VIRGINIA BEACH — Keeping the resort area in tip-top shape for the summer takes many hands and millions of dollars.
Among the several city departments that play a role in the cleanliness and beautification of the Oceanfront is the 22-person resort landscaping team in the division of Park & Landscape Services. Spring is the busiest time of the year for them as the city prepares for big summer crowds.
The bulk of the team’s work began in May and is wrapping up now with the planting of nearly 14,000 flowers in the beds and planters across the resort area.
“It’s a collaborative effort to try to keep the place looking good,” said administrator Frank Fentress.
A mowing crew trimmed the grblock this week in the “green belt” — the area between the Boardwalk and the hotels. Other workers planted red and white flowers in a new park by the pier at 14th Street. Every week or 10 days in the summertime, staff mows the grblock in the public parks at 17th, 24th and 31st streets.
Tracey Bracey-Smith has worked for the city’s landscape team for 25 years. She started as a temporary worker and noticed the plantings in the resort area at that time were mostly green shrubs.
She thought, “I’m going to take this canvas and bring color.”
Bracey-Smith pursued a horticulture degree and was recently promoted to general service supervisor. She’s responsible for planning and ordering thousands of flowers and plants each season and credits her colleagues for the hard work.
“A humongous shout out to the plant team at the resort area,” Bracey-Smith said. “We carry the torch together.”
The team is responsible for planting and taking care of the sea of flowers next to the bike path that runs the length of the 3-mile Boardwalk. The lineup includes daylilies, knockout roses, hydrangea and hibiscus, among others.
“The Boardwalk is a linear park that’s maintained at such a high level,” Fentress said. “It’s one of the reasons people come to Virginia Beach, I think, because of the amazing Boardwalk experience.”
In the resort area, Park & Landscape Services is responsible for 5.5 miles of ground that begins near Birdneck Road and extends to 89th Street at the North End. The area includes the Laskin Road Gateway, the Old Beach neighborhood, several museums’ grounds, Norfolk Avenue, the Rudee Inlet Bridge and the Virginia Aquarium. Crews pick up litter, empty trash cans, raise and lower banners and flags, control weeds and spread mulch.
The division has an Oceanfront budget of $2.2 million, which is comprised of $855,000 from the General Fund and nearly $1.4 million from a tourism tax fund, which includes an increase of $125,000 in fiscal year 2026 to cover the rising costs of flags and flowers.
Park & Landscape Services also maintains all other public properties in the city, including school grounds, parks and recreational sites, pump stations and 165 miles of roadway. The division’s budget is $35 million, according to Fentress.
Public works takes care of trash collection on the Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue, but Fentress’ teams empty trash cans along the streets in the Old Beach neighborhood and on Norfolk Avenue. They also handle litter control in the public parking lots, arriving before the sun comes up on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
One of the most challenging jobs is removing sand that blows into the Boardwalk flower beds and on the equipment at Grommet Island Park and Hillier Ignite Fitness Park during major storms. Additional crews can be brought in to help, Fentress said.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
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