County Board shelves request from naturalists to specify what counts as a weed in local ordinances

A yard in the Forest Glen neighborhood in October 2016 (file photo)
One person’s weed is another’s protected native species.
Arlington naturalists argue that local ordinances do not distinguish the two, leaving neighbors who have certain native species that can be mistaken for weeks in their gardens prone to visits from the county’s code enforcement division.
“We’re sending incredibly mixed messages,” Caroline Haynes, a member of the Arlington County Forestry