After leaving a heavy leaf cover, fewer early invasive species are showing up on the berm, and by the river. Planted River Birch, Buttonbush and Elderberry in areas that would soon be cleared of Honeysuckle, to assist with erosion. Native Grasses will be used between the seedlings.
Over fall and winter, the area under the Cottonwood tree (berm) was covered with plastic and leaves. I removed tarp today, and it was clear (except for a gazillion happy larvae/grubs who were munching away–busily converting the leaves to healthy dirt. These identified as beneficial fly larvae or grubs. Video below.
I found Elderberry seedlings and a Great Blue Lobelia popping up in some of the cleared areas, where periwinkle was removed last Fall.
I seeded that area with a Native Plant/Sedge/Flower seed mix and will watch for the next round of Garlic Mustard, Creeping Charlie and other annoyances.
Also planted more Buttonbush and River Birch on point, where erosion is likely after clearing invasive grasses. I built makeshift protectors from downed limbs, an experiment to see if I can avoid using cages to protect them from deer.
Don’t watch if worms & grubs bother you…
I hope the identification was correct and they aren’t something troubling (it took some work to get over the shock of uncovering the colony, but they did good work!)
