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The Arlington Forest Citizens Association has
the distinction of having published an outstanding news bulletin
for longer than any other civic association in Arlington County.
The distinctive Arlington Forester
masthead, showing the stores and trees in the shopping center,
at Arlington Boulevard and North Park Drive, was designed in 1948 by Forester Tom Cullen (Southside). This design with only minor changes is still being used nearly 60 years later.
Hello again, Foresters! Spring is around the corner and we will be loving life outside in the Forest once again! The spring leaf collection program has been announced and is commencing this month - so have your rakes at the ready. Neighborhood Day has been announced (May 10th) and I'm wondering if anyone in the Forest would be interested in planning an event for that. Please let me know via phone or email. Spring Break is upon us as well as Easter and vacations and visitors from out-of-town. A busy season for everyone. I hope you can find the time to attend our March meeting, which is the last Wednesday of the month this time (26th). Since Lubber Run Park is integral to all of our lives and spring is here, the subject of Parks and Park Maintenance is timely. Please join us in welcoming Randy Randall and Lois Barb from the County Parks Division. They will update us on all the improvements and other maintenance projects going on in Lubber Run and other parks. And, as always at our meetings, we will review and visit other topics and projects that your neighbors have undertaken. Please join us at our March meeting and bring your ideas and projects as well. See you around the Forest! Julie Kirchhoff AFCA President Summer Is Here! This is the last in a series of three Arlington Forest flora appreciation Notes to get us ready and enthused for summer. During the previous rather uncertain months, we have experienced eighty-degree temperatures followed by near freezing and then dry spells followed by lots of rain. We couldn't figure out what to wear outside from one minute to the next and the plants couldn't decide whether to bud out or stay dormant. Finally, everything has come together and the oak trees are doing their thing and the grass is greener than ever and needing mowing twice a week! As usual, the forsythia and quince kicked things off and the remaining plants quickly followed. Late azaleas still have some color but the dogwood, early magnolia, cherry, pear and redbud trees are but a memory, after a brilliant display that lasted for over three weeks. The cherry trees around the Tidal Basin got their act together and bloomed to coincide with the Cherry Blossom Festival, to the delight of thousands of visitors and residents alike. The flowering trees and bulbs in the Forest were truly beautiful this year. The storms and heavy rains in late April do not seem to have done much damage in Lubber Run Park. On the first of May, I walked through the park again to see how it survived the storms and was happy to see that everything looks very good, including the bridges. Only a bit of debris was caught up on the stone weirs. Erosion control along the stream is working well. The water is clear with no smell of pollution. No native undergrowth plants are evident as yet. Many songbirds are in the park but the pair of Mallard ducks was not there this time. Perhaps other Foresters have seen them recently, as I had in the past. We hope some of you took the opportunity to walk through Lubber Run Park in March, April and May to enjoy and experience the seasonal changes and also see all the hard work the Arlington County Parks staff and volunteers are doing. By the end of summer, we should see the beginning of native plants taking over where non-native species previously dominated. It will take several years to become lush, but with proper maintenance, will become the model park we have been hoping for and working towards. Have a good summer!Joe Cockerell Webmaster Note: If you do not get to stroll Lubber Run Park, here is a photo of the new bridge that replaced the old bridge that was washed away in the storm:  The Lubber Run Woodland looks far different than it did two years ago. The vines and English Ivy that had been taking over the park are now almost gone. The park is far more open and natural than it was at the beginning of the project. Work still remains, however. As we enter year three of this five-year project, I joined Christine Simpson (Arlington County Staff), Jenn Truong (Virginia Tech), and Lee Patrick (Invasive Plant Control, Inc.) on an inspection of progress to date. In general, things have gone according to plan. One surprise, however, was that Garlic Mustard has colonized the park in the aftermath of the floods that we experienced two years ago. This will be chemically treated in the next few weeks along with additional treatments to Lesser Celandine and English Ivy. During the summer, treatment will be repeated for Norway maple, Princess Tree, Tree of Heaven (a very inappropriate name), White Mulberry, Japanese Barberry, Multiflora Rose, Rose of Sharon, Wineberry, Golden Bamboo, Japanese Knotweed, and Japanese Stiltgrass. Finally, in the fall, treatment will be applied to Autumn Olive, Burning Bush, Bush Privet, Bush Honeysuckle, Fragrant Honeysuckle, Climbing Euonymus, Common Periwinkle, English Ivy, Exotic Wisteria, Japanese Honeysuckle, Porcelainberry, and Japanese Stiltgrass. As was done previously, all treatments will be done by hand so that only the targeted invasive plants are affected.Timothy O'Leary
Shade Tree Grant As you plan changes to your landscape this spring, consider planting a large shade tree. Under the Arlington Forest Tree Grant Program, a matching grant is available to residents of Arlington Forest interested in planting a shade tree on their property. A grant amount of up to $125 covers up to one-half of the cost of buying and planting a tree (including delivery). There is a limit of two tree grants (of up to $125 per grant) per property. For example, a Forester who planted one tree costing $300 and a second that cost $200 would receive a grant of $125 for the first tree and a grant of $100 for the second. The types of trees eligible for the program are White Oak, Northern Red Oak, Willow Oak, Chestnut Oak, Southern Red Oak, Scarlet Oak, Pin Oak, Red Maple, Sycamore, Tulip Tree/Yellow Poplar, Black Gum, Lacebark Elm, American elm, Dutch Elm resistant cultivars (e.g. Princeton, Liberty cultivars), American Beech, Kentucky coffee tree, Hickory, and Linden/Basswood. Contact Colleen Green, AFCA Tree Grant Coordinator, at 703-521-0034 if you have any questions.Colleen Green
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