Report of Mary Scott Nature Park workdays February 1 and 2, 2019
Goodness, where do I begin? On February 1, 2019, twelve AmeriCorps volunteers helped six Friends of Mary Scott Nature Park remove garbage from a ravine on the north side of the park and clear the southeast park boundary of garbage and nonnative woody plants. The AmeriCorps volunteers cleared plastic and glass from the ravine and carried it to a DeKalb County supplied dumpster parked at the eastern entrance. I wish this elimination of garbage were the last garbage removal effort required at the park, so that we can now focus entirely on removal of nonnative flora before we begin developing a bird friendly paradise. But, alas, there’s more plastic and glass to be removed along the northwestern park boundary.
The volunteers who worked the southeastern corner of the park removed garbage and dug out giant privet, cherry laurel, bamboo regrowth, Elaeagnus, Chinese holly, and Mahonia. The woody debris was pulled into brushpiles to provide hiding places for birds and reptiles. English ivy was pulled from tree trunks. Japanese honeysuckle, English ivy, and winter creeper were pulled out and bagged for the county to compost.
On February 2, 2019, five Friends of the Park volunteers continued to clear the southeastern corner of the park of English ivy, winter creeper, and Japanese honeysuckle primarily. Removal of English ivy from tree trunks continued. Four yard waste bags are at the front of the park for DeKalb County sanitation pickup and composting.
The next scheduled workday will be Saturday, March 2, 2019, 2-4 pm when we plan to continue removing nonnative plants. Please bring your gardening gloves, soil knife/trowel, and kneeler to help.