Date of volunteer work: 05/24/2017.
Site Name: Johnson Creek Park.
Number of hours worked: 1.5.
Species removed: Blackberry/Clematis.
Estimated percent cover before removal40/50.
Approximate square feet of invasives removed20/20.
Maybe it was because it was early morning, cool and overcast, and because I’m reading “Lost City of Z” that the park felt nearly Amazonian. Everything was green, or tall, or tangled, and I was happy to have my shovel as I gently whacked my way to the area I’ve been working on. The first thing I noticed was the bush I had so boldly pronounced (and posted a photo of back in March) to be red flowering currant was in bloom with round, white blossoms. So much for my botanical skills. So now I will quietly declare it to be ninebark, post another picture and hope for the best. I brought my shovel along this time because back in April I’d noticed some smaller clematis stumps and hoped to dig them out. Unfortunately I couldn’t find them since so much had grown back. Instead, I used the shovel to pull down blackberries and clematis I couldn’t reach, or to keep both of them from climbing back up and taking over my previous efforts. After I finished, I went to check on the north end of the park and saw a bedroll/sleeping bag laid out and some other items. Not sure if it was “active” and didn’t want to get too close in case someone was actually living there. There was also a lot of trash under the giant horse chestnut that’s about the mid way point at the park. I’d forgotten trash bags and need to get some large ones to clean up that area when I go back. On the way out, I saw two different variety of bees that I’m not even going to try to guess what they were. I’ve posted a picture of one of them here.
