Stonehurst Success Story - Invasive Management and Tree Rescue
by Lisa Lofton, Stonehurst Homeowners Association (HOA) Landscape Chair
August 20, 2026
How would you like to take your community from a solid wall of running bamboo (Figure 1) to a recovering woodland with a view of a stream (see Figure 2)?
Stonehurst HOA is working with Empire Landscape LLC to manage invasives on roughly 4.2 acres of common area that borders a stream and is full of running bamboo, porcelain berry vine, Japanese bush honeysuckle, and multiflora rose, among others. We signed a six-year contract beginning in 2026. The contract involves a significant investment, prompted by two issues: 1) running bamboo beginning to encroach on private property, which can damage structures; and 2) the Accotink Gravity Sewer Improvement Project, which will thin the green buffer on the opposite stream bank (not our property). We have not received any grant funds for this project; as HOA Landscape Chair, I hope to be successful with applications in the future. I have developed a business case for the HOA Board, an invasive control plan, and a detailed package approved by the county for a waiver to remove vegetation in a Resource Protection Area. I highly recommend Empire. I have dealt with several landscape and tree maintenance firms over the years. Empire has skilled professionals with experience and certifications to do the job right and they know several of the county inspectors who monitor work in Resource Protection Areas.
Empire used a remote-control brush mower to clear running bamboo (see Figure 3). The treatment does not involve soil disturbance to dig up roots, so it meets county requirements for work in Resource Protection Areas. The treatment revealed ~40 live trees and several dead trees that we will leave to support wildlife. Empire will treat the regrowth with foliar spray. This is the first of five areas that we plan to address. We are working from the access road along Route 50 north in sections divided by drainage culverts.
Figure 2: After treatment
Figure 3: Remote control brush mower
