I own a small landscape design/build company in the Richmond area and I am opposed to the petition(s) that Arlington County has proposed to VDACS. I believe that the noxious weed regulations should remain the way they are and be given the chance to work before such broad changes are proposed or made.

As part of the nursery and landscape trade, it is a great relief to me to have the "widely disseminated" clause present in the wording of the law so that the process remains more or less scientific and does not become a "plant of the month" type process where a plant can be banned because it is not popular in a particular part of Virginia, or another state, for that matter.

From time to time I plant some of the plants that are listed on DCRs site. I use barberry because I think it looks better than a chain link fence with razor ribbon on the top - both the fence and barberry will provide a small amount of security, but which one looks better? I plant English ivy and periwinkle too. Try finding a homeowner who owns a Georgian styled house who would use any other groundcover. If the market did not call for these plants, if my customers wanted something else, then I would plant that instead, but that is not the case. At times, I need those plants. The noxious weed regs keep them available for my customers.

I trust the process because I have seen it at work first hand. There are dedicated people in both agencies who take the problem of invasive species very seriously. There are working groups and advisory committees composed of individuals from conservation organizations, state agencies academia and even the nursery and landscape industry. They should be allowed to do their jobs.