Removing invasive broom is only the start of our restoration work at Drumbeg—we then have to replant with native species to prevent the broom and other weedy species from moving back in.
Will you donate to help cover the costs of buying plants and seed to support our fall 2024 restoration project? We are aiming to raise $3000 by September 5th so that we can order seeds and small plants.
- $5 buys seeds to cover two square meters
- $15 buys 5 small plants to cover half a square meter
- $150 buys a whole tray of 50 small plants!
Any amount, great or small, is appreciated! All donations of $25 or more will be eligible for a tax receipt. You can donate at GaLTT events, at the GaLTT market table or online.
Read on for more details on our project and its goals.
Challen uncovers a baby Garry oak.
Why we’re asking
We’ve been clearing broom in Drumbeg since 2008 and working on restoring native species since 2020. This spring we cleared a new area beside the meadow trail and discovered ten small Garry oaks previously hidden under the broom.
This fall we want to reintroduce native grasses and wildflowers around these tiny trees so that the broom and other invasives don’t move back in—and for an area as large as this (450 m2) we will need a lot of them!
The area outlined in yellow on this 2022 satellite photo shows the area where we cleared broom in May this year (between the trail and the northern park boundary) and this is where we will be doing our restoration planting and seeding in the fall.
We’ve already had great success planting small plants (“plugs,” as shown in the photo) for yarrow, woolly sunflower, field chickweed, self-heal, Roemer’s fescue and California brome. We’ve planted camas bulbs and fool’s onion corms as well, but those take longer to establish and show flowers. We use a custom seed mix designed for Drumbeg that includes all of the above, as well as annuals such as sea-blush and Blue-eyed Mary.
Restoration works best when invasive plants have less space to occupy, so we want to cover this area as effectively as we can. So instead of relying on seed alone (which would be germinating in direct competition with weed seeds) we intend to use a mix of plant ‘plugs’ and seeds to start things off. This combination works well and delivers better results but is more expensive.
For each of the past four years we’ve been very grateful to receive grants from BC Parks to cover costs of purchasing plants and seeds. Our grant this year will allow us to spend up to $3000—but this year we’re also more than doubling the area we are restoring! Our donation drive has the goal of matching these funds by raising another $3000, which will allow us to purchase and plant the optimal mix of seeds and plugs to allow our meadow plants to get established ahead of the weeds.
That’s where you come in—your support helps us restore the native species that make this Garry oak meadow habitat a special place.
The photos below show some of the flowers you can find in Drumbeg’s Garry oak meadows when they aren’t covered in broom. (Click individual photos to enter Gallery view and read the caption saying what they are.)
