Free the Trees!

Believe it or not, there are trees under there! About 15 of us were out last Friday morning working on the Little Falls Trail clearing out the porcelain berry and other vines and the good news it that we found trees - alive and happy to be freed from the weight of the vines. As we cut the vines back, sunlight streamed into the area, prompting one volunteer to exclaim - "I can just hear the tree expressing gratitude for the warm sun on its bark." For some of these trees, it's the first time in years that they have had the sun on their trunks.

For those of you who have never done invasive weed control before, we cut a window in the vines - cutting as high as we can reach and then again at the ground. The vines are left in the trees where they will die. We also leave the cut pieces on the ground to decompose. It's hard work and it can take two hours or more for one person to free just one tree. So it was great to see so many people there. Thank you especially to the Sidwell Friends Upper School students who came as part of their community service day. And thank you to our invasive weed control coordinator, Lynnwood.

If you have a group that would like to do a project, contact her at plants@lfwa.org. You don't even need to bring clippers - she has a group set! Lynnwood also leads a group in the Little Falls Stream Valley every second and fourth Saturday at 8:00. Contact her for more information.

Here are some pictures of the freed trees!