2008 west duwamish greenbelt restoration project · 2008 west duwamish greenbelt restoration...
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Washington Native Plant Society (Central Puget Sound Chapter)
Native Plant Stewardship Site Plan
2008 West Duwamish Greenbelt
Restoration Project
The continuation of a cooperative project between:
Washington Native Plant Society Seattle Parks and Recreation
Green Seattle Partnership The Nature Consortium
September 2008
Marianna Clark Holly Gregg
Lisa Griswold Jake Lin
Zydeco Motos Mark (Buphalo) Tomkiewicz (Forest Steward, Nature Consortium)
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Property Location The WNPS 2008 West Duwamish Greenbelt restoration site is part of the Soundway Property. The Soundway Property is seven acres of forest on the western edge of the West Duwamish Greenbelt. South Seattle Community College borders the property to the north. SW Holly Street borders the property to the south, and 16th Avenue SW lies to the west. This is City of Seattle, Department of Transportation property. The Parcel Identification Number is: 2428200165/2428200085/2428200005. The WNPS 2008 WDGB site is about one acre just south of SSCC and bordered by two trails. It consists of three areas: a flat sunny upper shelf, a moderate to steep partially shaded slope, and a lower area that is sunny and flat with some wetter sections.
Background and Description The West Duwamish Greenbelt is the largest contiguous greenbelt in Seattle, encompassing over 800 acres of forested public land. Named after the Duwamish tribe that populated metropolitan Seattle before European colonization, it fronts the eastern slopes of West Seattle and is visible from I-5. The greenbelt encompasses the extended forest along the eastern slopes of West Seattle that is visible from I-5. The West Duwamish Greenbelt is home to fox, red-legged frogs, hawks, and bald eagles. There are ample easily accessible trails for walkers, hikers, and runners; in addition, a destination for formal and informal field trips for youths. Our team has been assigned an approximately one acre plot adjacent and south of Seattle South Community College. Most of the perimeter of our site is outlined by trails. An interesting fact is the presence of cottonwoods and Madrones growing next to each other; both appear to be self propagating and healthy. There are 3 well-defined land relief zones: the ridge (area A), mid-slope (area B), and then the valley (area C) – this naturally leads to the conclusion of having dry and moist soil types. Some of the other native species observed were big leaf maple, beaked hazelnut, dogwood, sword ferns, salmonberry, willow, native blackberry, Indian plum, white pine, and recently planted Douglas fir. Some invasive species that we will aim to eliminate are Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, English holly and hawthorn. We have not spotted any ivy in our specific boundaries, but very close by, we see mounts of ivy that Nature Consortium and its volunteers have culled. Our project scope includes efforts to control and hopefully complete eradication of the before named invasive plants. The other big challenge that we will undertake is the planting of about 6000 native trees/shrubs; the varieties that we are entertaining include firs, hemlocks, Western red cedar, dogwood, maples, salal, Oregon grape and ferns. It is fair to suggest that without healthy and self sufficient trees and shrubs, then a forest would no longer fit be itself and that a greenbelt would no longer be a habitat for local animals and birds. Much like other urban parks in Seattle, the West Duwamish Greenbelt has many problematic invasive plants – English ivy, Himalayan Blackberries, Scotch broom and English holly are the prime culprits. These nonnative species procreate, grow and spread much faster than the native floras and through resource consumption and crowding; seriously undermines the health of the local native plant population, and will eventually displace and exterminate the native plants from the West Duwamish Greenbelt. A natural, self sufficient and thriving greenbelt requires a mixture of local floras. Our goal is to develop and help engender this
greenbelt with a tilt towards a collage of evergreens, native deciduous trees, shrubs, and undergrowth. This mixture will create multiple canopies and habitats for the local wildlife.
Project Objective
Control and eradicate invasive non-native flora, and then plant and nurture native trees, shrubs and ferns in the designated acre site in West Duwamish Greenbelt by July 2009.
Map showing the three areas and elevation contours.
