Restoration Site 1 - One Week after Planting

Colorful - YES.  Each flag represents a seedling planted
just one week ago.

I was lucky enough to be able to take the opportunity to check out our recent planting at the Evergreen Lane Entrance (click here to read about Saturday's planting) today between the storms.  The hillside is now a colorful array of flags across the hillside.  Last Saturday, just as we were climbing the stairs for the last time, after having successfully planted over 200 seedlings in the ground, it began to rain.  It's been raining off and on (mostly on) all week.

I'm pleased to note that the seedlings and flags appear to be enjoying their new place on the hillside!

Looking through last year's planting to this year's seedlings
to Fireplace Plaza below.  We look forward to watching
the seedlings grow and mature throughout the year.

A FUN Day of Planting Natives

Volunteers logged over 75 hours weeding, hauling dirt,
and planting natives during our three day Restoration
Planting Event!

What a fun day!  Lech makes digging in the dirt so much fun!  These are typical comments I've been receiving from the twenty volunteers who helped make our three-day planting event  in Garber an overwhelming success.  "Perfect," said many volunteers.

And a great day it was!  Although the weather was cloudy, there was no rain, which was perfect.  Storms had loosened the soil and made it easy to dig the 200 holes in the ground, which was critical since we were on a steep slope.

Barbara removing invasive
Pigweed from last year's planting.

The weather held until the very end.  As we were walking up the stairs for the last time - a very light mist began.  This was also perfect as the new seedlings received two days of rain to nourish them and aide them in adaptation to their new surroundings.

Safety was our primary concern as we prepared the steep slope for
planting day.  We dug out steps and secured logs across the hillside to act as water barriers and planting platforms.  At the end of the two days of really tough work we surveyed the hillside with satisfaction that the slope was safe.

Bob and Lech securing the logs. 

Everyone climbed the hill with enthusiasm, found their space, and
had a fun morning planting. While most dug holes and planted seedlings, others accomplished the long overdue weeding in last year's planting beds, and still others raked leaves into bags, which were used as the final mulch layer.

We have so many people to thank for our successful restoration efforts over the past three years.  Many, many thanks to the enthusiastic turn-out from the neighborhood and beyond who have volunteered hundreds of hours eradicating invasive weeds, and then joining with us in restoring the unique and valuable native oak woodland habitat. We couldn't have done it without you.

Looking at the fireplace from the trail at the Evergreen
Lane Entrance

Many, many thanks to Lech Naumovich, Executive Director of Golden Hour Restoration Institute, our valued advisor in all our Restoration plantings.  Under his guidance we once again planted over 200 native grasses and shrubs on the Evergreen Lane Hillside, completing our re-vegetation efforts on this steep hillside from above the entrance trail all the way down the hillside to Fireplace Plaza.



Also, many thanks to the City of Oakland for their approval and support, and to Claremont Canyon Conservancy for both their financial support and volunteers.

It's hard to believe that three years ago the Garber Park Stewards first began restoration of the Evergreen Lane entrance by removing a small section of Cape ivy that blanketed the slope.  Throughout the following year volunteers logged over 150 hours hauling debris and removing invasives.  By December the hillside had been transformed into the palette for which the first restoration plan was developed by Lech.  Five beds were created and planted with a variety of native plants and grasses that grow naturally in other parts of Garber Park.  Last year we expanded the successful restoration planting further down the hillside.  We expect this year's groupings of shrubs and grasses, chosen for their ability for soil retention and to prevent erosion, to thrive as well.

Clyde, one of the East Bay's
premier broom bashers, traded his
weed wrench for a trowel.

The Garber Park Stewards will be taking a break for the Holidays. We hope you will find a time to come to Garber to experience the beauty and quiet of this beautiful City of Oakland Open Space wildland park.

Restoration activities will resume in Garber on on Saturday, January 19, from 10AM-Noon.  Lech will guide us in a 
Passive Restoration Workshop and Planting event near Harwood Creek (Restoration Site 2) where the City of Oakland has invested Measure DD funding.  In contrast to our planting at the Evergreen Lane entrance hillside all materials for Restoration Site 2 will originate from onsite.  Come learn about in situ propogation techniques for a number of native plants.  We hope you can join us for another  day of restoration in Garber Park.

To see more pictures of our three-day Restoration Planting event click here.

IT'S PLANTING TIME IN GARBER PARK

We hope you will join us.  Bring family and friends,  and help spread the word.   Click here for a copy of our flyer  to download and share.  

We hope to see you there!

