Summer Restoration a Success

Working in Fern Glade is always a rewarding experience.

Thanks to all who helped make our Summer Habitat Restoration Workdays an overwhelming success.  Throughout July and August volunteers cut and pulled fire prone invasives in our most critical areas for fire safety -  especially along the trails, the perimeter of the park (22 homes have backyards contiguous with the park), and along Claremont Avenue.   

Janet working on the trail at Claremont Avenue entrance. A
year ago this 1920's built trail was smothered in ivy.

We have cleaned up trash and debris along the Claremont Ave entrance parking lot, pulled and chopped ivy from the trees and the steep slopes along the Claremont Spur Trail where the buckeyes, big leaf males, oaks, and understory of ferns are now thriving.  We have removed erhardta grass, ivy, Himalayan blackberry and hundreds of brittle limbs extending to the ground  revealing the beautiful understory of  ferns, snowberry, thimbleberry, ossoberry, and other less fire prone natives. 

But the most difficult task and our BIGGEST THANKS go to the group that cut –up, moved and dispersed the logs and branches from an Acacia tree that had split earlier in the year and fallen across the trail near Harwood Creek.   Heavy lifting indeed.  The logs now line the trail preventing erosion.  And thanks to the City of Oakland for cutting the huge logs into movable sizes.

SAVE THE DATE:  Our next Habitat Restoration Workday is Creek to Bay Day on Saturday, September 20, from 9AM-Noon.    We will shift our focus to the lovely Harwood Creek Restoration Site, an area once covered with 12ft. high Himalayan blackberries but where today the natives are thriving, including milkweed, an important native bee pollinator.  Contact Shelagh garberparkstewards@gmail.com for more information and ways you can help.

In the meantime, do visit Garber and enjoy the trails through this gem of a wildland park.   We hope to see you soon in Garber!