Protect your property with riparian buffers

Protecting Virginia’s waterways starts right here on you property. Riparian buffers, strips of trees, shrubs, or grasses planted along streams and
rivers.

Help keep our water clean by filtering runoff, trapping sediment, and reducing pollutants before they reach local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

These natural buffers also:

  • Help stabilize streambanks and reduce erosion
  • Filter excess nutrients and improve water quality
  • Provide valuable habitat for wildlife and support biodiversity

The Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program can help landowners install these conservation practices through financial assistance:

  • Forested buffers – Up to 95% cost-share reimbursement, plus incentive payments of up to $580 per acre.
  • Grass filter strips – Up to 100% cost-share reimbursement, plus an additional $80 per acre incentive.

Healthy streams mean healthier communities, thriving farms, and a stronger Chesapeake Bay.

Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to learn how you can participate.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

VDF says Throwing Shade was a success!

Virginia Department of Forestry used by permission from VDF Communication Specialist Cory Swift-Turner

The Virginia Department of Forestry says its Throwing Shade VA program continues to grow in popularity.

This spring, approximately 3,500 customers purchased more than 10,500 native trees and shrubs at 31 participating nursery locations across Virginia.

This was an increase of nearly 3,000 plants over last year.

Now in its fourth year, the program offers a $25 discount on eligible native trees valued at $50 or more, encouraging homeowners to incorporate native species into their landscapes.

Native plants are better adapted to Virginia’s environment and provide important food and habitat for wildlife and pollinators.

Four new nurseries joined the program this year, expanding participation to new regions across the Commonwealth.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

Throwing Shade VA update

Virginia Department of Forestry used by permission from VDF Communication Specialist Cory Swift-Turner

The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) is proud to announce a successful Throwing Shade VA program!

Nearly 8,000 native trees and shrubs were planted across Virginia this spring through the DOF’s popular Throwing Shade VA program.

This year, 7,782 native trees and shrubs were planted, up from 5,500 last year and just over 1,500 in the program’s first year.

The program supports water quality and wildlife by promoting native species.

The program is funded through Virginia’s water quality improvement program.

The DOF reimburses participating nurseries.

Most of this year’s planting activity occurred near urban areas like Richmond, Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the Shenandoah Valley.

Popular choices included Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Redbud, Sweet Bay Magnolia, and Highbush blueberry.

DOF’s Urban Forestry Coordinator Molly O’Liddy says the program is growing steadily, from just three nurseries in 2023 to 15 this year, and all plan to return in 2026.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

Support biodiversity by planting native trees

Virginia Department of Forestry used by permission from VDF Communication Specialist Cory Swift-Turner

Join the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF)in enhancing biodiversity and supporting wildlife across Virginia by planting native trees and shrubs.

Native species are crucial to our ecosystems, providing food and habitat for wildlife, especially important pollinators.

Unlike ornamental varieties, native trees have evolved to thrive in Virginia’s diverse environments, offering greater benefits to local ecosystems.

The Virginia DOF is teaming up with retail nurseries to promote the planting of native species through the “Throwing Shade VA” program.

This initiative offers a $25 discount on eligible native trees and shrubs valued at $50 or more.

Take advantage of this opportunity to make a positive environmental impact while beautifying your landscape with trees and shrubs that are naturally suited to Virginia’s climate.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

 

Throwing VA shade program

You spoke and they listened, the Throwing VA Shade Program has expanded their program for discounts on native trees with two local nurseries.

The Seven Bends Nurseries in Winchester and Strasburg are joining Woodstock Gardens from now through May 1, retail customers can
receive $25 discounts on select native trees and shrubs (valued at $50 or more) from the nurseries.

Throwing Shade VA Program incentivizes Virginians to plant native species of trees and shrubs, which provide water quality benefits and offer an important source of food and habitat for wildlife and pollinators.

Not only can native species meet any landscaping objective, they require less maintenance and little to no fertilizer.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

Throwing shade VA program

Virginia Department of Forestry used by permission from VDF Communication Specialist Cory Swift-Turner

The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) is partnering with three Virginia nurseries to launch a new pilot program featuring discounts on native trees and shrubs.

“Throwing Shade VA” helps nurseries promote native trees through customer discounts of $25 on eligible trees valued at $50 or more.

Incentives to purchase native species of trees and shrubs, which are adapted to their natural environment and thus more likely to thrive.

Native plants offer environmental benefits than ornamental species and provide food and habitat for wildlife, especially essential pollinators.

Three nurseries responded to DOF’s request for participation in the pilot program.

Burke Nursery & Garden Centre (Burke), Woodstock Gardens (Woodstock) and Coastal Landscapes & Nursery (Virginia Beach) all volunteered to participate.

The program is funded through state water quality improvement funds, the DOF is using to reimburse the participating nurseries for the
discounts.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

Riparian forest funding

Virginia Department of Forestry used by permission from VDF Communication Specialist Cory Swift-Turner

The Virginia Department of Forestry is now accepting applications for Riparian Forests for Landowners Program project funding.

This is a new statewide landowner assistance program that helps landowners create riparian forest buffer.

Selected service providers will facilitate the installation of, and one year of maintenance on, riparian forest buffers at no cost to the landowner.

Riparian forest buffers are areas near streams, lakes, or wetlands that contain a combination of trees, shrubs, and other perennial plants, primarily to provide conservation benefits.

Riparian forest buffers filter nutrients, pesticides and animal waste from agricultural land runoff, filtering sediment from runoff, stabilizing eroding banks, providing shade, shelter and food for fish and provide wildlife.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.