Native Landscaping

Help Trees Thrive: Tear Up Some Turf

Help Trees Thrive: Tear Up Some Turf

It’s fairly common in residential neighborhoods to see trees surrounded by grass or by small mulch beds, often heaped high like a volcano. But did you know that your trees would be healthier and grow faster if you replaced that turf and those mulch volcanos with a 2-4” deep ring of mulch that extends out to the tree’s drip line or even beyond?

The corporate world embraces native plants

The corporate world embraces native plants

Most corporate properties have pretty “standard” landscaping, meaning the plants do very little if anything to support the local ecosystem. More and more, though, we are seeing innovative landscape designs on commercial properties that demonstrate the potential for corporations to be leaders in the effort to save the natural world, starting on their own land.

Welcoming Visitors with Native Plant Landscaping

Welcoming Visitors with Native Plant Landscaping

The big signs that welcome visitors to neighborhoods are usually framed by conventional ornamental shrubs, grasses, and annual flowers. Last year, Northern Virginia communities were invited to apply for matching mini-grants to spruce up their entranceways using only Virginia native plants.

You Can Help Stop the Spread of Invasive Plants

You Can Help Stop the Spread of Invasive Plants

What do English ivy, barberry, butterfly bush, and mimosas (the tree, not the drink) have in common? You can find them in most Northern Virginia neighborhoods, and you can buy them at many local nurseries, garden shops and big box stores. But they are all invasive plants in Northern Virginia.