City plans proliferation of small parks | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/06/2010

City plans proliferation of small parks | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/06/2010

Mayor Nutter pledged that each city resident would be 10-minute walk away from a green park in the city.

This is a great opportunity to increase the urban forest and the the health of the native ecosystem.

Healthy Forest - Restoring the Wissahickon

White Oak sapling just planted

Wiegard, Ave. Wissahickon Forest, Fairmount Park

Weather: clear, cool, hi. 48 degrees F, lo 42 degrees F, wind 4 - 7 mph. Habitat: Oak-Hickory Forest.

I volunteered with Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers Sunday. It was a clear beautiful day in the Wissahickon Forest. The sky was clear and that warm blue of autumn.  The glowing gold of Sugar Maples brightened up the forest. The White Oaks still have their dry and crinkly brown leaves firmly attached to branches. Many Tulip Trees are bare. Brown bare limbs and crackly dead leaves litter the forest floor.

We spent two hours this morning cutting down and pulling out Multifloral Rose, Privet and Oriental Bittersweet. In their places we planted the native forest trees of the Wissahickon, White Oak, Red Oak and Sweetbay Magnolia. Black Gum was planted down by the water.

When new trees are planted, white plastic deer guards are wrapped around the trees to stop deer from browsing (eating) the tender young branches.  Deer generally don't eat the invasive species that we have to chop out of the forest. They eat the native species they evolved with over millennium.  The deer eat some non-native plants but not the ones which become invasive. If they did, they we could walk the forest each weekend instead of digging.

Red Oak firmly in the ground

When you buy a plant from a nursery that claims to be deer-resistant, you know that if it escapes into the woods, it can become invasive because the deer can or won't eat it.

The oak trees are planted according to their likes and dislikes. White Oaks like the deep forest best so deeper in  they go. We plant Red Oaks (Quercus rubra) at the edge of the forest because the Red Oak is not so picky.

White Oaks waiting to be planted

I like doing restoration work because I am doing something about the environmental mess we are in . If I just sit, all I can think of is the devastation. Restoration work gives me hope.  And I can see instant results. The invasive vines that choke and bring down trees are gone. Privet hedges that block the view of a beautiful creek are removed. The sun shines, Chickadees call and the forest is beautiful again.

Golden leaves brighten the forest

Falls along the Wissahickon Creek

Mallard duck pair on the Wissahickon Creek

Stormy Night and Bare Trees

orange, red and gold chestnut and maples.

Yesterday, trees were brilliant with color. The day was overcast, with diffused light. The naturally soft light made the colors pop all the more.

a golden maple

an Oak leaf

But, last night we had wind and rain that blew the leaves from the trees and shrubs. The brilliant colors from yesterday are almost gone. Philadelphia receives the majority of our rain in spring and fall.  This makes it a good time to plant trees and shrubs.  

oak tree with falling leaves

The habitat restoration group I volunteer with, plants native trees and shrubs at this time of year. The volunteers spent the summer pulling up invasive alien plants. When the plants are in leaf it is easy identify and pull the invaders out.

bare trunks and branches

I didn't notice the twisted shapes of these trees in summer. The leaves hid the bowed trunks. It reminds me of humans who wear plants to hide bowed legs.

hydrangea blossoms

These blossoms are naturally dried flowers. I like the papery, translucent  leaves. The veins make patterns and interlocking lines, that are backlit by the late afternoon sun. 

Autumn is truly beautiful. The world is truly beautiful.