Bowman Town Court landscaping plan approved with tree and seeding conditions

The Reston Design Review Board on April 15 approved a landscaping application for Bowman Town Court with conditions on species, planting size and timing.

Applicant Jeffrey (last name not provided) returned to the board with additional information about erosion control and replacement planting species. He told the board the erosion areas would receive added topsoil, hydroseeding, and a temporary fabric cover similar to standard highway erosion control measures. He also proposed 16 replacement trees: eight Kousa dogwoods and eight red maples.

Board members and an interested resident, Sandra, raised concerns about the Kousa’s fruit drop and mess in high-traffic areas. Panelist Emily suggested substituting a less messy, disease-resistant cultivar such as the Cherokee Princess dogwood; Jeffrey agreed to the substitution. The staff clarified there were no existing mulched areas to be removed and that many lawn-washout locations under trees would receive topsoil and hydroseeding.

The board approved the application with these conditions: hydroseeding work to begin and be completed within 30 days; replacement trees to be 2-inch caliper for both red maples and dogwoods; and the proposed Kousa dogwoods be replaced with a non-fruiting or less-messy dogwood cultivar (example given: Cherokee Princess). Staff and board also noted the cluster could request an extension if seasonal timing made fall planting preferable.

The motion to approve carried by unanimous vote, 7–0. Staff said it will treat the submission as subject to panel follow-up because an affected party was identified and will check compliance with the 30-day timeline and specified caliper size.

The board recommended staff record the plant caliper sizes in the project notes and confirmed staff would enforce follow-up inspections.