Gabriola Land and Trails Trust volunteers have been removing broom in Drumbeg Provincial Park for 20 years, and we’re not finished—we continue to remove small broom and other invasive plants such as orchard grass and vinca from this Garry Oak ecosystem.

But just removing invasives doesn’t fix an ecosystem—you have to restore biodiversity. For the past two years we have also worked on seeding and planting a variety of native plants in four specific trial sites on previously cleared meadows. Park Enhancement Fund grants from BC Parks supported this work in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, and we are delighted to receive a new grant for a 2022-23 project.

We will work again with Kristen Miskelly from Satinflower Nurseries/Saanich Native Plants to seed and/or plant small plugs of native annual and perennial plants (supplied by the nursery) into areas adjacent to the four sites first successfully seeded in 2020 and subsequently re-seeded and planted in Fall 2021.

This kind of project helps GaLTT as well as the park—we learn more about native species and grasses in a Garry Oak ecosystem, and get a better understanding of how to prevent harm to rare species while removing invasive plants. We’ve had a lot of successes at Drumbeg, and there’s nothing quite as motivating as success to keep us going!

Learn more about our research and restoration work—and our successes—on our Invasive Species page.

A closeup of grass seedheads and white flowers, fool's onion, in Drumbeg Provincial Park
A closeup of a bright pinkish-purple flower, harvest brodiaea, blooming in Drumbeg Provincial Park
Categories: Conservation, Invasive SpeciesPublished On: August 1, 2022

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