Volunteer
Removing invasive plants is the first step in habitat restoration! Join us with an ongoing Remove Invasive Plants (RIP) event or contact jsoles@arlingtonva.us to schedule one for your school, church or business group, or otherwise want to participate in this program.
Learn more.
Join volunteers in restoration plantings in Arlington’s parks every fall and spring. All year round, volunteers also plant locally collected seeds and tend seedlings at our nursery, as part of the first step in returning native plants to Arlington’s parks. Nursery workdays are held every Tuesday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. at our nursery in Barcroft Park. To see all our upcoming events and to register, click here. Contact jsoles@arlingtonva.us to learn more or for location directions.
Citizen Science
Participate in a BioBlitz or the City Nature Challenge – or participate in one of the many iNaturalist projects in the county. Contact aabugattas@arlingtonva.us to learn more.
Submit Natural Resources Volunteer Hours
Park Steward Application
Native Plant of the Month
Rosebay Rhododendron - Great Laurel
Rhododendron maximum
Rhododendron maximum goes by a variety of names: Rosebay, White Rosebay, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Rhododendron, Great Laurel, and Mountain Laurel (though this last name is more closely associated with another native shrub Kalmia latifolia) to name a few. It is an evergreen shrub with twisted trunks. The maximum part of its name can refer to the big 4-10 inch leaves, large white to light pink flowers, and/or may be due it being one of the largest of our native rhododendrons. Read more.