What actions will be needed?

• Motivated people on the landscaping committee and on the Board of Directors

• Survey of what you have now

  • Which land is owned by the community, private residents and VDOT or public utilities?

  • Who is responsible for maintaining which areas?

  • Areas of good quality habitat

  • Invasive plant load

  • Problem issues (see above)

  • Contract terms between your community and the landscape provider

  • Create a committee - "common spaces, landscaping" to review the contract before it's approved

• Education, buy-in from homeowners

  • Tree Rescuer program

  • Talks

  • Walks. Could include a walk led by a representative of the Soil and Water Conservation District to advise on erosion and stormwater management.

  • iNaturalist project for your neighborhood

  • Hometown Habitat showing

  • Newsletter

  • Demonstration garden (you will need a water source)

  • Interpretive signs

  • Working toward certification as a National Wildlife Federation “Certified Community Wildlife Habitat”

• New policies

  • At least 90-100% of new plantings on common land to be native to Virginia

    • Specify requirement for Virginia native plants in your RFPs.​ Ask the designer if they are limited to plants their company keeps in stock (which could be problematic) or can order from other vendors.

    • Require plant lists to use full binomial scientific names. Check to see if they are native on the Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora.

    • Do not allow plant substitution without prior consultation.

  • No invasive plants installed on common lands

  • No broadcasting insecticides outdoors on common land (unless you need to address a specific hazard. Spraying for mosquitoes should only be done if the health department has determined there to be a high risk for disease transmission in your area.)

  • Other chemical applications minimized, used only in spots when indicated and no other alternatives are available

  • Definition of what constitutes natural landscaping on private property (as opposed to weeds). Click here for some helpful wording.

  • Suggested plant list

• Tree plan

  • Replacement plan

  • Monitoring

  • Management schedule

  • Periodic reassessment

• Woodland management plan (more details here)

  • Consider getting help developing a forest management plan from the Virginia Dept. of Forestry (free) or from a consulting forester​

  • Survey what you have - different stands

  • Invasive plan management

  • Start wtih invasive vines that can pull down trees

  • Move on to invasive plants such as Autumn Olive, Callery Pear, Tree-of-Heaven, Bush Honeysuckle and Multiflora Rose that take up space

  • Deer management

  • Management schedule

  • Periodic reassessment

• Determination of opportunities to improve stormwater capture

• Planting and hardscaping plans divided into reasonable chunks over several years

• Maintenance plan - find details and a sample plan here

• Invasive control plan (typically a five year plan). This should include early intervention for recently arrived invasives. Removing them at that stage may save thousands of dollars later.

• Policies that encourage natural landscaping on private property. Note that voluntary guidance is the preferred route. You can only make things mandatory if your association's Enabling Document (Declaration) provides the Board with the authority to set landscaping standards. Changing the Declaration typically requires a supermajority of homeowners. A landscaping committee can create voluntary guidelines to be approved by the Board.)

• For communities where more homes are planned - work with the developer.

• Consider retrofitting stormwater facilities with native plants (talk to your government stormwater agency first). A simple rope fence can help prevent accidental mowing of naturalized areas.

• Consider taking over the mowing responsibilities from companies such as pipeline companies that have easements on your property, to ensure that mowing is only done at the appropriate time of year.

• Have a plan for dealing with fallen leaves that does not involve hauling them away or encroaching on public land. Piling them thickly in the woods smothers the ground layer of plants there. Leave them in place wherever possible. (They should be removed from hard surfaces - allowing them to go into the storm sewers causes environmental damage to streams.) Request that your mowing services use mulching lawn mowers to break down lawn clippings and leaves for a natural mulch that feeds the soil and eliminates the need for fertilizer. 

• Add more plant layers to woodland copses:

  • Understory flowering trees as accents along the perimeter

  • Shrub groupings (native azalea and blueberry) and

  • Groundcover borders (sedges and ferns) would help to capture leaves and hide them in place reducing maintenance needed for removal and supplemental mulching.

A note about chemicals:

If hiring a lawn care or landscape company to manage your turf, make sure they can legally apply fertilizers and pesticides in Virginia.

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Fertilizers:

Every paid applicator must be a Certified Fertilizer Applicator, Trained Applicator or a Nutrient Management Planner.

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Pesticides:

Every paid applicator must be a certified Pesticide Applicator or a Registered Technician AND work for a VA Dept of Agricultural and Consumer Services (VDACS) registered business. (Volunteers who are completely unpaid do not have to be certified to use unrestricted herbicides.)