While winter slowed down our plants’ growth, our invasive plant removal efforts did not falter. The warmer-than-average winter granted us the ability to work on bittersweet and multiflora rose around the Botume House and along Spot Pond. In January, February, and March, we had 31 volunteers and the DCR team to help us remove aggressive bittersweet and multiflora rose from these areas. In April and May, our invasive plant removal efforts almost quadrupled as garlic mustard began to poke through the soil. We hosted 95 volunteers to pull out garlic mustard and bittersweet. At one of our larger events, Park Serve Day, volunteers removed trash from the Fells and assisted the planting of two trees.
Check out some before and after photos below!
Buckthorn and Bittersweet Before and After
In our growing Trail Adopter program, we trained 39 new Trail Adopters to help us monitor the trails and keep them clear and safe for all to use. These Trail Adopters and more volunteers also joined us for a work day on June 1st, National Trails Day, to cut down Japanese knotweed and work on a fire road in Greenwood. It’s been a busy and productive start to the season!
The following groups have joined us thus far in 2024:
- Appalachian Mountain Club
- Baldwin Wallace University
- Google Serve
- Intellia Therapeutics
- Keep Stoneham Beautiful
- Medford Boy Scouts Troop 416
- Medford Girl Scouts
- Roberts Elementary School
- Tufts Mountain Club
- Washington University Boston Alumni Network
Interested in assisting these efforts? Join us on Saturday, July 6th!
Want to volunteer with your group, company, school, or team? Learn more about our group volunteering opportunities here.
Reach out to friends@fells.org if you have any questions or if you’d like to get more involved in these efforts.