Reedy Creek Coalition

Please join us as we continue invasive removal in Crooked Branch Ravine Park.    The buds on trees and shrubs there are just about to burst and will then provide berries and nuts for the critters as well as food for caterpillars.

Moth and butterfly eggs are laid on the plants that the caterpillars of that species will eat; the great majority need natve plants and some of them are picky eaters, requiring certain species.  The caterpillars become the primary food source for baby birds.  No caterpillars, no baby birds.  If the non-native plants are allowed to continue their rampant growth, we will loose many of the plants, including large trees, and the area will not be able to sustain the year round residents and migrant birds that depend on it.

This is important work and we would really appreciate your help.

• Sunday,  April 8  from 1 – 3 p.m.  or as long as you can stay.
• Bring gloves and hand clippers.  An old screwdriver is sometimes helpful for removing ivy from trees; we will show you how.
• We do ask that you bring your own water.
• Bring a friend!
• If you have never done this type of work before we will glady show you what to do.

Map to meeting site

Hickory buds are ready to pop!

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Crooked Branch Ravine Park, a small park on the south side of Richmond, is home to a diverse urban forest, some lovely native shrubs and perennials, and the critters that depend on such places.  Many of these plants are threatened by non-native, invasive species.  We can either do something to change the situation or we will eventually lose both the canopy and understory layers.

This is a picture of an area we have cleared of ivy and honeysuckle, which was particularly thick toward the back .

This is where we will work next, gradually expanding the cleared area.  Please come help us remove ivy from the ground and from trees…

• Sunday,  March 11 from 1 – 4 p.m.  If you can only stay an hour, that’s OK.  Every hour counts.
• Bring gloves and hand clippers.  An old screwdriver is sometimes helpful for removing ivy from trees; we will show you how.
• We do ask that you bring your own water.
• Bring a friend!

Map to meeting site

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This beautiful little green space along Reedy Creek provides food and shelter to birds and other wildlife, is home to some native plants that are no longer common in the city, and helps protect water quality by acting like a sponge during rain events.  Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it?  The problem is that English ivy and other invasive plants are rampant in some areas and habitat is being destroyed.  That is why we need your help!

Please come help us remove ivy from the ground and from trees…

• Sunday, February 18 from 1 – 4 p.m.  If you can only stay an hour, that’s OK.  Every hour counts.
• Bring gloves and hand clippers.  An old screwdriver is sometimes helpful for removing ivy from trees; we will show you how.
• We do ask that you bring your own water.
• The temperature should be in the mid 50s and comfortable for working outside.

Map to meeting site

Vaccinium species (blueberries for the birds) are found in some areas of Crooked Branch where English ivy has not yet covered the ground. 

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Three good reasons to join us on January 13 from 1 – 4 p.m. for an invasive removal project…

• The MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.”
• You can help care for the earth right here in RVA.
• A great opportunity to get outside; the temperature should be reasonably comfortable for this kind of work!

Only have an hour to spare?  That’s quite alright.  Every little bit helps.

Crooked Branch Ravine Park is at the end of Northrop Street where there is a path into the park.  MAP .  However, due to parking limitations on this street, we ask that you meet at the Stone House in Forest Hill Park and car pool over.  If you are arriving late, come on over to Northrop Street.  Bring gloves, pruners, and, if you have one, a small saw for cutting large ivy vines.

This event is being hosted by Reedy Creek Coalition, Friends of Forest Hill Park, the Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities, and Councilmember Parker Agelasto’s 5th District office.

Please sign up at    https://www.handsonrva.org/opportunity/a0CA000000q5NBGMA2

YOU CAN HELP THE CANOPY LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

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Here are just a few pictures of this lovely. little park.  Please help save the native plants of Crooked Branch Ravine.  Without your help them may be gone forever.

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Reedy Creek and a small tributary, Crooked Branch, flow through Crooked Branch Ravine Park.  This small, passive park is home to many native trees, shrubs, and perennials that could be lost to advancing invasive plant species, particularly English ivy and privet.  Reedy Creek Coalition will resume  our invasive removal efforts now that the weather is cooler.

• Please  join us on Sunday, November 12, 2017 from 1 – 4 p.m.
• We will meet at the end of Northrop Street where there is a path into the park.
• Bring gloves, pruners, and, if you have one, a small saw for cutting large ivy vines.
• Only have an hour to spare?  That’s quite alright.  Every little bit helps.  

The area where we will be working has oak, hickory, maple, black gum, fringe trees,  wintergreen, cranfly orchids, and other native species.  The diversity of species in just this small area speaks to the value of this park.

This wintergreen will soon be overcome by English ivy. Please help save our native species!

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Join Reedy Creek Coalition and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay for a rain barrel workshop on September, 30 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Westover Baptist Church.  Come home with a rain barrel.

Link for registration and information 

Rain Barrel Information

Adding a rain barrel to capture water from your roof can help improve water quality in our watershed.  Appropriate landscaping can help too.  The Yard Design Tool below will help you develop a plan for a rain garden or conservation landscape in your yard.

Yard Design Tool

The more rain barrels, rain gardens, conservation landscapes, and trees we have in our watershed, the better our water quality for ouselves and for aquatic life.   Every rain barrel, every landscape makes a difference.   Collectively, we can have a positive impact!

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