Jazwin cape ivy project

I've just returned from my monthly cape ivy removal project at our Jazwin property. Last month I manually removed a large patch of ivy by rolling it into large burritos. Those are decomposing nicely. It took me 45 minutes to sweep through and pull any resprouts. I got about half a bag for the entire site. Wood mint, blackberry, and wild cucumber are happily taking the place of the ivy; along with some hemlock and italian thistle.

Then I started on the next largest patch, pulling the edges inward toward itself. I took the growth from off the trees and dead hemlock stalks. Here's a case of one weed facilitating another to spread. Hemlock stalks remain after they die and the ivy loves to climb along and get to it's next destination by way of hemlock stalk.

I feel that these smaller patches are extremely manageable by hand. On the site are 4 small patches (@ 30m x 30m) and one large patch 4 times the size of the others. I'll return monthly, hopefully with volunteers (although lots of poison oak is present) and be consistent and thorough. In the end, I have no doubt that the ivy will be eradicated.

Planting in Coast Live Oak Woodlands

We are planting native oak woodland understory in a few places around the Reserve. One of these areas is currently 99% Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus). Cal-IPC evaluated this plant but did not list it. It certainly seems to be gaining ground in one of our drainage areas and I consider it invasive. It came from a neighboring property and crept under the fence. This annual isn't hard to remove and I doubt it will be a serious competitor with our natives, once established.

Wood mint (Stachys bullata) was planted in tight clusters so that it might gain some defensible space against the Nasturtium. About 30-35 plants per cluster, 6-12" apart. Next year I'll get a bit more diversity in and plant blackberry, coffeeberry, and others.

California Red-legged Frog

Today we supplemented water to one of our dry ponds on the Reserve. It was recently excavated to create a small area in the deepest part of the pond that could be inundated with water early and retain water later in the season. The reason we are doing this is to create breeding habitat for the California Red-legged frog, a threatened amphibian with a significant population here at Elkhorn Slough. The rain we have had so far has not been enough to fill the excavation, thus our supplementation. Let's hope for some procreation!

Planting Greenhouse Demonstration Garden

Volunteers Gwen, Ellie, Martha and I planted another section of the greenhouse demonstration garden. Two types of annual lupin (L. bicolor and L. succulentus) and tidy tips (Layia platyglossa) were planted in clusters, taking up space that would otherwise be occupied by non-native annuals. We win.

Monterey Salamander

This little amphibian showed up as I was pulling cape ivy from one of our newer properties, Jazwin. It's a Monterey salamander (Ensatina eschscholtzii eschscholtzii). It was under a rotting oak branch. Those large black eyes are beautiful.

The cape ivy was a challenge but oh so gratifying to pull. I started just trying to get the vines out of the trees, then three hours later I had removed a pretty large patch. I rolled the ivy into giant burrito-like rolls.

I respect this plant because of its adaptations to survive, but I really love ripping it out of the ground and off the trees.

pulling English ivy

This morning I removed a 10 x 10 meter area of English ivy. I ripped it out by hand, carefully clipping back the poison oak that was intertwined in some areas. I cut the runners going up two coast live oak trunks. Those will die back and not pose a problem again. I'll be monitoring this site every few months for a year, then once or twice a year after that.

As I removed the final runner I laid my hand on a branch that was hanging near. I was thinking in my head that I was healing the land, especially so that this particular tree could grow. The message I got though, was that the land was actually healing me.

The piled ivy will be left to die and rot. Meanwhile, the ravine once covered in ivy will recover with natives already on site.

Baby rattler . . . I mean gopher snake

This little dude or dudette happened by the bathrooms one evening and before I knew what I was doing, I leaned down and put my hand near. The tail shook violently and I JUMPED back. It is only a gopher snake but it definitely wanted me to think it was a rattler.