WEEK 8, June 21

The first day of summer was welcomed in by Barry, Glenda, Hedrik, Geoff, Marg and Isabelle at the Tuesday Invasive Species Group at FWG.



We decided this week to work closer together as a group and to take a scheduled break half way through rather than going off in small groups of 2 or 3 and taking breaks on our own, as we have done in the past couple of weeks. Our main work this week continued in the New Woods and the area south to Green Heron Road, as per our decision last week to revisit areas that had been cut before. Regrowth of DSV - as indeed its regular growth - has been phenomenal this year and it is denser than ever. Pods are already forming on plants in the best conditions (lots of sun) and these now have to become a priority.

Our specific activities included recutting with scythes and continuing to clip under and around trees. Geoff returned to the section he had been cutting three weeks ago.

Before Geoff's Work

By break time, Geoff had it all trimmed back again.

Hedrik and Barry worked in the New Woods proper, cutting as far as the western-most tarp. Hedrik has done a good job of clearing the Hedgerow path on the south side, from about the middle of the New Woods to its entrance at the ball diamond.

Glenda, Marg and Isabelle continued clipping and clearing around trees.

 

In addition to cutting and clipping, we rediscovered the virtues of pulling DSV up by the roots. This is arguably more effective than cutting in terms of setting back individual plants. In fact, the question was raised later and there has been some discussion of the relative merits of these techniques. While pulling is a good thing to do and will be the main technique in use during our upcoming work bees, scything remains the method of choice for cutting large areas quickly. It is simply not possible to pull large areas but it is very effective for plants growing singly and in small groups, especially where other plants we want to keep are competing against the DSV.

In between all the hard work, we also managed to squeeze in a relaxing break complete with getting to know a weevil that stopped by to hang out on Hedrik's arm and some bird watching along the way.

WEEK 7: June 14, 2011

Given the vigourous growth of DSV right now, we are focusing our efforts on areas already worked on. Christine and Marg continued working in the triangle at the end of Green Heron Road by the Old Field while Barry, Glenda and Connie went to the New Woods.

Glenda and Connie worked on removing DSV that was growing up through the mulch applied around trees several weeks ago, clipping the plants and adding more newspaper. Barry recut with the scythe the western half of the lower section, clearing around the mulched trees and open area up to the trail that leads from the Hedgerow to the barn. The old tarp needed straightening out; it was bulging with DSV that was cut, then the tarp was folded in half and held down with branches and stones.

Here is a typical area in the New Woods, showing the regrowth and efforts to keep it cut back.  On May 31st after having been cut back, it looked like this:

Then on June 14, it was showing significant regrowth.  The mulched areas around the trees did seem to be more sparse than other areas, but nonetheless, it was a couple feet high and beginning to twine into the trees.

After June 14th efforts, the area looked much like this, with the open areas scythed and the trees cleared out.

In the area near the Old Field that Barry had cut in week 5, there is some regrowth where the hackberry trees have been planted but the small triangle where the trails meet is showing other plants as well as DSV.

Barry recut part of the area immediately west of the bird feeder post then continued with new cutting along the path toward the triangle where Christine and Marg have been working.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Barry continued cutting Dog-Strangling Vine (DSV) which is now under its best growing conditions, reaching over a metre high and twining, mostly around itself. 

DSV is getting harder to cut for several reasons, including thicker, woodier stems, difficulty seeing ground level owing to twining, and its growth into trees, which is aided in places where last year's vines had not been removed. Comfrey is now also very tall (some plants almost 2 metres) and flowering. No DSV grows in comfrey patches, but areas of the New Woods are being taken over by it. Pick our poison!

Barry also checked the area nearby that Geoff had been cutting and walked around the New Woods to see how it looked after all our work there. Geoff's area is shaded, so regrowth is slower (although still as much as 1/2 a metre), so more readily observable. Cut plants tend to put up one or two more shoots at leaf nodes, depending in part on the height of the cut.  At the same time, new vines are appearing, but it is difficult to tell whether these are new plants or vines from crowns of cut plants - probably both. The area on the other side of the trail to Green Heron Road that Barry cut several weeks ago is now almost indistinguishable from the uncut field; the main difference is less twining. The south side of the pond is marginally better; the triangle formed by trails south of the bridge, cut early on, has some DSV but is showing plenty of other growth; the cut sections east of it toward the Butterfly Meadow are regrowing but still readily distinguishable from the uncut parts.

The New Woods presents a discouraging scene; it is difficult to see any lasting results of our efforts throughout May. Much regrowth, coming up through the newspaper / leaf mulch (both through the mulch and at the edges, including right at the tree trunks) and vigorous enough to push up the tarp. It seems that this vigour is enough to displace the tarps, so we will need to revisit our approach to how to use both large tarps and the mulch.

June 7 was a Productive TISG day

It was a was a warm one, but we had Barry, Glenda, Hedrik, Christine, Marg, and Gretchen turn up.  Glenda tackled DSV in the New Woods (NW), cutting new growth, clearing out last year's growth from tree branches.

Hedrik is also worked in the NW, working today with a sickle to clear the wooded area just west of the pond and then, toward the end of the morning, switching over to the Butterfly Meadow, where he also volunteers on Wednesday evenings.

Christine and Marg continued using shears to clip around native plants and small trees in the north east corner of the Old Field and the Triangle.

Christine located some rare white-blooming DSV as well as an even rarer diseased or damaged plant; these were left standing for further observation. We are particularly curious about the distressed plant; the cause of the distress is not clear, but it is significant, as the plant's flowers have dried up and its leaves are spotted and browning.

Barry continued with the scythe, cutting a small area on the west edge of the pond just south of the willow and recutting around the tarp laid down in Week 4. The wind had blown it around quite a bit and DSV was thriving; Barry straightened out the tarp, replacing the branches being used to help it stay in place. Obviously, heavier weights will be necessary. Barry then continued in the Old Field, cutting at the northeast corner. After break, he cut the area leading into and surrounding the bird feeder at the entrance to the Ash Woodlot.

Welcome to the Tuesday Invasive Species Group!

The Tuesday Invasive Species Group (TISG) began operations at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden on May 3, 2011. Several species of invasive plants have been encroaching on the Fletcher Wildlife Garden since its founding in 1991, with Dog-strangling Vine being the most serious of these.  Focused efforts against invasives are required if we are to have any success in dealing with them. The TISG has been established to provide that focus.

The group meets every Tuesday morning at 9:00 and works until about noon, with a break around 10:30 at the Interpretation Centre. We are engaged in physical removal of invasive plants, protecting trees through mulching, monitoring the growth and spread of invasives through photographing and mapping, and providing public education on invasives.

New members are welcome! Just turn up on a Tuesday morning and let us know how you would like to get involved.