Neighbors walking the Linnean Park Trail since early July have noticed and enjoyed some sorely needed improvements. The upper part of the trail was renovated with the installation of rolling grade dips, and waterbars, both designed to channel water off the trail. Clearing silt under the rustic footbridge allowed for better water flow. Stone steps […]
Advertisement
Round up invasive weeds at the first Rock Creek “Weed Wrangle” on Sept. 25
Saddle up, pardners. Volunteers are being deputized to round up some weedy invaders in and around Rock Creek Park. On Saturday, September 25th (which is also National Public Lands Day), the National Capital Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) and Rock Creek Conservancy are leading their first “Weed Wrangle,” during which volunteers will remove […]
Check out the newly-improved Linnean Park trail
by Marlene Berlin The all-volunteer team that’s been restoring the trail alongside the restored Linnean stream was back at it on July 2nd and 3rd, this time with a larger crew. When I arrived, I saw a group of eleven working seamlessly together while frogs serenaded and a gaggle of young mallard ducks huddled, unperturbed, […]
Linnean Park trail improvements are getting under way
The trail alongside the rehabilitated Linnean Park stream is getting some much-needed TLC. Last week, volunteers Ben Aurbach, John Burwell and Steve Lukaczer, under the watchful and knowledgeable Potomac Appalachian Trail Club volunteer Mitch Baer, removed built-up mud and silt from under a footbridge to allow easy stream flow. The main work on the trail […]
Volunteers at Broad Branch are battling invasive garlic mustard – to give native plants a fighting chance
A team of volunteers has been clearing bamboo at Broad Branch Stream. That’s not the only invasive species they are battling. John Burwell of the Pinehurst Project tells us what’s on their radar now: This is Tucker Harris, of Ingleside at Rock Creek Park. She has been part of the Pinehurst Project volunteer effort at […]
A more colorful Connecticut Ave. and an easier trek on the Melvin Hazen trail after weekend volunteer work
Volunteers were busy in our neighborhood on Saturday. Van Ness Main Street: “Thank you to yesterday’s wonderful volunteers for helping us plant flowering pollinators in front of the small businesses along Connecticut Ave!” You’ll have more opportunities to pitch in over the next few weekends. Pollinator-friendly plantings are happening every Saturday and Sunday afternoon (weather […]
Do something nice for your wild neighbors: FrogWatch, watershed cleanups and pollinator plantings on tap
Our local parks and streams have given us places of respite and recreation in a stressful year. This spring we have several opportunities to return the favor. Events below include neighborhood and Rock Creek Park cleanups, wildflower planting, and a census of sorts for frogs. FrogWatch If you are familiar with Forest Hills Connection at […]
Advertisement
Meet the leader of the team that’s been working to clear Broad Branch Stream of invasive plants and protect the natives
by Marlene Berlin Last Friday, two men met at Broad Branch Stream. One was Tony Donaldson, Jr., a Ward 3 representative from the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services. The other was John Burwell, who has been leading with teams of volunteers clearing invasive plants from the daylighted stream. Burwell is a certified Weed […]
This MLK weekend, do something good for the national park in our backyard
Rock Creek Park has been an oasis for many of us during the long months of the pandemic. This weekend is a good time to return the favor. The Martin Luther King Day of Service is usually Rock Creek Conservancy’s second largest cleanup event of the year (after the springtime Extreme Cleanup). This time, a […]
Volunteers needed for rain garden maintenance at Forest Hills Park on Nov. 21
Did you know? Forest Hills Park (at 3200 Chesapeake Street) has two rain gardens. One is tucked alongside the basketball and tennis courts on Brandywine Street. The other is next to the amphitheater across the footpath from the tennis courts. They were installed to help capture and filter stormwater that otherwise might pollute Rock Creek […]