OLD GEORGE, the father-of-our-country Washington whose birthday we cele- brate this weekend, would get a kick out of the sprucing-up about to start across from his boyhood home in Stafford County.

To be accurate, spruces aren't part of the effort being spearheaded by the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club along State Route 3 across from Washington's Ferry Farm.

Oh, there will be trees planted by the side of the road opposite the historic site: weeping cherries, cedars and other species that might have been seen growing in George's time on the farm.

There will be other plantings as well, sumac and other greenery that will blend in with the aforementioned trees and, though it's still under discussion, a period fence to help give the $20,000 project the period look its organizers are working for.

Garden Club member Anne Stuart put it this way: "This is an effort to mirror the Ferry Farm side of Route 3, to enhance the experience of those visiting while still trying to keep things in historic context."

It's not fair to oversell this "Ferry Farm viewshed" project, because it's really nothing more than a narrow strip of plantings on the VDOT right of way between State Route 3 and the 7-Eleven and adjacent stores along the busy highway.

But in this region of ours where sprawl and development is slowly siphoning away the land's very soul, any effort to restore natural beauty is noteworthy.

It's also interesting to see all the various partners in this effort to make the corridor leading to Ferry Farm look more like it did in the days when quarter-throwing and cherry-chopping could have happened--even if they didn't.

The effort coordinated by the Garden Club and local businesses includes contributions or assistance from 7-Eleven, VDOT, Phillip Watson Designs, Linden White, Johnson and Glazebrook, Steuart-Cret Development Co., Stafford County, The George Washington Ferry Farm & Kenmore Foundation and the Virginia Native Plant Society.