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Friday: West Woods revisited

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Sunday, April 20th, 2008 10:09 am

[OT from cottage renovations]

Friday afternoon's late light was excellent for a chance to get back to the West Woods; I wanted to see the results of the ivy cut-and-slash exercise. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

the tree canopy hasn't having leafed over yet so there's plenty of illumination all the way down to ground level.  sight lines are already significantly shortened by understory vegetation that's coming out, much of it undesirable invaders such as barberry and greenbrier.  but down on the forest floor there are also tiny spots of beauty: 

on the forest floor
Violet


looking up in the infested areas the cut-off ivies, both English and poison, appear gratifyingly dead.  over the next few months the vines will fall down on their own and the trees will be that much the better for it. 

gratifyingly dead gratifyingly dead

by way of comparison, here's what it looked like back in February.  now that's what I'd call a successful intervention. 



not far off from some of the ivy hot spots, the skunk cabbage is coming along quite nicely. 

Skunk cabbage

skunk cabbage
Symplocarpus foetidus

and though it seems a bit early for the Jacks-in-the-pulpit they are cheerfully doing their thing though looking a bit on the dried out side.  if they can hold out for another day or so there's rain in the forecast. 

Jack in the pulpit Jack in the pulpit
Jack in the pulpit
Arisaema triphyllum

note how these examples differ in colouration. 

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stomping ivy in the West Woods

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Saturday, March 1st, 2008 11:54 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

turnout was excellent for this morning's ivy eradication work session: 30 volunteers of all ages showed up with clippers, saws, loppers and other implements of destruction to cut, hack and slash away.  two groups were formed: one took on the heavy infestation in the area around Maple Lake and the other headed into the woods to deal with two hot spots. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

the walk in was delayed briefly on my part by the distraction presented by the sight of this leaf.  it hadn't done anything more special than to fall onto a log in time for morning light, but it wasn't possible to get past it without taking a moment to appreciate the found composition. 

leaf on log
[image crossposted to [livejournal.com profile] texture]

these hirsute stems and this solitary leaf demonstrated a contrast in texture between parasite and host. 

parasite on bark
[image crossposted to [livejournal.com profile] texture]


anticipating that some of the thicker stems would be problematic for hand tools I had brought along this old bucksaw.  it made short work of the worst offenders and had the side effect of producing a highly satisfying sound described by working group chair Ann Briggs as "good music". 

cutting a stem
is that operator qualified on the equipment?

Ann wielding saw
Ann wields a mean saw 

this stem was shown in this space on 10 February.  the coin is a US Quarter (for UK readers: it is identical in size to a 10p coin). 

thick stem

tagged for chemical application
tagged for chemical application

cut and tagged
multiple stems, cut and tagged

multiple stems -> multiple cuts
more vines -> more cuts

tree hugging tagger
Kathy, our tree hugging tagger


this stem specimen was collected for the historical record. 

stem specimen


the ivy was persistent and not about to give in graciously.  this hand tool shows evidence of a spirited resistance. 

pushback


we are grateful for interagency assistance provided by our State Department of Agriculture, lead agency for invasive species and forest pest management in Maryland. 

interagency assistance

interaency assistance


by the end of the morning we had run out of vines in both affected areas.  we're very much looking forward to repeating the exercise in the East Woods; another work party will be formed for the purpose in another weekend or so. 

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working party details - West Woods

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Monday, February 18th, 2008 11:53 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

herewith the details for Saturday morning's ivy eradication work session, lifted from an email to volunteers: 

Meet on Saturday at 8:45 AM at Maple Lake. 

The gate to the entrance on Washington Grove Lane (at the cross walk) will be open for parking.  The gate to the lake will be open as well. 

What to wear

  • Dress appropriately for the weather.  There maybe [sic] muddy spots, so hiking boots are a good idea. 
  • Long underwear tucked inside socks will keep you warm and also deter ticks (it's not too cold for ticks!).
  • Wear good strong gloves to protect yourself from brambles and Poison Ivy.  Poison Ivy is everywhere.  Some of the vines on the trees are PI.  Be sure to wash everything, including tools, when you get home.  Treat scratches with antibiotic to avoid infections. 

