Welcome to the Dashboard, !

Friends of Brandymore Castle is the idea of a girl who loves the forest in her back yard and wants all of us to try to protect its trees, plants, and animals now and into the future. She is not alone in that wish. Some adults who also recognize the value of these small but precious woods full of nature embraced her idea and pledged to try to persuade others to join us.

Our goal, as a non-profit organization, is to preserve and protect the Brandymore Castle forest from encroachment by invasive plants and degradation and to ensure that the trees and ecosystems of these woods are sustained for generations to come.

Who are we? We are a small community of friends, neighbors, tree lovers, and nature enthusiasts interested in discovering and enjoying the natural bounty that this patch of woods has to offer.

Volunteers have been working successfully for more than 10 years to remove English ivy from tree trunks in the woods and pull out other non-native invasive plants such as garlic mustard, autumn olive, privet, honeysuckle, porcelainberry, stiltgrass, multiflora rose, and many others. Volunteers trained by Arlington Regional Master Naturalists, Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria, and Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia have joined with Brandymore Castle’s concerned citizens and others to help pull “Every Last Weed, Every Last Wednesday.” Thanks to weekly restoration sessions with other volunteers, we have sown seeds of native plants in two cleared areas that we hope will provide food and habitat for butterflies, moths, and birds. These activities have been guided and sanctioned by the Natural Resources staff of Arlington’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

We have inventoried the plants at Brandymore Castle, and with the help of trained botanists have identified some especially notable species of trees, including a remnant American Chestnut, Elms, and Chinquapin, as well as several varieties of ferns, an abundance of Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa), and a growing population of fragrant native azalea.

We are dedicated to protecting these fragile woods from soil erosion that threatens the woods and keeps native plants from thriving and nurturing the many animals and insects that rely on this forest.

Please join us in supporting activities that help the Brandymore Castle forest remain robust for future generations.