Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, September , 2019

Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, August , 2019

Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, July 29, 2018

Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, June 30, 2019               

Eight volunteers turned out for today's work session.  We needed to focus on several areas today, but in particular to free up the emergency gate entrance to the parking lot.   Jim and Wade took up that job.  

The following tasks were accomplished today:

 Litter pick up along the perimeter of the parking lot and boathouse blacktop

 Removal of invasive clematis, porcelainberry vines and others from sections 2 and 3. 

 Took out vines and tree blocking the emergency gate from opening (left photo)

 Attacked the bushy stump under the pine... just cut off branches.  Needs alot more

Cleared from around the Bioswale informational board

 Limbed up the River Birches.

Rocks cleared of vegetation .        

BEFORE

AFTER

  Notes: Tasks for July work session 

 Clear invasive Loosestrife (purple flowers, easy to identify this time of year) 

 Remove False Indigo Bush - cut at ground level and poison it.  

 Clear the rocks in sections 1& 2

 Clear around the Sweetspire bushes next to the 3rd ramp in section 4

 Take out the rest of the busy stump under the Big Pine

Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, May 19, 2019               

One volunteer plus Jim and Mary in the work today.  She was great to work with - hope Susan comes again.    Beautiful weather!  We focused on the area under the big pine. 

The following tasks were accomplished:

 Identified a strong patch of poison ivy at the base of the pine -  Mary will bring poison later this week and spray it.   

 Pulled woody vegetation, so Billy can mow this month

 Raked pine cones - mostly into the river

The east end of section 4 is looking beautiful with Blue Flag Iris growing strong.   

Notes: Tasks for June work session 

 Clear the rocks in sections 1,2 & 3

 Limb up the River Birches, Section 5

 Try to remove the bushy tree growing on the seawall, under the big pine.  

Bioswale Work Session  - Sunday, April 28, 2019     

We intended to have another work session this month (in addition to Earth Day), but we did not recruit early enough and no volunteers signed up.  Jim and I looked around the Big Pine and noticed poison ivy ... need to spray it.  We called it a day.   

Bioswale Work Session -   AWS/ACBA Earth Day Clean-up                  PHOTOS

Saturday, April 13, 2019

This was the first work session in 2018, a combined bioswale work session and AWS Earth Day Cleanup.   258 volunteers participated, from 3 main groups:  30 signed up through AWS's online signup;  32 signed up through our regular work session sheet; and five high school crew teams participating in the afternoon Anacostia Sprints came early to help out:  Sidwell Friends, Holton Arms, Bishop Ireton, Georgetown Day and Seton joined Capital Juniors, for a total of 178 students.  

The following tasks were accomplished:

 Litter pick up along the full length of the river at the boathouse.  All sections.

 Litter pick up along the M St, lower Riverwalk Trail, upper Riverwalk Trail to Congressional Cemetery, and the CSX railroad tracks

 Plastic straws were collected and counted, for a total of 329 straws;  18 black, 15 green (Starbucks?), 22 red (7-Eleven?), 44 clear or nondescript, 57 yellow, white and red (McDonalds?), 24 unk pcs, and the largest number, 97 juice box straws. 

 An estimated 500 lbs of bulk trash were removed from the upper Riverwalk Trail (Barney Circle), include an old rusty refrigerator and about 20 tires.

 54 trash bags were filled and disposed of in dumpsters or left for DC River truck to pick up.

 Most of the logs and driftwood were removed, taken off on ACE debris removal vessel  (Jeff Peacock)

 Most (but not all) of the bush honeysuckle was removed, particularly in sections 4 and 5. 

 In sections 4 & 5 the River Birches were limbed up and cleared inside the fencing.   Some of that was accomplished in section 1 too.

 False Indigo bush was cut back in section 4. 

 Bushy vegetation was removed from section 2 & 3 (maple saplings, clematis, porcelain berry vines, etc) and the rocks were cleared.

Notes: Tasks for May work session 

 Clear the rocks in sections 1,2 & 3

 Replant Virginia Sweetspire bushes. (Itea virginica)

  'Repair'  Shadbush nearest the bioswale board.  

  Where's the hibiscus? Replant?

 Dig out the phragmites

  Eradicate yellow flags