Vandalism
There has been a lot of vandalism in Madrona Woods in the last 3 years. See our ongoing summary.The Myth of Madrona Woods
Spring Weather, and a Fence
March 14, 2014 by adminPeter · Comments Off on Spring Weather, and a Fence
Filed under: Uncategorized
The last few days have shown us that Spring can come. Amid news of a Crystal Mountain ski lift getting wiped out by an avalanche, it's nice to see Madrona Woods reliably regenerating itself: osoberry, red-flowering currant, and trillium are as usual the early season providers of hope, color, scent, and proof of life.
But what's new? We have a fence at the Grand/Spring entrance. This fence was installed by the Seattle Parks Department's Natural Areas Crew. It is intended to support restoration of an area where a large amount of native vegetation was removed, by a person or persons unknown. The Parks Crew built the fence, planted new native vegetation, and mulched the area. Thanks to Lisa Ciecko and Mark Mead at Parks/Green Seattle Partnership for making this happen so well and so quickly!
If you walk by this entrance, please check out the fence, and please keep an eye out for persons removing vegetation. Any Madrona Woods volunteer (even if working solo) will always be happy to talk to you and explain what they are doing. Feedback about the fence may be sent to me, petermason065@gmail.com.
Summer comes, Grants finished!
June 19, 2013 by adminPeter · Comments Off on Summer comes, Grants finished!
Filed under: News, Projects, Work Party
Oceanspray and mock orange in Madrona Woods
Warm days and the flowers in the picture tell us that summer is here. During this season, the song tells us, "living is easy." We hope so, since we have finished our grants for our SE Madrona Woods restoration project. We are now in maintenance mode: watering and weeding around new plants, spreading mulch, and trimming around trails. In fact, the whole 11 acres of Madrona Woods is in maintenance mode. Some spots need more attention than others, but in general work parties can adopt a more relaxed, contemplative attitude. We meet the 4th Saturday of every month. Details here.
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.
Fall Starts Well
-
-
-
-
-
-
We've planted nearly 1,000 trees and shrubs so far this season. Only 2,000 or so to go! Green Seattle Day on Nov 3 was a great kickoff to the fall planting season. The next Saturday an excellent Seattle Works group came, ate lunch, and planted 350 trees and shrubs. Many thanks to all volunteers and to our partners at Friends of Cedar River Watershed.
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.
Help From Attendees of Climate Change Conference
July 13, 2012 by adminPeter · Comments Off on Help From Attendees of Climate Change Conference
Filed under: Work Party
The UW is currently holding its fourth International Conference on Climate Change. Thanks to Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, 15 people at the conference volunteered to work in Madrona Woods. Blessed by beautiful sunny weather and inspired by the sight of two eagles perched atop a douglas fir in the morning, we had a very pleasant day.
See all the pictures here
Great Work Party With Deloitte
A big thank you to the helpful folks from several local offices of Deloitte. They did a huge amount of volunteer work for us last Friday. Their tasks included clearing ivy, hauling wood for composting platforms, and digging out large holly trees. It was a very successful day and puts us well on our way toward our goal of restoring the final 1.5 acres in Madrona Woods.
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.