Arlington County, VA Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Chapter 67 of the County Code, titled the "Tree Preservation Ordinance," governs work on trees and shrubs standing in the street right-of-way, on public vehicular or pedestrian easements the County maintains, and on other County-owned public land, which covers the planting strip (parkway) between the curb and sidewalk in front of most Arlington homes. Section 67-4 requires that any planting, pruning, removal, or other treatment there be directed by the County Manager and follow the County's official "tree guidelines," defined in § 67-3 as the standards the County Manager sets for selecting, planting, pruning, maintaining, removing, and replacing trees and shrubs.

If the work is done by anyone other than County employees, County contractors, or County agents, it needs the County Manager's approval first. County-approved Volunteer Maintenance Contractors get standing approval to prune and maintain the trees or shrubs named in their agreement, but that approval does not extend to removing or injuring them. Section 67-4 exempts only routine watering and mulching of County-owned trees from the approval requirement, so a resident may water or mulch a parkway tree without asking first but needs sign-off to plant a replacement or a new tree in that same strip.

The same public-property scope described in § 67-4 (streets, rights-of-way, County land, and maintained easements) is the scope § 67-5 uses to penalize unauthorized injury or removal, tying the planting rule and the removal penalty to the same physical area.