Short Summary

Garber Park is a 13-acre wildland park owned by the City of Oakland located behind the Claremont Hotel in Claremont Canyon. Garber Park is home to significant stands of big-leaf maple, California buckeyes and regenerating coast live oak woodland and forest. The Garber Park Stewards vision is to safeguard the native wildland resources of Garber Park while reducing the risk of wildfire and improving the trail system.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

March in Garber - beautiful Spring weather

Fern Glade one Year After clearing the ivy.   The flags
represent the ferns and natives found a year ago - the ferns,
Trilliums, sanacles, False Solomon's Seal have all popped up
after being freed from the ivy.  We push back the boundaries
of the ivy and the natives re-bound!
It was another busy and successful month of habitat restoration in Garber during March - and very bad day for the invasive weeds! Our dedicated group of volunteers enjoyed warm, sunny weather with ground soft enough to pull Cape ivy, Algerian ivy, poison hemlock, and other weeds by the roots.  And pull they did!  Cape ivy and poison hemlock that was blanketing much of Horsetail Meadow and the surrounding area - gone.  Horsetails are once again dominating the meadow.  A favorite place to work is along the Claremont Ave Trail from Fireplace Plaza to the Claremont Avenue Entrance - especially Fern Glade, where just over a year ago Algerian ivy covered the area, even climbing into the trees.  We cleared a small patch in a meadow and freed the ferns. Now, not only are the ferns re-bounding, but Trillium and False Solomon's Seal, and other Spring flowering natives are enjoying the ivy free environment.  This is truly a fun and rewarding place to work - the resources in Garber are amazing - once the invasive are removed the natives thrive.

Making the trails safe and enjoyable.  Special thanks
to Bob and Ricardo who cut up some big downed logs
to shore up the trail at the creek crossing on the
Claremont Ave. Trail.


Spring is beautiful in Garber.  Do come and enjoy this gem of a Wildland Park at the Gateway to Claremont Canyon, and if you see a volunteer say "Thanks."  Better yet join us on:

 Earth Day in Garber Park
Saturday, April 18
                   9AM-Noon
Meet at the Claremont Avenue Entrance for coffee, snacks. Then be ready for a fun morning
of restoration work.  Help clean-up and improve the parking area, weed along the trail, or spend the morning in lovely Fern Glade clearing the ivy and other exotic weeds away from the existing population of ferns.

Everyone welcome, no experience necessary. Dress in layers and wear sturdy shoes.  We provide tools, water and snacks.  Click here for driving and public transportation directions or contact Shelagh garberparkstewards@gmail.com.