Please remember to let people know not to dump leaves into the ravine. While the ravine can handle the natural leaf fall from its own trees, added leaves from outside the ravine clump and create an impenetrable layer that will prevent the growth of native plants next spring.

If heavily treed yards are creating more leaves than you can handle, try mowing over the leaves with a mulching mower first to reduce the leaves to flakes.  Then if there are still too many flaked leaves, vacuum up the flakes with the bag on the mower.  The flaked leaves take up only about 10-15% of the originals, and they decompose much faster when put in a mulch pile.  They’re also very good for a winter top dressing on gardens.  Then next spring just dig them into the gardens they mulched for added organic matter.  Use specific leaves for mulch, such as oak and other acidic leaves around azaleas and other acid loving plants.

Neighbors,

It is hard to believe that Fall is here and it’s time for our September Clean Up!

• Honeysuckle needs to be pulled out or cut;
• Tree of Heaven needs to be pulled out or cut;
• Litter needs to be picked up, especially in the Indianola/Yaronia Overbrook stream bed area;
• The Rain Garden needs its monthly weeding.

Meet for supplies and sign-ins at Overbrook and High; Canyon and Overbrook; Yaronia and Overbrook; Indianola and Overbrook.  We look forward to seeing you.

Join us to clean up litter, cut honeysuckle, and weed/trim the Rain Garden. Supplies will be located at Overbrook & High; Overbrook & Canyon; Overbrook & Yaronia; Overbrook & Indianola. Come and say hello to Susan Michael Barrett who will be joining us for this clean up!

The USGS has produced a brief video of a study on the effects of urbanization on streams. It can be seen at http://gallery.usgs.gov/video/corecast/2010/june/2010_06_03_127_urbanization.mp4?from=rss

We had another successful clean-up this past Saturday. 23 volunteers removed over 56 bags of garlic mustard from the ravine, as well as several bags of trash. If we stay focused in local areas, the impact can be quite impressive!

There were several questions about whether it was still worth pulling garlic mustard after it has gone to seed, to which there is one simple answer: absolutely! The garlic mustard still has the seed on the plant (they are currently immature but will start maturing soon), so removing the plant and putting it into bags (to prevent seed dispersal) still can make quite an impact in preventing future infestations of this invader.

I am also happy to report that our neighbor, Dr. Wiline Pangle, will be bringing her “Introduction to Ecology” class (EEOB 503 for those interested) to our ravine to look at the effects of invasive plants on native areas, as well as to identify natives. The students will be walking through the ravine, and spending a little time pulling garlic mustard. With 76 students (in smaller groups), every bit of time will help! Also a quick reminder that the recent (and upcoming) rains make it easier to pull out the root.

Thank you for all you do to help our ravine!
–Derek

Recent rainy weather has made it easy to pull garlic mustard (and almost anything else). I was out this morning for a combination of jogging and garlic mustard removal and noticed that the area between High and Cooke is a mix of good and bad. The area from Canyon past Lenappe to Cooke is pretty much free of garlic mustard. However, there are some pretty bad spots between Canyon and High, especially on the north side of the road.

Evil Garlic Mustard

What a wonderful morning to work in the ravine! Nice and cool, with freshly softened ground that made pulling out garlic mustard quite easy.

We had an amazing turn-out as well (35 volunteers!), from our usual crew of neighbors and school partners, as well as volunteers through the Earth Day 2010 (http://update2010.org) and our site sponsor, Malcolm Pirnie. As a reminder, there is an Earth Day celebration in Franklin Park on Thursday, April 22, 3-10pm.

We gathered 7 (30 gal) bags of trash, planted many native plants and removed weeds in the raingarden, planted 95 native trees in the ravine, and pulled out 70 (!) bags of garlic mustard.

There is still much more garlic mustard to be removed, so it you feel inspired on a walk, please take some time to remove some of this aggressive plant. Our mentor, Greg Schneider, pointed out that with only flowers on the plant at this point, if the stem is broken between the flower and the roots, the plants will not go to seed and can just be composted in the ravine or the side of the road.

Thanks for all you do! We are all very blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

–Derek

Visit the Adena Brook Community Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adena-Brook-Community/118291114855082?ref=mf group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39705564716&v=wall&ref=search or search “Adena Brook Community” in Facebook.

Just a reminder that our first “Second Saturday” cleanup will be this weekend Saturday 4/17, to coincide with the City’s Earth Day volunteer initiative. We’ll be picking up litter,  pulling garlic mustard, and planting trees from 9-11.

Sign in and supplies will be at Overbrook & High; Overbrook & Canyon; Overbrook & Yaronia; Overbrook & Indianola.

This is a great opportunity to get out and meet your neighbors while improving the community.  We look forward to seeing you.  Bring a friend.

Last night Dave Anderson showed me all the trout lily he exposed under the vinca and winter creeper that he pulled off the slope in front of his house. His house faces High Street and the rain garden.