Countywide

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (March 17) lauded 50 years of service by the county’s Master Gardeners program.

During a presentation, Board Chairman Jeff McKay praised the “dedication, expertise and spirit of service” of volunteers who have supported the effort over the past half-century.


Countywide

A new community collaboration is set to kick off a week of action aiming to remove invasive species from trees in Fairfax County.

Fairfax Tree Rescuers will officially launch the Fairfax Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) with invasive species removal events throughout the county from Saturday (Nov. 8) to Nov. 16.


News

A Reston resident says she’s facing fines and possible legal action over the presence of milkweed on her property.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, milkweed has a “bad reputation,” but the wildflower is vital for monarch caterpillars and other pollinators. It’s also toxic to the invasive spotted lanternflies, which have proliferated across the D.C. region over the past few years.


News

Like a monster in a horror movie franchise, the hydrilla that long plagued Lake Thoreau before lying low over the past couple of years has now returned.

Though past management efforts have seen some success, the invasive aquatic plant, whose full scientific name is Hydrilla verticillata, has resurfaced in “significant quantities” throughout the lake this summer, Reston Association announced on Monday (July 28).


News

The Tysons Community Alliance (TCA) is turning to the Virginia Department of Transportation for support in its effort to spruce up the area’s highway interchanges.

Building on an ongoing pilot project focused on the Route 7 and Route 123 interchange, the booster organization plans to apply for the state’s Comprehensive Roadside Management Program (CRMP), which lets sponsors landscape and maintain in areas within VDOT’s right-of-way.


Countywide

Dozens of volunteers will break out the work gloves and garden shears this Saturday (Sept. 14) to eliminate invasive plants around the “LOVE” sign by the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Vienna.

The cleanup will clear the way for a native plant meadow that its organizer, the nonprofit Sustainability Matters, hopes will spawn similar beautification efforts all along the 45-mile-long regional trail.


Around Town

If you’ve driven or taken a stroll down Vienna’s Maple Avenue this summer, you might’ve noticed more pops of color than in previous years.

The Town of Vienna wants to draw more attention to the vivid flowers lining its main downtown streets with a new, self-guided “Vienna in Bloom” streetscape tour. The town’s economic development and parks and recreation departments unveiled a map last Friday (July 19) showing the locations of dozens of different flowers and nearby local businesses.


Around Town

The Vienna Community Center will be abuzz with activity this Saturday (May 4), thanks to the simultaneous return of the town’s farmers market and native plant sale.

Operated by the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna, the Vienna Farmers Market will launch at 8 a.m. in the community center’s parking lot at 120 Cherry Street SE. More than two dozen food and produce vendors have been lined up for the new season, which will continue on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through October.


Countywide

In the latest round of action on bills, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed 100 bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly, including one to protect Virginians from unlawful discrimination, hate crimes and antisemitism. The governor vetoed four others, including one to create civil penalties for shop owners who fail to advertise they are selling invasive plants that could harm other species.

Among the 100 bills signed is a measure that will codify a recommendation by the Commission to Combat Antisemitism that Virginia revise its laws to better protect Jewish citizens from hate crimes, along with Muslims, Sikhs and other ethnic-religious groups.


News

With the help of local developers and property owners, the Tysons Community Alliance is on a mission to beautify the green spaces found where many of the area’s major roads intersect.

The first site targeted is the southwest quadrant of the Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road) interchange, where the Vienna-based company Tyson’s Tree Service began clearing overgrowth, invasive plants and dead trees on Jan. 2.


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