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Photos taken from the center of the Site Assessment circle (July 5, 2008)
Facing NE (above) Facing NW (below)
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Photos taken from the center of the Site Assessment circle (July 5, 2008)
Facing SE (above) Facing SW (below)
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Existing Native Trees and Shrubs in the WDGB Site – August 2008
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Primary Tasks, Work Schedule and Estimated Volunteer Hours
Task Time Workers Notes Invasive Removal
450 hours Crew and Volunteer Work Parties
Many Holly and Hawthorne to be painted with poison by crew. Brush-cutting by Crew on slope.
Secondary Removal
100 hours Volunteer Work Parties
Ongoing. Re-dig past areas prior to starting newer areas.
Final Removal and
Mulch
200 hours Crew and Volunteer Work Parties
Sheet mulch flat sunny areas. Spot mulch shaded areas as needed. Coir mats on slope.
Planting 160-200 hours
Crew and Volunteer Work Parties
About 6000 trees, shrubs and ferns. Many bare-root.
Monitor and Maintenance
20 hours/year Decreasing
Volunteer Work Parties Adopted by
NC
Adopted by Nature Consortium. Ongoing for 3-5 years
Invasive Removal
Himalayan Blackberry • Blackberry has thorns. Be sure to wear gloves! • Cut and grub root wads (may be necessary to repeat for 2-3 growing seasons before
planting as this species is very vigorous and difficult to eradicate). English Hawthorne, Mountain Ash, and English Holly
• Small, young plants may be hand-pulled or weed-wrenched • Cut seed heads, place in plastic bag and dispose of in a landfill immediately • Large plants require herbicide (Only to be performed by Parks staff or contractors)
Scot’s Broom
• Hand-pull small plants and weed-wrench or excavate larger plants when soil is moist in spring OR
• Cut plants in early summer, just as flowering begins, then cut again at least once later in summer.
Mulching
Areas A and C will require sheet-mulching to prevent the blackberry from growing back. We need 30,000 square feet of cardboard and 370 cubic yards of wood chips to achieve 4” of sheet mulch in Areas A and C. Cardboard will be overlapped by 4 inches. Coir matting is needed to mulch and stabilize the slope in Area B. Area B is about 16,000 square feet, but there is about 15% coverage by native trees and shrubs.
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Planting Plan This site is approximately 55,000 square feet (more than one acre). It has 3 main planting areas. Area A (22,000 sq ft) is a flat sunny upper shelf, Area B (16,000 sq ft) is a moderate to steep partially shaded slope, and Area C (12,000 sq ft) is sunny and flat with some wetter areas. All of the areas require planting, but Area B will not require as many plantings as the other two areas due to the presence of native under-story (Indian Plum, Trailing Blackberry, etc). About 1300 trees are needed to achieve an average of 6-foot centers.
Special Requirements and Needs The slope (area B) consisting of about 16,000 sq. ft. will require crew effort to clear the invasive blackberry (4 days), mulch (2 days) with coir mats to prevent erosion, and, lastly, to plant (4 days). Also, Parks Department crew time will be needed to cut and poison many large invasive Holly and Hawthorne trees.
Disposition of Data Form When due Send to GSP Tools, Materials & Volunteer Request 3 wks before event Joanna Nelson, GPS GSP Group Volunteer Sign-in Form after event Joanna Nelson, GPS GSP Event Work Log after event Joanna Nelson, GPS Plant Request August 2008 Joanna Nelson, GPS Site Restoration Plan August 2008 Debra Gurney, WNPS WNPS Steward Resource Request Form with Plan Debra Gurney, WNPS WNPS Volunteer Hour Report monthly WNPS website GSP forms are available here: http://greenseattle.org/forest-steward-resources WNPS volunteer hours report: http://www.wnps.org/npsp/npspvol_hoursreport.htm
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WNPS Stewardship Team Resource Request Form
Park: West Seattle Greenbelt Team Members: Marianna Clark, Holly Gregg, Lisa Griswold, Jake Lin, Zydeco Motos, Buphalo Tomkiewicz
Date: Sept. 25, 2008
Professional Crew Task Task (In order of priority) Estimated
number of crew days *See "Sheet B"
Desired time between mid Sept.-Dec. 2007
If crew is not available can this task be
completed by volunteers?
