In the Rhododendron Garden, volunteers have been busy around the rock creek area and upper Summit Path. Many thousands of small weeds were pulled, lots of blackberry dug, and one bed was mulched. Combined with the fine gravel work done to repair the trails, this section is looking really good.
It’s a wonderful time of year for planting perennials of every kind. Now that we can see a bit of consistently cool and wet weather, the soils are loosening up. Whew, it was a long hot summer. Volunteers helped plant many Rydberg’s Penstemon and Oregon Sunshine into the Xeric meadow, alongside new Roemer’s Fescue grass plugs. Just above this area, we planted a new Chitalpa tashkentensis ‘Pink Dawn’ tree. Thanks to all the Tuesday volunteers and Christina Bentrup for her organization (and some text here).
In the Native Plant Garden, we have found homes for several new Oregon grape, sword fern and kinnikinnik around the garden. Volunteers also transplanted rushes and yarrow that had outgrown their spots. They cleared away truckloads of debris from the south end of the garden near Mary’s bench and opened up overgrown shrubs and trees through careful pruning. We have been joined by members of the University of Oregon’s Delta Tau Delta fraternity, who cleared blackberry in the Picnic Area during our Thursday volunteer event.
Remember you can always come on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons to join in the fun. Check out the Volunteer Calendar to see dates of upcoming Free the Forest Saturdays, as well.
