The Woods is Always Changing
Madrona Woods offers an ever-changing display for us to enjoy. During this Earth Day month, we can all take pleasure in the last of the early-blooming skunk cabbage and Indian plum, and in the salmonberry, thimbleberry, fringe-cup and trillium. We can admire the new plants that have been put into the final area of our active restoration in the south end of the park and be thankful for the hard-working volunteers who have put more than 3000 there this fall, winter, and spring. The entire restoration has been, and continues to be, an ongoing venue for learning and discoveries. Even after the last plants are put in this spring, there will be a need for continuing maintenance and, of course, sources of money to help deal with the expected and unexpected. Many of us in Friends of Madrona Woods (we hope with continuing community support) will stick around to watch the results of our 16 years of labor become more and more beautiful as they mature. An example of how the Woods is always creating new challenges is Madrona Creek. Volunteers have spent two work parties repairing a section that was disappearing into a large sink hole just east of the Spring Street bridge. They filled the hole and diverted the creek for a month while a new channel set up. Then they put gravel and rocks of several sizes in the new streambed and released the creek. As of this writing, the water was going above ground on both sides of the park’s first small island. Admire it from the bridge.Decorate for the Holidays. Then add a tree to the Woods
October 16, 2012 by adminJS · Comments Off on Decorate for the Holidays. Then add a tree to the Woods
Filed under: News
Friends of Madrona Woods will be selling living holiday trees this December to raise funds for long-term maintenance and also to provide more trees for ongoing restoration. After the holidays you can either plant the tree you’ve purchased at home or donate it for planting in Madrona Woods. You can plant it with us or we’ll plant it for you.
We’ll have grand firs in 5-gallon pots for $30 and in 7-gallon pots for $45, and this includes delivery December 1 or later. Trees can be decorated and displayed indoors or out, though keeping them indoors for more than two weeks is not recommended. Sample trees will be on display at the Halloween party and other neighborhood events. Contact Peter Mason, if you don’t see him there, at 388-6490 or peterma5@msn.com to order and arrange for delivery. Care instructions will be provided with each tree.
Filed under: News
Good News: We’re on our way
We’ve received three of the grants we applied for, and this will allow us to move forward with clearing, planting, and maintenance in the last piece of the restoration of the entire Madrona Woods—the 1.5 acres in the southeast corner. King County has awarded Friends of Madrona Woods $10,000 through its Wild Places in City Spaces program, the Washington Native plant Society will contribute $500 for plants, and A Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple grant will kick in $19,440. A new partnership with Friends of the Cedar River Watershed is another key factor that makes it possible to tackle this last remaining section. Our first joint work party will take place on Friday, June 8th from 9:00 to 3:30 (or any part of this) with employees from Deloitte Consulting LLP. A presentation on the connections of Madrona Woods to the Cedar River salmon migrations will also be provided. As City of Seattle residents we rely on the Cedar River for our clean drinking water, to keep our Lake Washington floating bridges afloat, and to operate the Ballard Chittenden locks. Cedar River salmon also rely on migrating through this watershed. Anyone interested in joining in is encouraged to email nisa@cedarriver.org to register. We’ll be having a big planting push in the fall, and we hope to gather lots of laborers on Green Seattle Day November 3 to give us a boost. Put it on your calendar so you can start adding up your hours for volunteer match on grants.Anatomy of a Work Party
Most Madrona residents haven’t YET enjoyed a work party in Madrona Woods. Here’s a sketch of what goes into making a work party happen and what to expect WHEN you join in the fun. When you arrive at the tool box near the Spring Street entrance at 10:00 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of the month, you’ll find clean gloves (washed by elves?) and tools appropriate for the day’s work laid out. Some of these have been taken out of that toolbox, and others have been brought from other tool boxes or people’s homes. Deirdre McCrary and Peter Mason have recently been responsible for gathering everything as well as for selecting and setting up work sites. The latter usually involves building platforms out of scavenged branches on which to stack removed invasives, which otherwise might root if placed on the earth. It is current Parks Department policy to mulch what is removed on site. Sometimes there will be hot coffee for participants, especially if an outside group will be adding its muscle. It has to be brought that morning from Starbucks. There may also be hand-baked goodies brought by Deirdre or our other refreshments provider Tom Kushner. If mulching is involved in the day’s projects, Deirdre or Peter will have arranged with the Parks Department to deliver wood chip mulch at a designated spot and will have lined up lots of buckets and wheelbarrows. Most often this winter and spring, the work sites will be in the southeast corner of the Woods, the last area slated for restoration. Likely tasks will include pulling out ivy and small holly and laurel trees by the roots, digging up larger holly and laurel and entrenched blackberry plants, and mulching with cardboard (collected ahead of time from a cooperative BMW dealer) and wood chips. There will likely be some planting in March. At our last work party we removed and piled invasives on platforms under lovely old cedars and were delighted to uncover a few native survivors like Oregon grape, salal, and sword ferns. We talked and laughed and used muscles we knew would complain the next day, though virtuous pain is somehow easier to take than other kinds. Less vigorous tasks are always available. The scenery and the company really can’t be beat.Time to Admire
Those of us who have invested so much in the Madrona Woods restoration are getting a grand payoff now as we watch nature take over where we’ve provided openings in the woods, the ravine, and the natural area. The plants we put in are growing and creating lush landscapes and habitat. Madrona Park Creek is flowing through the scenic ponds and into the lake, giving us its lovely sound and providing nutrients for migrating salmon fingerlings. And we thrill to the wonderful self-regeneration of native plants happening in some parts of the woods that have been cleared of invasives: thimbleberry in the meadow, bunches of trilliums popping up in unexpected places in early spring, and swaths of Oregon grape and salal filling in all over.
We hope many of you are enjoying the beauty and growing diversity with us. Put a walk through the woods or cove on your summer agenda. Let me know if you’d like a guide to help you identify plants and to discover where to look for particular favorites. Or go to the native plant Gallery, to find pictures of native plants in the different seasons.
Our planters par excellence over the past few months have been Ann, Deirdre, and Peter. Deirdre and Peter have tackled the steep slopes which are hard for many to access. Deirdre has planted around 1,500 natives, and Peter has planted around 500, many of which he propagated himself. Many thanks to them for their dedication and hard work. Since these plants will need to be watered over the dry summer months, we’ll be suspending our regular monthly work parties so our more goat-footed volunteers can put their effort there whenever it’s timely.