Anne Fleming
Juanita Woodlands Log Blog
What’s Growing & Going On In the Park
Third Edition, Spring 2013
By Anne Fleming, Volunteer, Stewardship CommitteeSaturday morning March 30th
clean up the east section of Juanita Woodlands
Spring forth! Volunteer!
No experience necessary.
Families welcome.
It’s fun. Do it!
Have the satisfaction of helping to
create a healthier and more beautiful Woodlands!
FREE hot Starbucks coffee, hot chocolate, muffins and donuts.
Pull unwanted invasive plants, like Himalayan blackberry, ivy, and holly to enable young native trees to grow and flourish. Volunteers planted 745 native trees in January 2012 (Oregon Ash, Paper Birch, Shore Pine, and Western Red Cedar), but now invasive plants are crowding them out.
The young native trees also need to be re-tagged for identification. Mike Crandell, and staff from King County Parks will be overseeing the event and providing tools. Mike is our Natural Resource Coordinator for Area IV of King County Parks. Teresa Chilelli, FHNA Juanita Woodlands Chairwoman is coordinating volunteers.
Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Woodlands trail head at N. E. 120th Street. From Juanita Drive, turn east up the hill on N. E. 120th Place. Parallel park your car along the side of N. E. 120th, between 78th and 79th Ave. N.E. Hope to see you at 9:00 a.m. on March 30th! For more information on this event contact Teresa at TChilelli@aol.com. Thank you Teresa!
For information on future Woodlands events, stay tuned to the Log Blog, published quarterly on FHNA’s website. The March 30th clean up event is one of the many important events in FHNA’s 5 year re-forestation program for the Woodlands. Now in the fourth year of the program, volunteers have planted 4,500 trees throughout the Park. The success of the program is entirely dependent on volunteers! The focus throughout 2013 will be several clean-up events, to remove those persistent invasive plants from out-competing with the young native trees. The goal of the program is to create a healthier tree canopy as well as a more diverse wildlife habitat in the Park.
Spring (Vernal) Equinox was March 20th, 2013
The spring Equinox marked the half way point between the winter and summer solstice. Those long nights of winter are over. At the Equinox, nights and days are about equal length. The name Equinox is derived from the Latin “aequus” (equal) and “nox” (night). The axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the sun, and the length of daylight rapidly increases. The northern hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to “spring forth”, giving the season its name. The Juanita Woodlands is showing the first signs of spring: Small light green leaf buds are on Paper birch and Oregon ash trees planted Jan 2011 and 2012, New bright green leaves are budding out on native huckleberry bushes and native Indian plum bushes. Indian plum also showing hanging clusters of small white flowers.
Huckleberry Bush (above) and new growth of Indian Plum bush (below)
Tree Study Project-Quarterly Report for spring 2013
Currently there are 21 trees being monitored in the Tree Study Project:
- West Woodlands: (Jan 2010 planting) 8 trees
- West Woodlands: (Jan 2011 planting) 5 trees
- East Woodlands: (Jan 2012 planting) 8 trees
Tree height measurements recorded most recently on March 17, 2013. See 2013-3-17 Tree ID & Height Meas Log.xlsx for details on each tree’s height. A quick side note on progress of all trees in the Tree Study Project– All trees fared well through the winter, escaping all the possible perils of winter’s cold, wind storms, or damage from animals or insects. However, a couple of the trees in the west Woodlands are missing the top 2 feet of their trunks, evidently to a pruning tool. Both trunks have a clean straight horizontal cut. Tree ID PB1-JWW height was 104″ when I measured it in December but sometime between December and March, was reduced to 77″. Tree ID# SP1-JWW was 82″ high in December, but was reduced to 58″. (see below)
Do you have wildlife sightings from the Woodlands?
Send your p
hotos. I will post them in the Log Blog. Or email to me at afleming7000@hotmail.com. This photo shows evidence of woodpecker activity in the west Woodlands.
I’ve seen Pileated woodpeckers there, but by the time I get out my camera, they’re gone. Send your photo if you have one!
How to keep informed? Check the Juanita Woodlands Log Blog to keep informed on ‘What’s Growing and What’s Going On’ in the Woodlands throughout the year. The Log Blog is published quarterly: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
. . . . . . .Watch for the next edition of the Juanita Woodlands Log Blog Summer Solstice 2013!
I am sorry to learn about the damage to two of the woodland trees. Will this force weakened development of the trees? For example, if eucalyptus trees are “topped”, the trunk grows a fork above the saw cut and become unstable in high winds. Thank you for your work and writing! I especially enjoy your photos!
Lee, I’m very interested to have our 2 arborists (Arboricultural Consultants, Olaf & Paul) inspect the damaged trees and give us their assessment of them.
FYI, Olaf & Paul designed and directed the 5 yr re-forestation program for the Juanita Woodlands. They chose each native tree species and the best location in the Park to plant them. Olaf & Paul continue to visit the park from time to time to assess the health of the trees that have already been planted, as well as plan for future plantings….and educate us volunteers. I will blog post their comments!
What I have wondered since the tree-planting last year is that pines appear to have been used in the Juanita Woodlands to some extent. I’ve spent almost 60 years tramping our local woods and just never see pines around here. Are they native to Western Washington, which specific specie, and why were they chosen to be planted here? Thanks, Greg
Greg,
Approximately 900 shore pines and western red cedars were planted in 2011, as part of the Woodland’s 5 yr re-forestation program. Approximately 900 paper birch and Oregon ash were also planted in 2011. Our 2 arborists selected each tree species, as well as the best location for planting them. Shore pines like a sunny location, so the arborists chose the open sunny habitat along the western edge of the Woodlands along 76th Avenue. See shore pines listed in King County’s “Native Plant List”.
But I would also say, just as you have pointed out, that shore pines are not as common a native tree as many of our other evergreens, such as firs, hemlock and cedar in our native woodlands. I’m just learning about them.