This is an archival consolidated post from the previous incarnation of our website.
JANUARY
On January 5th a large joint gathering of volunteers from our trail work and invasives teams tackled the young hand-pullable broom in the Drumbeg Park meadow, and used the Extractigators to pull some of the mature Daphne laureola in the shady areas. A couple of weeks later they pulled another huge pile of Daphne, which the BC Parks people will haul away in their trucks. Great ways to kick off the new year!
MARCH
Libby rallied the invasives enthusiasts to tackle Daphne laurel at Twin Beaches, and Daphne, holly, and young broom in Drumbeg Park.
APRIL & MAY
Throughout May, while BC’s parks were closed to the public, the invasives team had special permission from BC Parks for small, spaced groups of volunteers to cut broom while it was blooming in Drumbeg Park’s camas meadow. We were delighted to find camas lilies blooming and Garry oaks sprouting in areas cleared in the last year or two. Individuals and small groups continued to organize neighbourhood Daphne and broom cuts around the island and GaLTT arranged for the cuttings to be trucked to a central location for disposal.
JUNE, JULY, AUGUST
At the end of July BC Parks came with their truck to help our volunteers take the piles of dried cut broom from Drumbeg Park to the disposal area for controlled burning later in the Fall.
OCTOBER
After removing thickets of broom in the spring, we were concerned that the bare soil would immediately be colonized by other invasives. GaLTT seeded small sections of meadow at Drumbeg with a native seed mix put together by a Vancouver Island native plant specialist. We received funding from BC Parks to buy the seeds (not cheap!) and to get advice on the mix. We are very excited to see if we are successful! (Please avoid walking on the marked-off areas.)