We will be cutting the vines on the most heavily covered trees.  Some of the vines are up to 4 inches in diameter that must be cut with a saw.  Others are small enough to be cut with clippers.  We will cut a 6 to 8 inch gap in the vine near the base of the tree.  The portion of vine growing up the tree will then be left to die and eventually fall off.  Then we tag the tree and move on.  A professional sprayer will follow a few minutes behind and spray the open cut in the lower portion of the vine to kill the roots. 

Volunteers are asked NOT to pull the vines off of [sic] the trees.  The vines adhere to the tree bark.  Pulling off the vines will pull of[f] the bark as well and harm the tree. 

Tools

  • The Town will provide some small saws, marking tape, and latex gloves. 
  • Bring any of the following for yourself or others to share.  (We suggest marking your tools.) pruning clippers, pry bars or flathead screw drivers for prying, small saws

We will have a trailer (McCathran Hall West) set up at Maple Lake with coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and snacks. 

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Saturday: statement of need

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Sunday, February 10th, 2008 11:52 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

in the winter when the leaves come down the extent of our infestation becomes apparent.  so far, at least, it is localised to a few hot spots and hasn't yet taken over completely. 

the working parties are very likely to get a good start, but I'm sure there will be more left to do. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

looking up

english ivy infestation
ivy infestationivy infestation
Hedera helix

to give an idea of the size of the ivy trunk, the coin in the L image above is a US quarter. 



the woods are also feeling a human impact. 

human impact

the ritual significance, if any, of this impaled shrunken head is unknown. 

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then and now

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 07:26 am

[OT from cottage renovations]

these don't qualify for the [livejournal.com profile] then_now community because the subjects are botanical rather than architectural. 

these were taken 36 weeks apart. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

fern bed
12 May 2007

fern bed under snow
20 January 2008

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iced over

15_the_circle: (snow cottage)
Sunday, January 20th, 2008 11:56 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

it may not be unusual to have a couple of days of cold snap in January, but that does nothing to make it in the least welcome. 

not counting on having gotten completely over the raging crud I kept indoors despite the day's clear skies and abundant light.  finally the temptation got to be too much for me and I set out, waiting for the  warmest  least cold part of the day and taking the precaution of placing the heavy parka in front of the heat register for a good five minutes before donning it and resolving to limit the excursion to no more than a few minutes at best. 

as one might expect, one of these measure was more effective than the other but I did at least turn back at the point when the cold started to cut through my gloves. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

upslope from the Whetstone Spring a channel runs diagonally through the woods, cut into the soil by uncontrolled runoff from a neighbouring development's parking lots.  Friday's rain had sluiced some water through but surface had frozen over before it could all flow through. 

the bands of light across these submerged leaves provide the clue that they are viewed through ice as well as water; it might be necessary to click through to the larger images to make out the surface texture. 

leaves under water under ice

leaves under water under ice
leaves under water under ice


viewed from this angle the iced over surface is more evident. 

iced over
iced over


I'm not sure why it is that the surface cracking of these ice sheets resembles so closely the meandering of river bends as seen from the air.  it must have to do with the distribution of stresses within its structure. 

ice meanders

ice meanders
ice meanders

my appreciation for the result is undiminished by ignorance of the processes at work. 



with the leaves down from canopy and understory alike and covered with snow, the fallen larger trees (of which there seemed to be more than I noted before) display a texture not readily apparent other times of the year. 

fallen tree texture
fallen tree texture

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dude, where's the stone?

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Friday, August 10th, 2007 03:32 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]
[crossposted to [livejournal.com profile] then_now]

the Grove was laid out along the intersection of two ridgelines and its topography has two saddles.  accordingly it is the headwaters of four tributaries of the Potomac River: Crabbs Branch, Mill Creek, Muddy Branch and Whetstone Run.  Crabbs Branch and Mill Creek feed Rock Creek which enters the river down in the District of Columbia; Muddy Branch joins at Pennyfield Lock and Whetstone Run feeds Seneca Creek.  these confluences are spread out along 23½ miles of the river's N bank. 

the West Woods contain two sources of Whetstone Run: Maple and Whetstone Springs.  the former feeds into Maple Lake, whose outflow joins Whetstone Run near its eponymous spring. 

