Benches and Beaches and Cedars, Oh My!
by Amy Martin, Greenbelt Guild Coordinator
Hala said it best. “It’s amazing what you can get done in a day.” We knocked it out on the September restoration day! The Greenbelt Guild always impresses me with how they identify tasks, spontaneously form teams, and make magic.
Matt hauled truckloads of small branches from the large oak limb that fell by The Knoll and took it to the curb. It was a lot!
Cade, Francis, Keith, and Matthew sawed the main part of the large oak limb into large pieces and stacked them where stormwater rushes off the meadow to slow down the flow.
Cade had identified a large broken branch from a giant large-leaf ligustrum (privet — we hate it) in the Hidden Meadow that would eventually fall across the Woods Trail. Francis and Keith joined him and the trio dispatched it.
With the cut timber cleared away, an absolutely gorgeous eastern red cedar emerged into view. Four feet across at the base. Possibly the largest and oldest in the greenbelt.
Rethinking Bison Beach
Van, Hala, Steve, and I tackled Bison Beach access. Kids and dogs use this to access Dixon Branch, but it had become badly eroded. At Van’s urging, we bagged up a couple of years’ worth of trash stuck in flood debris.
Kids had tied a rope to get in and out of the creek, but the tree anchoring it was much too small. We moved it to a suitably large tree.
We cleared a bunch of invasives so a flat terrace became visible—a perfect place for parents and dog guardians to watch their charges safely cavort in the shallow water.
The old Bison Beach access can now be what it was determined to be — a channel for stormwater from the meadow, now slowed by the sawed branch pieces.
We’ll return once the soil softens from rain and install concrete-bag steps to make access smoother and continue slowing stormwater velocity.
A Bench in the Woods
Once the Knoll’s fallen branch clutter was cleared out or repurposed, and the Bison Beach access strengthened and beautified, the area seemed perfect for a centerpiece.
Matt’s son Luke made a prototype wooden bench as a Scout project. With his permission, Matt moved it from their yard to a high point overlooking Bison Beach and the young Catalpa Grove. He steel-corded it to a large privet stump to keep it secure.
It’s gorgeous and comfortable and just perfect for its spot halfway along the Woods Trail. A place to rest and contemplate the beauty of our greenbelt. We’re all extremely happy!
Goodbye to the Teepee
A joy of the greenbelt is watching how neighborhood children engage with it. A couple of years ago, some kids made a large teepee and survival compound in the woods beneath a large bois d’arc tree. It was so Huckleberry Finn!
But they moved on to other entertainments, and the teepee fell into ruins. Matt dismantled the remains, freeing the bois d’arc to be seen. Maybe a new generation will make another teepee. This fall we’ll continue beautifying the area with wood ferns and other native plants.
While Matt was showing us his work, Van convinced him to use the trash grabbers to snatch a very old plastic bag stuck in some branches. Shocking to think the 2015 floodwaters went that high!
Join our merry gang of Greenbelt lovers. Email Amy.
