Before Restoration
Mini-grant Saves 100 Mature Trees in Reston
The Walden Cluster Association is a townhome community in Reston that is committed to the protection of their natural wooded areas. After invasive vines and shrubs began to threaten and displace native trees on their land, they reached out to Fairfax PRISM for assistance in starting long-term invasive plant management.
Main Species of Concern: English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, wintercreeper, autumn olive, and burning bush.
Management Strategy: The Walden Cluster hired their contractor, Cardinal Landscaping, to work on the target area 2-4 times over the grant period. Cardinal Landscaping did the following:
- Cut invasive shrubs to ground level
- Applied a non-selective herbicide to fresh cuts
- Cut the English Ivy vines at the base of each tree as well as the circle of ground immediately surrounding the base of each tree
- Applied a non-selective herbicide to English Ivy spreading across the ground of the ½-acre project area.
Project Outcomes
Trees saved: The grant-funded work rescued approximately 75 mature trees and 30 small trees.
Scope of the grant: The grant project covered a 0.5 acre area of wooded land.
Financial Summary
Walden Cluster requested a reimbursement of $3,000 and was required to meet a 50% contribution match of $1,500. They matched contributions by funding their project directly, and put an additional $1,600 towards the contracted work.
After Restoration
Community Education
- Between September 2025 and April 2026, Walden Cluster Association’s Board President (Carolyn Kirby) sent educational emails to the residents of their HOA’s 52 townhouses, as well as the adjoining Chadds Ford Cluster Association’s Board of Directors. While seeking grant approval, they sent out information with details about the proposal to remove and control invasive plants in the ½-acre project area. They also encouraged Chadds Ford Cluster to join them in removing and controlling the same invasive plants and vines on their side of the woodlands between the two HOAs. They also distributed contact information and links to the Fairfax Tree Rescuers/ PRISM website in the emails.
- The association emailed Tree Rescuer door hanger and brochure PDFs to their residents and to the Chadds Ford Association Board of Directors to educate and inform them about resources to tackle invasive plants and vines.
- Walden Cluster put up the Tree Rescuer sign on the project area next to the Reston Association’s Red Loop Trail that cuts through the woodlands to enhance the visibility of this work to nearby clusters and to all passersbys.
Next Steps
- After Fairfax PRISM volunteers came to inspect the completed work and suggested spraying lesser celandine on the property, Walden Cluster included lesser celandine in their following treatment(s).
- Cardinal Landscaping will continue monthly cutting of emerging invasive shrubs and applying the non-selective herbicide to existing English ivy on the ½-acre project area about 3 times the following year.
- Walden Cluster expects the neighboring HOA, Chadds Ford Cluster, to remove invasives on their side of the woodland to create a larger, cohesive, rescued ecosystem.