years ago volunteers were raised in the Grove to clear out and clean up Whetstone Spring.  the left half of the image below shows its condition at the conclusion of that work in 1961; the right half shows its condition today. 

development in the area has greatly reduced the flow of water, a condition exacerbated by the past three months of drought.  the spring has silted up and the capstone was  stolen  hauled off by somebody in the late 1960s. 

one of the many goals of the woods revitalisation project is to see that the spring is restored to its prior condition over the next couple of years.  as that work moves forward we'd really like to recover the capstone.  the spring and creek are named for it: local legend has it that George Washington sharped his sword on it while passing through with Braddock's expedition in 1755 (he is not, however, said then to slept here; the Grove was established 118 years later in 1873). 

efforts are underway to try to locate the capstone and to see whether its current custodians, who have had the use of it for coming on 50 years now, might be willing to consider returning that piece of our heritage to us.  as we work to get its setting fixed up its absence will become even more conspicuous. 

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)


Whetstone Spring,
West Woods

Whetstone Spring
July 1961  /  August 2007

1961 photo: Jim McCathran

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ghost plant in the West Woods

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 02:45 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

this morning the ad-hoc forestry intervention committee walked the East and West Woods.  I caught up with the tour for the latter but didn't have much to contribute to the presentation as the knowledgeable and articulate leadership laid out what it was we were seeing, why it was happening and how it had came about.  in addition to problems with invasive species, stormwater runoff is depositing vast accretions of litter from the residential complex on the rise over the West Woods and is forming erosive channels that are undercutting and toppling many of the large trees.  the group will be looking to identify and bring in the expertise needed for us to better understand these problems and to come up with ways to go about dealing with them. 

it wasn't all doom and gloom, however.  the West Woods are still a place of great beauty and species diversity.  one that hadn't been active the last time I wandered through there was Indian Pipe or Ghost Plant. 


West Woods

ghost plant
( ... 3 more ... )
Monotropa uniflora

I hadn't realised the part it plays in the transfer of nutrients between species.  cool stuff. 

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yesterday: a bed of ferns

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Sunday, May 13th, 2007 12:37 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

I had the opportunity to contribute some images to a multimedia presentation given during last night's Town Meeting.  the subject of the presentation was the state of the West Woods: where they are and where they will be absent some strong intervention.  as the East Woods have already gone so too could the West Woods, but it doesn't have to be that way. 

holding back on the image of trees downed and threatened by erosion of their root systems, of the volume and content of refuse along the northern perimeter and of the trash-clogged storm drain feeding (that's the term, though excreting would seem a better fit) the stream bed, let's direct our gaze instead to the more uplifting aspects of what it still is. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

fern bed

fern bed

thanks to Ann & Elly, Jim and Charlie for their efforts to rouse our collective rabble.  no doubt the topic will receive further attention in this space over the course of the next year. 

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West Woods

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 12:57 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

news that isn't timely probably doesn't still qualify as news.  nonetheless, here are some images from the West Woods cleanup a couple of weekends ago. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)


West Woods

the winner: most unusual find
the most unusual find


and a few others:

Bob the Big Boy
big Bob

a headless effigy makes for an unpleasant sight, but a tennis ball discarded nearby helped to take at least some of the edge off the gruesome aspect presented by this find. 


Pinocchio
Pinocchio


cleanup crews

I was late in getting to the event; by then many of the volunteers had gone on to other pursuits.  these pictures show only a few of those who turned up and set to. 

cleanup crew, Maple Lake access road
Maple Lake access road - check out the overflowing bins

cleanup crew, Day Lily Lane
Day Lily Lane
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the West Woods

15_the_circle: (cottage sign)
Saturday, October 21st, 2006 07:50 pm

[OT from cottage renovations]

Maple Lake and the West Woods are on the other side of old Route 124 from the Grove.  I don't go there often, and when I do it's invariably for a walk to the lake rather than through the rest of the woods. 

in the late afternoon it was: quiet. 
with the swimming season over this is as one might expect, with neither Grover nor trespasser to break the silence. 

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)


West Woods

lake road
Maple Lake access road
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