Glenmore Stewardship Area

Glenmore’s stewardship story began in the summer of 2023 when Liza Moorman invited a trainer from Blue Ridge PRISM to meet with her and several interested residents at her home in the community. They wanted to learn more about how to properly manage the invasive species that were marring the beauty of their common wooded areas. Thus began the Glenmore Invasive Warriors, an all-volunteer group of residents. 

Glenmore Invasive Warriors in 2024.

History

Glenmore, Albemarle County’s largest gated community, comprises more than 950 homes, more than 500 acres of common area space, nearly 9 miles of walking trails, 15,000 trees, a sports field, an 18-hole golf course, and many other outdoor amenities. Glenmore was built on the site of Glenmore Plantation and Horse Farm on rolling hills reminiscent of Scotland. The original plantation home, built in 1724, has a view of Jefferson’s Monticello. The first homes were built in the late 1990’s, and homes have continued to be built in the community throughout the years. There are still horses grazing on some of the land as part of the equestrian center, which is currently leased to an equestrian rescue operation.  

The Club at Glenmore.

An Ecological Challenge

While Glenmore has retained hundreds of acres of lush, wooded areas, as happens in many housing developments, the changes in land use and fragmenting of natural habitats during the development of Glenmore, left openings for invasive species to get a foothold. As the climate has warmed in the past decade, many Glenmore residents have noticed the encroachment of invasive plants, shrubs, vines, and trees into the neighborhood’s wooded common areas. With a goal of restoring a healthy habitat and ecosystem in the woodlands, the Invasive Warrior team is dedicated to treating and removing invasive species that compete with our native flora for sunlight and nutrients. The group also provides advice and education to homeowners who have questions about invasive and native species.

Garlic mustard invading the woodlands.

Taking Control

The mission of this mighty team is to maintain the beauty and health of Glenmore’s natural geography through stewardship of the land by identifying, mitigating and eradicating the most noxious invasive plants, and by promoting the growth of native flower and tree species within the common areas and in residents’ gardens. Lastly, the team strives to utilize uniform and measured control methods to optimize efficacy and minimize damage to natives.

Since its inception, the Invasive Warrior team has treated and removed thousands of invasive plants during its at least twice-monthly scheduled workdays. Some of the most ecologically damaging of the plants we have found in our woodlands are garlic mustard, Japanese Stiltgrass, Japanese Honeysuckle, Asiatic Bittersweet, Tree of Heaven, Bradford pear, Chinese Privet, and Autumn Olive.

In 2024 alone, the team removed over 3,000 invasive plants!

Glenmore Invasive Warriors work to remove invasive vines.

To manage this large Stewardship area, we divided Glenmore’s common areas into sectors, designating 8 volunteer “sector leaders” who are responsible for monitoring the presence of invasive species within their sectors and coordinating efforts to manage them. Sector leaders, alongside the Team leader, provide education and oversight to other resident volunteers who join the team on group workdays or as part of the smaller sector team.

Invasive vines have strangled native trees in the common areas.

This group of volunteers has put in at least 472 person-hours of time in this effort, not counting unrecorded individual efforts. Annual operating costs amounted to $2,046 last year, including $1,572 for chemicals and supplies and $564 for consultation. The HOA recognized the importance of eradicating invasives and providing education to residents by providing a separate line item in the annual operating budget.

Additionally, the Glenmore Invasive Warriors created a Glenmore Green Earth Stewardship Initiative to highlight the importance of preserving native habitats through invasive species removal, and by promoting native plants in our backyard landscaping as well as in the common areas. Our speaker series has provided education sessions to residents through lectures-some of which have had over 50 residents present, and our Walk, talk and Learn sessions in the field, which focused on identifying and managing invasive species, and the importance of native plants in our backyards, 

Project signage helps educate neighbors and encourages others to participate.

The Glenmore Homeowners Association recently approved rules that prohibit planting and/or introducing invasive species into the community; the invasive species team was instrumental in educating the board of directors. To educate residents on this new policy, the invasive team provided a list using authoritative sources that will be provided to each resident before they are approved to plant new items.

The upcoming year will be exciting, as the Glenmore Invasive team has contracted with a local company to complete a comprehensive survey of non-native invasive species in the 500 plus acres of common area and to develop a strategic plan for management. Additionally, the team is working with the same company to utilize new tools for mapping of identified and treated invasives. 

Building community while improving our community.

 As our understanding of land stewardship deepens, our focus has broadened to include working with the HOA’s Common Area Management to ensure that the mowing of certain open areas is at the right time to weaken and prevent spread of Sericea Lespedeza, and to research potential grants to restore areas threatened by erosion or drainage problems caused by invasives. The team also hopes to collaborate with Albemarle County and Rivanna River Conservation Alliance along the Greenway. Lastly, the warriors are constantly brainstorming on ways to increase the volunteer contingent, to include setting up a booth at the Glenmore 4th of July celebration and marketing new and exciting ways to educate residents on the importance of this program in our monthly newsletters.

The entire community is excited to be recognized as a Stewardship Area for the investment of hard work and resources by the residents and volunteers and we hope to inspire other Charlottesville-area HOAs to begin to engage in similar efforts in their neighborhoods. 🌱