A beautiful day. A
great turn-out of volunteers. And a
flawless execution and support by the City of Oakland. We began our day by picking up trash along
Claremont Ave, clearing Site 29 in the upper Canyon of illegal dumping, and
removed trash from Garber. Then it was
on to the major task of the day: expand
Fern Glade by clearing the ivy from a slope nearby. Once ivy is removed the ferns regenerate at a
remarkable rate. This year we chose an
area where there were few ferns – we will use the wealth of Ferns from Fern
Glade to transplant into our new ivy free patch.
But, how to remove a large section of ivy? THE ROLL METHOD. Lead by Bob Strayer this group began at the
top of the hill, cut and pulled a section and began rolling it in a ball, pulling and cutting the ivy along the
way. When the “roll” got too heavy and big
it was pushed down the hill and dragged into the waiting dumpster, supplied by
the City of Oakland. At the end of the
day, the dumpster was almost full, Garber had a huge patch of “ivy free
land” just waiting for the rains so we
could fill it with native ferns from Garber, and a group of tired but very
satisfied volunteers!
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| Fern Glade. Join us on Saturday, December 12 for our first Winter Workshop with Lech Naumovich. Check back here for details or contact Shelagh garberparkstewards@gmail.com |
Meanwhile, another group was weeding Fern Glade. It’s essential to keep the area weed free so
the ferns – and other natives such as the beautiful Trillium - can continue to
fill in where ivy once resided. We are
now waiting for the rains and excited for this year’s 1st workshop
by Lech Naumovich, December 12, where he will teach us how to transplant
ferns. We hope you will join us. Details to follow.
Join us for our October workdays – Tuesday, October 6 and
Saturday, Oct. 17 where we will continue removing invasive plants and mulching
our restoration sites throughout the park to support the growth of Garber's native plant species.
Thanks everyone for a fun and successful 2015 Creek to Bay
Day!
