Section5 | Section4 | Section3 | Section2 | Section1 |
FINAL 2022 Bioswale Work Session Sunday, November 6, 2022 A great team of eleven volunteers came out to help in the bioswale this morning. Again this month the focus was on removing vines and dead heading False Indiobush.
River birch and Switchgrass |
Bioswale Work Session Sunday, October 16, 2022 Under a fabulous autumn sky eleven volunteers pulled vines, dug roots, cleared bushes and picked up litter for today's session.
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Bioswale Work Session Sunday, September 25, 2022 A dozen fabulous volunteers worked diligently in the bioswale this morning. The weather was perfect and the river looked gorgeous - all very motivating! This was the weekend for the Tickclover or Tall Tick-Trefoil (likely Desmodium glabellum) to be out in force - we all were covered with it's sticky triangular green seeds. They are a challenge to remove from clothing. The focus today was on removing vines - Porcelainberry, Clematis, Fuzzy bean and more.
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Bioswale Work Session Sunday, August 28, 2022 The bioswale benefited from the work of 12 hard working Volunteers this hot and humid Sunday. Our goal for the morning was to try out the idea of 'mowing' the bioswale with home weed whackers. Four people provided ww and worked in groups of two to whack, rip out vines and pile resulting debris. Background: We have been looking for ways to maintain the riparian meadow character of the bioswale, discouraging woody plant growth. Online resources suggest mowing (to 6" height) annually, but the edge of the river is not exactly accessible for a tractor to mow, and the growth is so high and dense it's doubtful a lawn mower could get through. So it was thought that maybe weed whackers could be used. Today's experience leads us to conclude that home yard tools are not heavy enough to do the job. They are relatively fragile, require a lot of fuel for a job this size, and there is the problem of getting electricity to them. Also a 6" mowing height is pretty hard to maintain. I think we feared these would be issues, but thought we'd give it a try. Also, while recommendations are for late summer mowing to maintain switchgrass, the bioswale has many other species that are just now in bloom and ready to produce seed. August mowing would interrupt that process. So equipment and timing questions remain for mowing to maintain the bioswale as a riparian meadow.
Bioswale beauties, Aug, 2022 |
Bioswale Work Session Sunday, July 31, 2022 Eight volunteers tackled several key bioswale areas this week. The focus was digging up resurging False Indigobush, uncovering the native bushes along the edge of the parking lot, and limbing up River Birches. Happily, the Anacostia Watershed Society gave us several clumps of Wild Rice to plant in the wet area of Section 1.
A great big to our terrific volunteers! |
Bioswale Work Session Sunday, June 26, 2022 We had fourteen volunteers this Sunday morning. The group focused mainly on clearing the rocks below the plaza wall of vines and saplings. Vines had started to go over the top of the fence along the edge of the plaza. Also we cleared around the bioswale sign. An excellent work session!
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Bioswale Work Session with Capital Juniors participating Sunday, May 22, 2022 Ten fabulous volunteers worked on ridding our shore of the invasive yellow iris on Sunday morning. Massive KUDOS to Capital Juniors who came and worked so hard on every task they tackled. Wow!
Notes: Tasks for June work session and 2022 Monthly - knock down bush growth in Section 4 False Indigobush is a native but it's unruly and big. Dig roots from sections 2 and 3, religiously deadhead in late summer/fall, remove plants when young. Remove (dig) all Clematis vines in all sections, in particular #2&3 Try using the tree puller to remove Bush Honeysuckle Limb up the River Birches, section 5 Stay ahead with the work under the big Pine. Ask for mowing. Be on guard to remove Bush Honeysuckle and False Indigobush from all sections Use white vinegar to remove 'grass' growing over the sidewalk, section 5.
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Bioswale Work Session & Academy of Holy Cross Day of Service Wednesday, April 27, 2022 Twenty five high school students from Academy of the Holy Cross volunteered in a Day of Service for a 4.5 hr work session with their 4 chaperones. These students worked so hard and accomplished so much!
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Bioswale Work Session & AWS EARTH DAY Cleanup Saturday, April 23, 2022 Forty five AWS volunteers, 6 site leaders, and 10 volunteers for a bioswale work session contributed 2-2.5 hrs of their time at the Anacostia Community Boathouse, for a total of 60 volunteers on Earth Day 2022. Groups came from Concord Academy Alumni Association, DC Energy & Environment Association, unaffiliated individuals from DMV, and our own volunteers from ACBA programs. Manning Earth Day registration table were Jennifer Dumas (CRC), Emma Ashooh (CRC), and Amy Hubbard (CRC AM). Leading groups of volunteers were Jamey Dumas (CRC), Teresa Becchi (DC green volunteer) and Paul Flack (NCAWPA).
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Bioswale Work Session - 2022 Kick off with Gonzaga High School Day of Service Saturday, March 19, 2022
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Bioswale Work Session - Landscaper hired to grind stumps Wednesday, February 16, 2022 ACBA hired a landscaping company to bring equipment to grind out the many stumps from black locust and False Indigobush. Over 3 dozen stumps were removed.
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