Removing invasive species
We've been freeing the slope below our small (urban) mountain house of invasive species.
Or, really, I should say my gardening companion has been doing it, with my encouragement. It's made a huge difference to date; first, he tackled the Japanese honeysuckle, English ivy climbing up trees and walls, and now is rooting out English ivy sprawled along the forest slope. He's all the way down to the intermittent creek in the ravine, and is making great progress along the creek bed.
Enjoying the hard physical labor, he's ventured forth on the lower slopes of adjoining lots, too, clearing trash as well as weeds. The results have been great. What was a sea of green honeysuckle and ivy in winter is now bare branches and a rich understory of fallen leaves (with bags and bags added from our neighbors' collections).
We're plotting additions of woodland wildflowers to accompany the shrubs and trees that have already been added (all characteristic of cove forests). That'll be my gardening challenge, as we 'landscape' the paths down to the garden studio (now in the planning stages, but hopefully construction to begin in the new year) and beyond.
It's fun to think about restoring a weedy, overgrown ravine to a semblance of a natural plant community.
Maybe someday, if and when a greenway is established along the creek, folks will talk about the enthusiastic homeowners (the botanists) who transformed the slopes along the creek.
Or, really, I should say my gardening companion has been doing it, with my encouragement. It's made a huge difference to date; first, he tackled the Japanese honeysuckle, English ivy climbing up trees and walls, and now is rooting out English ivy sprawled along the forest slope. He's all the way down to the intermittent creek in the ravine, and is making great progress along the creek bed.
Enjoying the hard physical labor, he's ventured forth on the lower slopes of adjoining lots, too, clearing trash as well as weeds. The results have been great. What was a sea of green honeysuckle and ivy in winter is now bare branches and a rich understory of fallen leaves (with bags and bags added from our neighbors' collections).
We're plotting additions of woodland wildflowers to accompany the shrubs and trees that have already been added (all characteristic of cove forests). That'll be my gardening challenge, as we 'landscape' the paths down to the garden studio (now in the planning stages, but hopefully construction to begin in the new year) and beyond.
It's fun to think about restoring a weedy, overgrown ravine to a semblance of a natural plant community.
Maybe someday, if and when a greenway is established along the creek, folks will talk about the enthusiastic homeowners (the botanists) who transformed the slopes along the creek.
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