Did you know that the Federal Clean Air Act imposes a few important landscaping requirements? Following the area’s landscaping guidelines ensures the attractiveness and safety of local Fairfax County, VA, neighborhoods. These regulations typically stipulate how landscapers should plant or maintain elements like new vegetation, vegetative screening, and plant barriers.
The rules around beautification and certain landscaping requirements:
- protect natural resources,
- improve air, soil, and water quality, and
- ensure healthy tree development within a city’s limits.
Woods Tree and Landscaping is one of the tree care and landscape design services in Fairfax that follows these regulations to the letter. Below, their experts discuss details about these important landscaping requirements in Fairfax, VA.
Five Fairfax County Landscape Requirements You Should Know
Landscaping requirements are exhaustive and detailed, but they form an immensely important part of the proper management of the trees and vegetation that keep delicate ecosystems in balance. These regulations also set in motion a few long-term measures for the environment. The aim is to reduce the city’s carbon dioxide levels, minimize atmospheric heat production, and stave off other adverse effects on the ozone layer.
Here are five Fairfax County categories that have specific rules for managing trees and other plant life within city limits.
#1 Landscaping Plans
- Owners must submit landscaping plans to the Director before work begins.
- Plans must be to scale, including distances and dimensions. They must also follow specific residential or nonresidential user permits.
#2 Planting Standards
- Tree and shrub planting and maintenance must conform to the Public Facilities Manual. For instance, landscapers must plant trees five feet in height (or more) spaced randomly and placed in an irregular pattern.
#3 Landscaping and Tree Maintenance
- The law holds the owner or landscaping agent responsible for the replacement, repair, and maintenance of all landscaping materials and barriers.
- Owners must look after trees and plants for health and safety, and fences should be accessible and in good repair.
- Tree conservation needs the proper Residential Use Permit issuance to freely add, relocate, or replace landscaping. They should only add or remove landscaping with an approved development plan (determined by the Zoning Administrator).
#4 Parking Lot Landscaping Requirements
- A parking lot with more than 20 spaces must include interior landscaping over 5% of the area, excluding plants within six feet of a building, peripheral landscaping, or transitional screening.
- Landscapers should spread trees and other shrubberies to maximize shade for vehicles.
- The interior dimensions of planting areas must be large enough to preserve and protect all occupying plants, complying with the Public Facilities Manual.
- Trees should be the primary landscaping in parking lots for shade.
#5 Transitional Screening and Plant Barriers
- Agricultural businesses in a residential district do not require transitional screening or plant barriers, but campgrounds, boarding stables, group households, limited breweries, and cemeteries do.
- Screening is not mandatory between dwelling unit types within developments. However, these barriers should provide maximum privacy from the existing or proposed first floor of adjoining units.
- Transitional screening and barriers must be present within the zoning district and may include deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubbery with expansive canopies at maturity.
These five areas are only the start of a long and detailed list that landscapers in Virginia need to know about before putting spade to soil. There’s a good reason that landscaping requirements in Fairfax, VA, are so strict; following the rules will preserve local neighborhoods and ensure public safety.
Make sure to adhere to the landscaping requirements and follow tree removal rules to avoid hefty fines.
Reliable Landscaping Design Services in Fairfax, VA
Woods Tree and Landscaping is a full-service tree care and landscape design company serving Fairfax, VA, and the surrounding areas. Your grounds and trees are in safe hands with our full-service arborist and landscape design company. We also carry full licensing and insurance for your peace of mind.
Call Woods Tree and Landscaping at (703) 478-4704 today for a team that follows every one of the landscaping requirements to provide reliable tree care and landscaping services in Fairfax, VA.