The Garber Park Stewards

October Workday Surprises

Berberis Pinnata (Mahonia) an exciting discovery, growing
just below Fire Place Plaza

October's Saturday workday saw a group of Garber's good friends working hard in the area adjacent to Fireplace Plaza where a flight of old stone stairs has just been unearthed, literally.  Because the native complement is rich and includes rarities such as Berberis pinnata, getting rid of the plentiful invasives is a matter of hand pulling.  And we noticed that a whole group of juvenile Buckeyes had survived their first year (a big deal for a baby Buckeye) in positions that restore the continuity of the old Buckeye forest down the hillside.  We selected a few yearlings and caged them against deer-munching,  hoping to insure their success. 
A related task was the inventory and assessment of  Restoration Bed 6 (just above the fireplace) that could tell us which of our plantings had been the hardiest survivors and therefore which natives to consider "matrix" varieties for further restoration planting down the hill.  Here, briefly, is what we found:

After two years, native blackberry is re-establishing its dominance in many areas of the hillside.  In February 2011 we had scraped the earth inside the beds clean. We deliberately did not plant blackberry.  On its own, it has re-emerged almost everywhere. This is consistent with the undisturbed lower hillside to the west of Fireplace Plaza.  Of the natives that we did plant, however, the most important are a trio of grasses.

Perhaps the hardiest of these, Blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus) has grown and reseeded in many places in and beyond the boundaries of the beds.
Not as energetic, but firmly present nevertheless, California brome (Bromus carinatus) has also reseeded.  In the Fall this annual is spent.  We will be interested to see how quickly it sprouts in the late Winter or Spring.

Replacing the old worn stairs
to Fire Place Plaza.

Common Rush (Juncus effusus) was a mild surprise considering the degree to which it has taken root and thrives in and beyond our beds.  Still clutching its seeds, it stands ready for wetter conditions to release them.  There is a clear crop of yearling Common Rush just beyond the several plants we put in two years ago.  So the conservative strategy of this reed seems to be successful on our hillside.

Among our other planted species both Thimbleberry and Gooseberry seem to be doing well.  False Solomons Seal will probably reappear in the early spring, and our planted native strawberries are lurking under the dry maple leaves with the obvious intention of  expanding their range. 

CREEK TO BAY DAY 2012

CREEK TO BAY DAY in Garber Park this year was great!   Under the guidance of Lech Naumovich, Director of the Golden Hour Restoration Institute and valued advisor to Garber Park's several restoration sites, we were able to emphasize and explore the Park's watershed areas and to consider future conservation for this critical wildland feature.  The closer we look at the water in Garber, the clearer its formative role becomes.  But this third annual Creek to Bay Day event in Garber also allowed us to assess larger changes that may be in progress and also the rate and quality of success in our various restoration areas.

WITH A DIVERSE GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS, which at one point included a cohort from Fire Station 7, we walked the Loop Trail in reverse, starting at "Fireplace Plaza"  heading for the creekside restoration area where Measure DD improvements had been carried out.  At creekside, we split up to pull invasives--poison hemlock, re-emerging Himalayan blackberries, Erhardta grass, Cape Ivy--and managed in about an hour to produce more than a dozen tall bags of weeds. On the expanded banks of the creek, to augment the Measure DD plantings in the creek itself,  the Stewards hope to carry out a major restoration planting this winter and spring when the ground is wet and workable. 

 AT THE CREEK we noticed many changes from our first visits three years ago when the entire area was buried under overarching stands of Himalayan blackberries.  Thanks to the "Berry Bashing" contingent of the Stewards the invasive blackberries are gone (a three-year project). And, thanks to Oakland's Measure DD, native and indigenous willows, ash, ferns, and equitsetum (horsetails) have been planted, and the banks are fortified against erosion. Thanks also to the recent WPAD wildfire abatement efforts, large nearby stands of native snowberry, thimbleberry, gooseberry, and ferns have been daylighted.  But perhaps the most interesting and unexpected change is the emergence of hundreds of Oregon Ash seedlings. Some of these native trees are in their second or third year and seem to have withstood deer nibbling.

OUR "PERCHED" OR MIDLAND MEADOW was the secondary destination of Lech's workshop. With a riot of invasive weeds and wetland natives, this large area of seeps and springs--the source of the lower creek--is inappropriate for direct restoration at this time.  Though it is ringed by an upper wall of native willows, the latent native biota is hard to assess and Lech suggested a small experimental area where all foliage would be removed for a period long enough to see what might be in the native seedbed.  We look forward to working with the City of Oakland and Lech for a planting plan that will best advance the unique habitat of this wetlands area of Garber.

