Norwood Park Arboriculture Project

The norwood park Arboriculture project (npAp) is a special tree project of the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.  Our mission is to conserve and enhance the uniquely large and diverse collection of tree species and the native urban riparian forest ecosystem at Norwood Park and along the Little Falls Stream Valley Trail; to serve as an anchor for significant and impactful ecological learning opportunities and proactively engage educators and diverse communities; to provide opportunities for field study with citizen science and interdisciplinary academic projects that highlight the web of life of all organisms and connections to the local biome; and to serve as a model for local forest stewardship.

We are connecting amateur and expert naturalists to identify and learn about this beautiful urban forest. We are combating invasives and working to foster healthy biodiversity with energetic volunteers and friends.

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Little Falls Watershed Alliance norwood park Arboriculture project (npAp)

TREE SPECIES COLLECTION

This collection of trees exists in a 1 miles square area in Little Falls Stream Valley Park and Norwood Park and along the Willett Branch Stream in Montgomery County, MD

See the full list here

npAp Background

In 2019, a large but declining canopy tree which had been shading a playground was taken down in Norwood Park for the safety of park patrons.  Once the tree was down, many park neighbors and visitors inspected its remaining grand stump, climbing it and counting the rings. This was an opportunity to look back in time to before the park even existed. The American Elm (Ulmus americana) stump revealed that the tree had likely been standing there for some 120-140 years! 

Norwood Park was established in 1937 and has an interesting history before and after that time. But when the historic tree came down, a group of park neighbors and friends realized that this marked an opportunity to appreciate, learn about and conserve the many other wonderful stately canopy trees and local native plants in and around Norwood Park, and to recognize their critical role as an urban forest and riparian buffer for the greater region’s native ecosystem – the Little Falls Watershed Stream Valley.

In 2009, a previous effort had been made to eradicate invasive species and restore native habitat on an adjacent hillside at the southwest corner of the park. This is the Norwood Park Meadow Project, initiated by the Little Falls Watershed Alliance in collaboration with Montgomery Parks. Volunteers and Weed Warriors planted the meadow with over 30 species of native plants grown from local seeds.  Yearly meadow maintenance by volunteers keeps the plants healthy.

In 2021, volunteers interested in the canopy trees joined forces with LFWA to launch the Norwood Park Arboriculture Project, with the goal of expanding on the effort to protect local native habitat and help visitors identify and learn about the amazing tree collection on their doorstep.