Remove Himalayan blackberry 4 September - October Crew help is needed for a 16000 sq ft area of
moderate to steep slope.Mulch with coir matting 2 October - November
Plant native plants 4 November - December ( work on 16,000 sq ft of slope)
Volunteer Tasks
Task (In order of priority) Estimated number of
volunteer hours
Scheduled time of year (this does not serve as
event notification)
Invasive removal 450 July - September Secondary removal 100 September - October
Final removal and sheet mulching
200 October - November
Planting 160-200 November - December
Plants Species quantity Desired stock type
(1gal container, bare-root plugs)
If a species is not available is there an
alternative?
see attached plant list
Materials Description (mulch,cardboard,
erosion control fabric…etc) quantity Desired time between
mid Sept.-Dec. 2007If materials are not
available is there an alternative plan or
source?cardboard 30,000 sq ft September - October
wood chips 370 cubic yards September - October coir matting 10,000 sq ft September - October
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WDGB Plant Request
Species Scientific Name Area A Area B Area C TotalBig leaf maple Acer macrophyllum 67
Black hawthorne Crataegus douglasii 67 Bitter cherry Prunus emarginata 67
Cascara Rhamnus purshianna 67 Garry oak Quercus garryana 67 Grand fir Abies grandis 67
White pine Pinus monticola 67 Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii 226
Western red cedar Thuja plicata 369 Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla 226
Salal Gaultheria shallon 355
Tall Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium 327 Low Oregon grape Mahonia repens 355
Bald-hip rose Rosa gymnocarpa 164 Nootka rose Rosa nutkana 164 Vine maple Acer circinatum 327
Serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia 327 Beaked hazelnut Corylus cornuta 164
Oceanspray Holodiscus discolor 382 Indian plum Oemleria cerasiformis 382
Mock orange Philadelphus lewisii 164 Pacific ninebark Physocarpus capitatus 136
Red osier dogwood Cornus sericea 136 Red-flowering current Ribes sanguineum 327
Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis 491 Snowberry Symphoricarpus albus 491 Evergreen
huckleberry Vaccinium ovatum 136
Blue elderberry Sambucus nigra ssp. Cearulea
136
Redstem ceanothus Ceanothus sanquineus 136 Sword fern Polystichum munitum 355
TOTAL 0 6746
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Contact Information Native Plant Stewardship Team Members
Marianna Clark 206-683-3418(c) 2116 2nd Ave W [email protected] 206-284-6156 Seattle 98119
Holly Gregg 206-718-2637(c) 10841 37th Ave SW [email protected] 206- 937-7991 Seattle 98146
Lisa Griswold 206-854-2172 6929 Carleton Ave S [email protected] Seattle 98108
Jake Lin 206-769-4719 711 Belmont Pl E# 205 [email protected] Seattle 98102
Zydeco Motos 206-755-1162 910 1/2 E Pike St [email protected] Seattle 98122
The Nature Consortium, Forest Steward
Mark (Buphalo) Tomkiewicz 206- 818-1731(c) 4408 Delridge Way SW #306 [email protected] 206-923-0853 Seattle 98106 WNPS, Native Plant Stewardship Program
Debra Gurney 206-200-3310 [email protected] Native Plant Forest Steward Program Coordinator Gary Smith [email protected] Green Seattle Partnership, Forest Steward Project Manager
Joanna Nelson 206-292-5907 [email protected] 206-240-2222 Seattle Parks & Recreation, City Forester
Rory Denovan 206-601-7423 [email protected] Websites: Washington Native Plant Society http://www.wnps.org/
Green Seattle Project http://www.greenseattle.org/
Seattle Urban Nature http://www.seattleurbannature.org/index.html
The Nature Consortium http://www.naturec.org/index.htm
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APPROVALS
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WNPS 2008 West Duwamish Greenbelt Team Lead
____________________________________________________________
Deb Gurney, WNPS Native Plant Stewardship Program Coordinator
____________________________________________________________
Joanna Nelson, Green Seattle Partnership Project Manager