Ok, this is the last post...

It's been five weeks since our lunch at Mamma Teresa's - how time flies! Geoff, Hedrik and Barry decided to continue coming in as long as weather permitted. Our main goal was to deal with the Asian bittersweet in the birch stand and the Lamium in a section of the Old Field, both pointed out by Christine in a walkabout.

Vines and seeds climbing the birches

 One way Asian bittersweet spreads is by seed, which birds love to eat. The seeds were rapidly ripening up, their yellow covering peeling back to reveal the brilliant red seed inside. The vines had spread up into the birches, with seeds growing everywhere. On November 1, our main task was to cut off seed clusters, hauling down vines as necessary. We went some way to filling a couple of garbage bags

The following Tuesday, November 8, we helped Brian, one of the Friday volunteers, build a log-walled plot just off the bridge in which were planted over a dozen dogwood of several varieties. Geoff hived off to cut down another Asian bittersweet plant, this one a much smaller vine growing along the fence on the north side of the pond. It was important to get it out, as directly south of it, near the Green Heron road, is a small native bittersweet, already challenged by DSV and wild grape. The Asian and native bittersweet can hybridize, something we'd prefer to prevent.

Bittersweet roots...

 On November 15, we returned to the south end of the Butterfly Meadow, this time to take out as much of the extensive system of Asian bittersweet vines as possible, which Barry and Geoff tackled while Hedrik dug out a good deal of the nearby Lamium. We found lots more seeds, so those garbage bags were stuffed by the time we were done. The main vines were pulled down, uprooted where possible, cut up and piled on site. Hedrik soldiered away on the Lamium, its spreading root system intertwined with the even more extensive roots of the raspberries, goldenrod and DSV that grow in that northern section of the Old Field.

Geoff and Hedrik discuss the Lamiun.

 Come spring, both patches will need to be checked and the work continued to contain the inevitable regrowth. Christine appreciated our efforts and agreed that tilling the area where the Lamium is spreading might be a good way to get at it. Geoff was the only one available on November 22; he spent some time taking out mature burdock plants to control the spread of seeds, a sticky business. Today, the 29th, has been a rainy one. With December around the corner, this could indeed be it for the season.

SUNDAY, JULY 10: FIRST BLITZ DAY

The blitz day - aka Weeding Bee - was a huge success!

About 25 people came out, including most of the TISG group, joined by Geoff's wife Judy, honourary member for the day. The main target area was in the Butterfly Meadow, between the tarp and the rail fence to the north. This is a large patch, with a lot of DSV mingling with many other plants that belong in the meadow. The group worked very hard, most people being there from 9 to about 1, with a mid-morning break at the Interpretation Centre.

The area was pretty much cleared of DSV, taken out entirely by pulling. This is proving to be the most efficient way of taking out DSV that is growing among other plants. Although the DSV stems seem to become more brittle as the plant matures, it was still quite easy to pull them out singly and in clumps without breaking them off. The pulled plants were carted to the sumac growing on the south side of the ravine, where they were used as a thick mulch. The understory of this extensive stand of sumac is almost entirely DSV; vines reaching up into the trees were torn down before armloads of DSV from the meadow were tossed on top. We'll need to monitor this for effectiveness. Several of us took photos, for both the TISG blog and the FWG blog.