THE MEADOW AND ITS CHALLENGES point the way for Garber's future.  The rich diversity and unique beauties of Garber Park are first and foremost the handmaidens of its waterways.   Garber Park IS a watershed and all stewardship relating to its welfare should be informed by that central fact.  It seems like long ago that the Garber Park Stewards recognized that the 13 acres of the park were "worth working for" but the elements and dimensions of that value  remained to be discovered. With friends old and new,  this Creek to Bay Day gave us the opportunity to look deeper, to consider time and perceive change, to notice the interplay of the larger and the smaller elements of Garber's particular environment..

THANKS TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS who helped make this such a fun Creek to Bay Day.  And special thanks to Lech for leading the tour and opening our eyes.

OCTOBER 5 GARBER PARK WILL HOST DR. MATTEO GARBELOTTO'S SUDDEN OAK DEATH TREATMENT WORKSHOP

With Sudden Oak Death confirmed in at least five of our heritage Coast Live Oaks and expecting evidence of further infection, the Garber Park Stewards look forward to hosting the first of Dr. Matteo Garbelotto's five East Bay Field Treatment Training Workshops on Friday, October 5, 2012, at 10 AM to Noon, in the Park's Fireplace Plaza.

In our outdoor setting and speaking to wildland managers, restoration volunteers,  and residential property owners alike, Dr. Garbelotto will address methods for the prevention and spread of the pathogen, present the latest information on SOD, discuss the selection of ideal candidate trees for treatment as well as the factors to consider to insure effective treatment, when and how to treat trees (including live demonstrations of treatments), and also address fire issues such as how and when to protect your home and property from SOD-related risk, when to perform yard work so as not to increase the risk of infection, and how to safely dispose of infected plant material. 

Dr. Garbelotto also recommends that local persons interested in attending this Field Workshop, acquire the regional overview of the advance of the SOD pathogen by attending the Thursday, October 4, 2012 "East Bay SOD Blitz Results" meeting to be conducted from 6 to 7 PM at 159 Mulford Hall, UC Berkeley Campus.  Details, a map, and further information can be found at www.matteolab.com. 

If you cannot attend the Garber Park meeting, Dr. Garbelotto will present this workshop in other nearby locations as follows:

Tilden Park: Saturday 10/6/12 at 10 AM at the Spillway Picnic Area, near the Lake Anza parking lot

Knowland Park: Saturday 10/6/12 at 2 PM at Knowland Park

Lafayette/Orinda: Sunday 10/14/12 at 10 AM at Community Center, 500 St. Mary's Road, Lafayette, CA

UC Berkeley Campus: Wednesdays 10/17, 10/31 and 11/14/12 under the Big Oak Tree at Tolman Hall Portico (These workshops are free, but registration is required by emailing your name, the date you'd like to attend, and affiliation, if applicable, to Dr. Garbelotto's lab or by calling 510-847-5482.)

Complete information on these workshops is available at www.matteolab.com

 PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT WORKSHOP

 

 

 

CREEK TO BAY DAY IN GARBER PARK

Saturday, September 15, 9AM-Noon:  CREEK TO BAY DAY IN GARBER PARK.

    Join us in our 3rd year of participation in the City of Oakland's Creek to Bay Day. 

Meet at the Evergreen Lane Entrance at 9AM  to sign-in, enjoy some coffee and snacks, and then be ready to walk along the Loop Trail to Harwood Creek for an enjoyable morning of restoration activities.

Our goal:  to remove the invasives that are threatening to encroach on the Measure DD funded Creek Stabilization project along Harwood Creek completed just last January.  

As part of Garber Park's Creek to Bay Day activities Lech Naumovich, Golden Hour Restoration Institute, will be on hand to discuss the importance of Garber's wetlands and the riparian corridor along Harwood Creek.  Learn to identify the unique plant and animal resources that reside here as well as the invasive plants that threaten the survival of this unique ecosystem.

Click here pictures of our first Creek to Bay Day in 2010, where volunteers attacked a 10ft high wall of blackberries, daylighting Harwood Creek.
Click here for 2011 Creek to Bay Day Pictures.  Volunteers completed our Fall Chores, worked with Lech to begin a transect of Harwood Creek, and discovered a new-for-Garber flower, Aster Radulinus.

Wear long sleeves and pants and shoes with sturdy soles.   We provide snacks and drinks,  tools and gloves, but do bring your own gloves if you have them.

Directions:   The nearest address is 144 Evergreen Ln., Berkeley.  From Alvarado Rd., take Slater Lane, then Right onto Evergreen Lane.  The entrance is at the end of the street.

For more information contact Shelagh garberparkstewards@gmail.com or 5100-540-1918.