January 15 Stewardship Day

Thanks to all who came to spend one of our first warm sunny days in 2011 to Garber Park to attack invasive weeds.  Himalayan blackberry and Cape ivy, two of the most invasive weeds in Garber Park, had an especially bad day.

Lynn, Jon, and Bob at the end
of a successful day in the blackberry thickets.
 Said Lynn, "Enjoyed making headway clearing the
willow from that blackberry."

The Blackberry Bashers (as we’ve come to call them) put on their thick gloves and heavy clothes and headed out to Lower Harwood Bridge to cut back Himalayan blackberries around the willow trees.  It was interesting to find that these trees, which were deep inside the blackberry patch, had been pruned sometime in the past, clearly before the blackberries took over.

A large part of Garber is flat with
a good trail and a gentle walk in
from Rispin Lane.

Then there was the group that began removing Cape ivy near the Springs on the upper Loop Trail.  Five bags of Cape ivy were filled and hauled to the Evergreen Lane entrance. This crew also pulled some poison hemlock and forget-me-nots near the trail, which can be left on site since they won’t resprout.  This crew had the pleasure of working around a beautiful native Red Alder whose delicate catkins are just beginning to form.   Cape ivy is such a vigorous grower that the stewards will need to continually return to this site until it is finally eradicated.

Cheryl and Ann with their load
of cape ivy.    

 A third group continued preparing the area around Fireplace Plaza for our Restoration planting on Saturday, February 19.  While no new stone artifacts were discovered (see blog entry from Jan. 4) we did make progress in defining the perimeter of the plaza by creating a berm with the eucalyptus duff.

At the end of the day Cheryl commented that it was "a beautiful week-end to be out in nature - and helping it along."  We all agreed.





Next Stewardship dates:  Tuesday, February 1 from 10AM-Noon.  Activities:  Our main focus will be preparing our Restoration Site for planting, invasive weed removal, and trail maintenance.  Saturday,  February 19 - we hope to begin our Restoration Planting.  Details to follow. We hope you can join us.
 

Alnus Rubra (Common name, Red Alder)
You can find more beautiful pictures of
natives at Kay Loughman's website,
"Wildlife in theNorth Hills"
(under links to the right).

We were pleased to have Janet Gawthrop
from the California Native Plant Society
join us and give us insight into the
relationship of the invasives and
the natives.