[Archived] City of Alexandria Joins Other Jurisdictions For the Fourth Annual Watershed-Friendly Garden Tour

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	May 26, 2006 PIO# 140-06/rdo	Brian Hannigan, Director of Communications, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria Joins Other Jurisdictions
For the Fourth Annual Watershed-Friendly Garden Tour

The City of Alexandria will join Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, Arlington County, Fairfax County, and the City of Falls Church for the Fourth Annual Watershed-Friendly Garden Tour on Sunday, June 4. The free tour will take place from 1 to 5 pm at local homes and properties in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Falls Church. The event will feature watershed-friendly elements, such as cisterns, rain barrels, rain gardens, backyard-wildlife habitats, and native species.

Local residents will inform participants of the tour how they made their yards more watershed friendly. Brochures will be provided to give them ideas for their own yard or neighborhood.

During the tour in Alexandria, participants will see a variety of environmentally friendly practices, such as rain barrels, impervious driveways, rain gardens, shade gardens, and extensive use of native plants that filter and absorb storm water runoff and prevent erosion on slopes. Staff from the City’s Division of Environmental Quality will be present at two sites to answer questions and provide information about what the City is doing to protect local water resources.

For a complete list of tour site locations, visit alexandriava.gov/tes/DEQ/deqnewsandevents.html and click on the Watershed-Friendly Garden Tour link.

For more information on the tour, call the City’s Division of Environmental Quality at 703.838.4334.

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