News

Controversy over the removal of an iconic tree in Lyon Park is prompting an in-person conversation between neighborhood civic leaders and county leadership.

An aide for County Board Chair Takis Karantonis acknowledged some community members’ frustration in a Dec. 29 follow-up with Natalie Roy, who leads the Lyon Park Citizens Association. Karantonis “would like to offer a meeting to discuss this matter,” Sandra Calixto-Mendoza said in the letter to Roy.


News

County Board members are promising a detailed written response after Lyon Park residents accused the local government of cutting down and carting off a “gateway” tree without cause.

The removal came despite efforts of the Lyon Park Citizens Association to preserve the tree, which had been located for the past 40 years on an island in the middle of N. Fillmore Street near 3rd Street N.


Around Town

Arlington homeowners have until next week to apply to get a free native tree or shrub this fall.

Applications for EcoAction Arlington’s biannual Tree Planting Program and Tree Canopy Equity Program close next Monday, June 23. The nonprofit plans to plant 200 trees and 50 shrubs across the county.


News

An 85-year-old woman escaped with a broken wrist, a lucky dog and a scary story after she fled a falling tree branch in Virginia Square last weekend.

According to her son Malcolm Beith, Marianne Beith “narrowly escaped serious injury” when walking through Hayes Park with her dog Xoco on Saturday.


News

A lack of commercial properties in Arlington’s development pipeline is having a negative impact on the community’s tree canopy.

The Arlington County government’s Tree Canopy Fund last spring had “essentially run out of money” and was being kept alive by a one-time, $250,000 appropriation from County Board members.


Around Town

A towering, well-loved willow oak in Ashton Heights came down today (Monday) to make way for a new single-family home.

The downfall of the tree at 502 N. Jackson Street came despite the efforts of many nearby residents, who posted messages, poems and letters of protest on the oak’s trunk in recent days.


News

An Arlington government advisory body seems generally supportive of advocacy efforts to preserve mature trees along the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

But, cognizant of what happened to another advisory panel when it took too aggressive an advocacy stance, members of the Arlington Park and Recreation Commission on Dec. 10 opted to take more time before deciding how to proceed.


Around Town

Curbside waste collection will not be happening on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day in Arlington, but Christmas tree pickup should be right on time.

With both holidays falling on Wednesdays this year, Wednesday routes collecting trash, recycling and organics will be pushed back to Thursday for the next two weeks. Thursday routes will take place on Friday and Friday routes will happen on Saturday.


Around Town

Some holiday cheer is coming to Rosslyn this evening (Friday) with a tree lighting and dog-friendly happy hour featuring Santa.

The events were originally scheduled to happen on different days, with the tree lighting taking place yesterday evening — but it got pushed back due to strong winds. The twinkling Tannenbaum will now be celebrated in tandem with a “Santa Paws Yappy Hour” at Central Place Plaza, located at 1800 N. Lynn Street.


Around Town

Amid chilly weather and decorations going up around Arlington, the holiday season — and, by extension, Christmas tree sales season — has arrived.

Many tree sales around Arlington will start on Friday and Saturday, right after Thanksgiving. In parks, parking lots and garden centers, the festive firs won’t be hard to find — though some markets encourage early shopping.


News

A recently released analysis may provide the fuel to rekindle ongoing debate about the state of Arlington’s treescape.

“We don’t know if we trust your data. We trust our eyes,” said Elizabeth Grossman of the Arlington Tree Action Group (ATAG), who used the County Board’s Nov. 16 public-comment period to encourage county leaders not to take a victory lap over the new figures.


View More Stories