Report of Mary Scott Nature Park workday December 7, 2019
On a cloudy December 2019 afternoon, eleven neighbors and GNPS members worked at Mary Scott Nature Park removing nonnative flora, primarily bamboo from the southwest corner of the park. DeKalb County Parks Department provided a licensed technician to apply herbicide to the stumps as the flora was cut. DeKalb County Sanitation Department left us a dumpster for removing the waste. We overfilled the dumpster. There is a mountain of more debris nearby that the Parks Department person says will be collected mechanically next week. In addition to the bamboo, English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, nandina, Mahonia holly, privet, and Chinese holly were pulled or cut and painted.
Additional river oat seeds were scattered along the creek to begin converting the non-native flora to native plants. Our objective is to stabilize the creek bank during rainstorm runoff and flooding. We will add more seeds to the area next year. Lobelia cardinalis, and Juncus were also planted along the creek shelf.
The next scheduled workday will be Saturday, January 4, 2020, 2-4 when we plan to continue removing nonnative plants. Please bring your gardening gloves, soil knife/trowel, and kneeler to help. The annual Friends of Mary Scott Nature Park will follow the workday at ChocoLate to establish objectives for 2020.