In partnership with Sugarland Run HOA, the Broadlands HOA, the Red Cedar HOA and Loudoun County Government, we’ve finished planting 3.26+ acres, 968 native trees and shrubs, in three Loudoun Communities.
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and involved communities for helping Loudoun streams, our local environment and the Chesapeake Bay! Thanks also to grants from The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Fairfax Water, and generous in-kind support by Heritage Landscape Services, LLC and Premier Turf and Landscaping.
More About Each Tree-Planting
On October 10th at Sugarland Run we had our first fall tree-planting event on a brilliantly sunny, beautiful day. Although volunteer turn out was light on that holiday weekend, we got good support from Dominion High School students, HOA Board leadership (past and present), and the HOA Management team. A big thanks go to Don Doxsee and Premier Turf and Landscaping whose donation of time and 2 crews to auger the holes and help plant was essential. With the 200 trees we planted this time, there are now 5 different areas in the community with a total of 363 trees and shrubs planted by over 100 volunteers.
On October 24th in the Broadlands HOA, the weather was pleasant, but somewhat overcast. Our 30+ volunteers including Broadlands neighbors, students at Eagle Ridge Middle School, Briar Wood High School, scouts and volunteer, Valerie Sheckler from Ashburn Farm. Loudoun County staff again were critical in facilitating this project, and Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy shared their awesome water pump to help us get the trees all watered in. Our thanks to Heritage Landscaping Services and Andrew Dannenberg for donating their time and equipment to pre-auger the rocky soil for our tree sites. Due to the rocky site, County Forester John Zuiker recommended that we scale back to 150 trees total to avoid the worst conditions. Our next challenge will be discouraging geese from continuing to live here and contribute to the excessive levels of nutrients in the pond. We’ll encourage the geese to move on by creating a less inviting habitat with a wider buffer for the pond.
Our last planting day was November 7th at Red Cedar, when 50 volunteers including Loudoun County High School volunteers, local Boy Scout groups, neighborhood families and volunteer Natalie Pien from a nearby community braved the rainy weather to plant 300 trees and shrubs along a stream in the Red Cedar community. Not initially planned, Chris Van Vlack at Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District, helped us connect with the Red Cedar HOA to cover a shortfall in our commitment and we got the go-ahead in short order. The pre-augered holes were dug by Kenny Tschida from Heritage Landscape Services (HLS). HLS crews also planted the remaining trees equaling 450 total trees. There will be future opportunities to reforest an even larger area in the community.
Our thanks to Loudoun County, the three HOAs and 2 landscaping firms who partnered with us on the tree-planting projects!