Monarch butterfly on Aster in meadow.
Photo by Michael Myers
The Harrison Street Pollinator Meadow is an ongoing habitat restoration project next to the W&OD Trail along Harrison Street in Leesburg. The project was created as a partnership between Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Friends of the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority with support and funding from the Leesburg Garden Club. Installation began in the fall of 2018 under the leadership of Ann Garvey. Volunteers planted 1358 native plants on 7,600 square feet. More plants were planted in 2019 for a total of 1519 plants comprised of 43 species.
Interpretive panels were installed in the meadow and unveiled with at a ceremony on October 28, 2020 with NOVA Parks, Leesburg Town Council and the Leesburg Garden Club.
Work on the meadow has been in maintenance mode. In October 2023, volunteers weed whacked the entire area and planted over 700 native grasses. In 2024 volunteers met to cut back non-native invasive plants such as chicory and spotted knapweed and weed whacked the entire area. In 2025 volunteers focused on maintaining >150 native plants within the center 100’ x 20’ (2000 sq ft) area, where we relocated surviving native plants from the other 2 abandoned areas. We also applied cardboard and leaf mulch to spaces in between the native plants to lessen the impact of non-native grass and plant pressure and decrease the need for volunteers to constantly pull and weed whack invasives.
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭 began August 31, 2026, when 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (NVPS) removed a layer of poor soil containing an invasive seedbank, added a paper barrier and applied soil amendment.
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮 was completed September 18, 2026. Watermark Woods – Native Plants laid out 100 native grasses, which NVPS planted just before the rains arrived, giving them time to establish roots before winter.
The future of this habitat still depends on the dedicated support of volunteers, along with continued maintenance through the Invasive Plant Species Management Program in 2027 and 2028.
Sign up to receive updates on the meadow and future volunteer work.
For more information about the care of the Harrison Street Meadow, view the meadow development and management plan. The plan includes links to facts sheets about invasive plants identified in the meadow.
Clearing invasive weeds in February 2019.
Planting meadow in April 2019.
More invasives pulled in July 2021.