Wetland buffer maintenance at Tukwila Pond Park.

Jessa hacks the noxious common hawthorn / Crataegus monogyna.

Hidden away behind the big box stores in Tukwila is a very large pond (a lake really) surrounded by willowy wetlands.  It was improved via the mitigation process, as required in exchange for development on (poor quality) wetlands nearby.  The site used to be agricultural, and indeed the old fence posts can still be seen poking out of the water.  Due to development, creek out-flow was restricted and the area became permanently flooded.  Now it is excellent bird habitat.

Our work with the City of Tukwila was to remove invasive noxious species from the native planting buffer.  I casually mentioned to a couple of passionate children, "This tree is actually an invasive hawthorn species.  It can be harder to removed trees since they're large, sometimes you can girdle them to kill them."  Before I knew it they formed a team to start scraping it away and after an hour's hard work them eventually removed the tree entirely!  Other species we removed were holly, ivy, blackberry & nightshade.

After working, we hiked past abandoned train tracks and through the thick willows to reach the open water.  If funds could be secured, the City would like to create greater public access.  Biologist Sandra Whiting pointed out wetland species along the way and shared the cultural & restoration history of the site.

QUIZ!  What leaves are these?

cocean spray / Holodiscus discolor, snowberry / Symphoricarpos albus, noxious common hawthorn / Crataegus monogyna.  

Sandra Whiting teaches us about noxious reed canary grass / Phalaris arundinacea.

Genetic variation - a variegated (noxious!) blackberry seedling.

4 noxious sp together!  Ivy, baby blackberry, baby holly & baby bittersweet nightshade / Solanum dulcamara (which not the same as deadly nightshade / Atropa belladonna).

Black cottonwood / populus trichocarpa.

Black cottonwood / populus trichocarpa seed capsules.

Frogs, tadpoles and many tasks in KCD's wetland plant nursery.

The frogs and tadpoles didn't disappoint at King Conservation District's wetland plant nursery.  The flooded beds holding potted wetland species were teeming with delightful creatures.  These are encouraged with plant-flats left in the pools to create habitat.  We had to be careful not to over-flow the beds when adding water, lest the tadpoles go overboard.

My notes on exactly which species of rush, bulrush, sedge, etc. that we worked with didn't survive the trip home.  However I did find this list of plants grown at the nursery.  Giant bur-reed / Sparganium eurycarpum was the most showy plant we deadheaded (see photo below) as it has fetching spiky orbs and globular white flowers with leaves over head-height.  I am excited to spot this plant out in nature!

Hard to believe, but in 2.5ys of Squad, this is the first time we watered as a work activity.  Other tasks included cutting-off seed heads to prevent species from seeding into other pots- because some wetland species are hard for even horticulturists to identify without the flowers, we left a few on for ID purposes.  Fast-growing alders and cottonwoods had to be potted up as well.  We look forward to using the plants we've tended out on a wetland restoration site in the future.

Cheasty Greenspace- bucket brigade mulching on Beacon Hill.

This bucket brigade was our most complicated yet and the kids performed excellently with stamina and rhythm.  The sun was hot on the way to the mulch pile at the top of the hill but the mulch-dump-site at the bottom was rewardingly shady.  We furthered sheet-mulching work on a planting site from wintertime in order to smother weeds and retain moisture during the dry summer ahead.  As usual, working in the Cheasty Greenspace was a real pleasure.  (read more about the neighborhoods efforts at Cheasty in another post here)

After-play is always good fun, on the paths, around the bend and up the trees.  The fringe-cups / Tellima grandiflora are blooming.  Another lovely spring day in Seattle, spent in service of nature and community under the leaves.

Fern planting with the WA Trails Association at Evans Creek Preserve.

These kids worked hard on an 80 degree day in May!  They hiked in a half mile through a meadow and hauled great big sword ferns to transplant alongside a new trail.  It was very satisfying to return to the first location that Stewardship Squad ever worked on with our old pal Krista Dooley at the WA Trails Association.  At just 2yo, Evans Creek Preserve is a unique new public park hosting a charming network of trails criss-crossing a large historic property of wetlands, forest and meadow, gifted to the City of Sammamish.

We reviewed what stinging nettles / Urtica dioica look like and wondered about all the fluff floating by.  I knew it was too early for cottonwood and at the end I found the source- a willow species.  My Salix ID isn't stellar, indeed a tricky genus with 50 sp in the PNW.....my best guess is Pacific willow / Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra.

Sun! Music. Teaming with teens. Wetlands. Planting. And of course tree climbing, with the Nature Consortium

I will be hard-pressed to keep this post from running on and on….. we just had such a wonderful time with the Nature Consortium and the other volunteers that joined us at their public work party at Pigeon Point Park in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.  It was a delight to meet participants from the Service Board, a local non-profit that "mentors teens to conquer personal and cultural challenges through public service and outdoor adventure." (read: civics and snowboarding)  I overheard engrossing conversations between 7yo's and 17yo's, heads industriusly downward like the nodding onions being planted; they covered everything from their favorite authors to "What is the scientific name of plant this plant again?" (Allium cernuum).  Also planted in the meadow and forested wetland was thimbleberry / Rubus parviflorus to the cheery tunes of the Mighty Tiny Band.  Always a pleasure.