Trees

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trees Every year since 2001, the Arbor Day Foundation USA has designated the Town of Vienna as a Tree City USA. The Arbor Day Foundation provides a framework for communities to manage and expand their public trees by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management:

maintaining a tree board or department
having a community tree care ordinance
spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry
celebrating Arbor Day.

The Town of Vienna is committed to maintaining and enhancing its tree canopy. Trees are vulnerable to climate change, insects, disease and removal for development. The Town works with developers and homeowners to protect and preserve its privately owned mature tree canopy. We’re particularly proud of our oldest trees.

Trees and tree care

The Town of Vienna, led by its landscape and arborist services division, strives to plant a new tree for every tree that must be removed either because it has died or because it is in poor health and represents a danger to people or property should it fall. For information on protecting and preserving Vienna's existing tree canopy, refer to the Tree Preservation and Planting Guide.

The Town’s arborists manage trees on Town property and rights-of-way; ensure that builders follow Town requirements related to trees; maintain streetscapes, gardens, and landscaping in public spaces; and provide guidance to residents about trees on their property. For more information, email or call 703-255-6336.

Tree preservation and replacement

Tree canopy requirements apply when building or redeveloping lots in Vienna. Specific requirements are found in the Vienna Town Code and vary by zone. For single-family residential lots, Vienna requires that trees be planted and replaced on a site so that at a maturity of 20 years, the minimum tree canopy is 20% of the lot. Guidance on how builders and homeowners can meet tree canopy requirements is outlined in the Tree Preservation and Planting Guide.

Builders can earn recognition under the Vienna Eco-Efficient Homes Initiative by achieving 30% canopy coverage within 10 years after development. Builders also are encouraged to preserve neighboring trees during construction as a best practice.