In early June, a colleague from The Nature Conservancy, Lisa Younger came to visit. I was so excited to have her and her land stewardship expertise here to look at my restoration projects. Dismay overwhelmed me when we looked at the reed canary grass removal project. Looking at the 1000 square foot patch from a distance, it looked like the grass was breaking through the barrier. We didn't have adequate footwear to investigate further. I was too depressed to look at it the rest of the summer, there wasn't much I could do.
In October, I sucked it up, put on my muck boots and went to explore. I am very happy to report very healthy sprouting on the stakes and budding plant diversity! Bullrush, carex, watercress and more were filling in every available space on top of the fabric and the willow stakes were busting open (thank you Sound Native Plants for having such healthy stakes!). Truly a thing of beauty.
It is now December and I wonder how it's changing in these freezing temperatures and do I have to remove that geotextile fabric? I cannot for the life of me see how to remove it. Abel from the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust advised me in the beginning to leave it there for at least three years. It has been there since May 08 and will be under at least a foot of soil and plant material by then!
In the meantime, time to clear out my native plant nursery that's been growing since last winter this spring. Strong backs welcome! Think of it this way, it's cheaper than a health club...
In October, I sucked it up, put on my muck boots and went to explore. I am very happy to report very healthy sprouting on the stakes and budding plant diversity! Bullrush, carex, watercress and more were filling in every available space on top of the fabric and the willow stakes were busting open (thank you Sound Native Plants for having such healthy stakes!). Truly a thing of beauty.
It is now December and I wonder how it's changing in these freezing temperatures and do I have to remove that geotextile fabric? I cannot for the life of me see how to remove it. Abel from the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust advised me in the beginning to leave it there for at least three years. It has been there since May 08 and will be under at least a foot of soil and plant material by then!
In the meantime, time to clear out my native plant nursery that's been growing since last winter this spring. Strong backs welcome! Think of it this way, it's cheaper than a health club...
