Report of Mary Scott Nature Park workday March 2, 2019
On March 2, 2019, six Friends of Mary Scott Nature Park worked with twenty three National Honor Society members from Lakeside High School and Rivers Academy. The NHS members were earning service hours. Under the supervision of one Friend, two NHS members regraded the western entrance to the park to prevent rain runoff with soil particles from entering the storm drains and scouring the creek bed. Instead the water will remain in the park to percolate through the soil and enter the creek cleaner from their movement through the soil. A lot of soil was moved. Tomorrow’s rain will test the new configuration. The remaining NHS members and Friends removed English ivy and Japanese honeysuckle so native plants can grow in their place. Native plants nourish native insects which nourish native birds. In areas of the park that have been cleared of nonnative flora, we are seeing the return of bloodroot and trilliums. Each spring the volunteers are energized to see more native flora flourishing and blooming. There are twenty five yard waste bags filled with E. ivy, J. honeysuckle, lots of jetbead seedlings, and some Youngia japonica awaiting collection and composting by DeKalb County Sanitation. The bases of many tree trunks on the east side of the park are now cleared of ivy so the bark of the tree can remain dry and protective of the tree against invasion by fungi and/or insects.
The next scheduled workday will be Saturday, April 6, 2019, 2-4 pm when we plan to continue removing nonnative plants. Please bring your gardening gloves, soil knife/trowel, and kneeler to help