcome this was in such a difficult time. We’re honored GreenWeaver chose to make such a creative and beneficial gift of their time.”

Natural Lands is dedicated to preserving and nurturing nature’s wonders while creating opportunities for joy and discovery in the outdoors for everyone. As the Greater Philadelphia region’s oldest and largest land conservation organization, Natural Lands—which is member supported—has preserved more than 125,000 acres, including 43 nature preserves and one public garden totaling more than 23,000 acres. Nearly five million people live within five miles of land under the organization’s protection. Land for life, nature for all. natlands.org.

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